those who plan peace

The Lord reminded me unexpectedly in the middle of the night that His ways are not our ways (or more specifically, that my ways are not His ways!). 

I want them to be. I forget sometimes, and get carried by my culture or my thoughts or my emotions...when I want very much to be carried by Him.

It is why I am SO hopelessly dependent on His Word! My reading plan has me in Proverbs, Romans and 1 Kings right now, and the combination of the richness of Romans with the life lessons of David and the bottomless wisdom of Proverbs is such an anchor!

In a world of so much confusion, so much trouble, so much wickedness, Those who act faithfully are a delight to Him. Those who plan peace have joy. Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. In the path of righteousness is life, and in its path there is no death. 

As King David tells Solomon again and again as Solomon goes after the wisdom of the Lord : Don't be afraid, and do not be dismayed.

That means that being righteous and following after the Lord will be a scary and discouraging thing. But it also means that God is offering us what is needed to resist fear and to battle despair.

If Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised, then I can have that faith. If the Spirit helps us in our weakness, His help is here for us. If it all depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy, then I have great hope.

Filling our minds and hearts with His Word, these are glory days.

Lily and Sofie and our bonus loves are on their way back from Motion Conference and are fired up from this mountain top experience! Matt shocked my socks off (you'll notice you've never seen me in socks :) a few weeks ago by asking if it would bless me to get to the nearby coast for a few days before school starts, and YES IT WOULD.  So we're heading there for three days this upcoming week and I'm SO thankful for the memories, the broad perspective of the beach, and the marker before school begins next week of His goodness and on-the-throne-ness.  I cannot beLIEVE school starts again next week in Mississippi, and for many has already started! 

I am thankful today for dear-heart-friends, for the men and women struggling and suffering around us in ways that glorify the Lord and point us to Jesus, and for the beautiful gift of walking alongside so many as the Lord and His Word is sought and taught and lived and shared!