Glory to God

Tonight I will receive a piece of paper that marks a massive change in my life. Tonight I'll be confirmed as a district pastor - not yet ordained, but working toward it. It's just a cheap piece of paper. And for most, it's not a big deal at all. But for me, it is a commemoration of what God has done in my life.

I find myself very emotional today, thinking of how far God has brought me, and how much he has changed me. I find myself recognizing that it's been all God, and the only thing I have done is said yes. When God said, Follow Me, I said yes. When He said, No . . . really. Follow Me. I said yes. When God said, I want this piece of you. And that piece. And that one too. I said yes . . . and yes . . . and yes. Not always quickly, not always easily, but I have kept saying yes and I do not regret it one bit.

Some of you, my Facebook friends, haven't known me long or maybe don't know me well. You don't know the bad, the twisted, the ugly. Some of you do know, and maybe you are as amazed as I am that God could take all that bad, and turn me around.

No one is more amazed than I am.

And so let me state emphatically today, holding nothing back - I serve a risen Savior! God is God, and there are no others. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is all things, and He is everything. He is everything to me. He has changed me, He is still changing me, and I can't wait to see what changes He will make in me.

I'm crying as I write this, because I know where I was. And I know where I am now. And I know where I'm going. And I know that tonight, when all of us who receive these licenses turn around to face the audience, there will be applause. But my applause will be for God. Because it's all about Him.

And I can do nothing but be grateful and overwhelmed. He is so good to me.

Why?

Why is such a common question.  And the hardest.  And the one with the least answers.

I ask myself why all the time.  About the big stuff, and the little stuff. 

But to be honest, it's the little stuff that gets to me.  Does that make sense?  Like, why did that guy cut me off in traffic?  Why was the clerk mean to me in the check out line?  Why does my kid have an attitude when five minutes ago he was loving?

I'm a natural problem solver, so the whys some quick and easy for me.  I like to try to figure things out, to understand a situation, and master it.  But sometimes, there are no answers.  There is no understanding.  What do you do then?

The Sunday School answer is, trust God.  But that's soooooo much easier said than done, yes?  And besides, I'm not talking about God stuff.  I'm talking about little stuff. 

I have to constantly remind myself that God is all about the small stuff.  He's the ultimate detail, the ultimate planner, the ultimate problem solver.  And so when the guy cuts me off, instead of stewing about it, I can talk to God about it.  Oh!  I could even pray for him.  And I could remember the times when I've accidentally cut someone off.  And when the clerk is rude, I can return blessing for insult.  I can talk to God about it.  Oh!  I could even pray for her.  And I can remember the times I've been rude, because I was tired, or sick, or worried.

You see what I'm saying, right?  Maybe I'm weird, but it's the small stuff in life that gets me down.  It's trying to figure out why people do what they do.  That consumes way too much of my time and energy. 

Here's my new why:  Why let that stuff get me down?  Why let it drain me?  Why worry about that junk?  I believe I'll just try to let it go, and - here comes that Sunday School answer - really trust God.