7.25.2011

Eclipsed by Glory

Ever hear a line in a song that just sticks with you and is revealed to you in a new light?  Well this is one of those moments.  Yesterday as we were singing “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan and one of the lines, though I have heard it hundreds of times, just cried out to me.  But first, a little back-story.  I am a newlywed.  In this day and age, that means I am poor…ok not poor, but on a strict and tight budget.  You get back from your amazing week-of-bliss honeymoon with your new husband and what is there to greet you?  Bills.  Mortgage.  Electricity.  Gas.  Cable.  Internet.  Car payments.  Insurance.  Tithes.  And our new little addition: School loans.  Not to mention, it seems like every time we turn around, something comes up and someone is billing us for something unexpected or my huge family will decide to have all their birthdays and weddings in a 5 week span (I am only teasing- I love all of you!).  All of this adds up to a stressful life if you’re not careful. 

So, back to the song.  First of all, it’s one of my favorite worship songs.  I love how it reminds me just how much He loves me.  This particular Sunday, I was just struck by one of the lines in the first verse: “When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory."  Can you imagined being so focused on God's glory and love, that the cares of this world are just forgotten?  It reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures throughout college: Romans 8:18- “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  In light of God’s glory, in light of His Great Love for me, my sufferings, my stress, my worries are nothing.   He loves me enough to sacrifice his one and only Son so that I would not have to die in my sin.  Do you think He would go through all of that just to leave me hanging?  Just to let me get eaten up by a few bills?  No way!  God is my Provider!  He has promised not to put more on me than I can handle, and that includes the stress of a newlywed, budget-centered life.  All I have to learn to do is cast my burdens upon Him and He will sustain me (Psalm 55:22).  We are learning how to cut corners here and there and have come to find that, when we put God first (i.e. pay our tithes faithfully) we always have enough.  Even when logic (and math) say “if you give up that 10%, you’re gonna be 10% short at the end of the month”, we always come out on top. 

God’s love is unconditional and everlasting.  Whatever present you may be suffering through, remember that future Glory that God will reveal in you and it will far outweigh this measly little obstacle trying to get in your way.

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