Hello,
As many of you know, my wife and I moved from South Dakota to Western
Pennsylvania in June with the plan of building a house here. Well, even though there is still some
work to be done on the house, we have been living in it for about a month. As we were told before we began the
process of building, house building is a stressful and sometimes exasperating
experience….which at times it has been.
But now that we are in the house those negative feelings are waning in a
tide of thankfulness for the blessing this house is. When I have been frustrated and upset, I have tried to calm
myself with the realization that it is a blessing to be able to build a house
in a world where millions and millions of people do not even have a house. Thank you, Lord, for this house.
Trying to save some money, we told our builder that we would paint the
inside of the garage instead of him having it done. So, Saturday my wife and I gathered up our painting gear and
took our place in the garage for a day’s worth of painting. My wife’s brother, who graciously
shared his home with us as we built our house, continued to show his kindness
by showing up, ready to help us paint.
Our plan was to paint the ceiling first and them move all the stuff that
was close to the wall into the middle of the garage and then paint the
walls. With that plan of attack,
we spent the morning with our necks tilted back as we held the extenders in our
hands and rolled the paint above us.
When it came time for a lunch break, my brother-in-law said to me, “How
you doing?” Tilting my head
backwards, the position it had been for the last two hours, I said jokingly,
“Well, I’ll be praising God all day tomorrow,” raising my arms to create a
posture of divine praise.
He
responded, “You should do that all the time, anyway.”
“Oh yeah,” I thought to myself, “I guess that I should praise God all
the time anyway.” Not because I
would be bad not to do so, but because I would be blind not to do so. It is true that the busy-ness of life
and the struggles that we face can capture our vision causing us to droop our
heads in weary despair. But it is
equally true that no matter how busy or tough our days may be, there are
blessings aplenty from God filling our lives.
Now, I am not trying to say that there’s a silver lining to every
cloud….no, some clouds are just plain thick and dark, void of any silver. What I am saying, is this: there is no
cloud so dark that it can keep God from reaching you with his love. That is what my brother-in-law spoke of
when he said, “We should be doing that (praising God) all the time,
anyway.” In the scheme of things,
the clouds that have rolled over me as I have tried to get this house built are
really mere feathery cirrus clouds that are made darker by the sunglasses of
impatience and inconvenience that I wear.
Yet even these darkened cirrus clouds do not keep God from reaching me
with his love in gracious family members, in time spent with my sons, with a
wife who settles me down, and with forgiveness that is given to me every Sunday
at his table. But more
importantly, when the cumulus thunderheads roll through…and they will for no
one can avoid them…even then, God will reach us with his love and mercy. How will he do that….I am not
sure, but I am sure that he will keep his promise to do so.
That is what makes these words that we hear every Sunday we come to the
Lord’s table ring true, “It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all
times in all places give thanks and praise to you, Almighty God….” My neck has recovered from a morning’s
worth of looking up at a garage ceiling, but my brother-in-law’s words still
echo in my ears, “You should be (praising God) all the time, anyway,” causing
my eyes to open, and my neck to tilt back, locking my head heavenward in
spontaneous praise.
Thank you, Lord!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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