Life is life. God is good.

As if to affirm my previous post, the Scripture reading in church this morning was from John 16. The guest speaker's message also highlighted the theme of overcoming evil and trouble by trusting and living in obedience to the Spirit of God. What an encouragement for us today!

Have you ever heard the saying: "Life is good."? A pastor friend of mine once reframed this by redirecting the praise. He says, "Life is life. God is good." John Piper has said it this way: " Life is hard. And the more you love the harder it gets. . . . But God is good. And Christ is strong to help" (full article). Does that ring true to you? It certainly does for me after holding my oldest son for over an hour while he moaned and cried, grieving (for the first time under our care) his many losses. How my heart ached! Yet how full it is--full of love, full of motivation to rise above the trouble of this day, full of hope for days to come!

Jesus himself said, "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." (Matthew 5:3-8)

These blessings are very real to me today. I AM BLESSED!

...and if you don't believe me, take a look at these:

(Okay, it's possible--especially if you are not Canadian--that you missed the tremendous significance of these first three pictures. That's okay. The rest of us understand.)