Desiring God

I missed out on posting anything to my blog yesterday, because I spent the afternoon getting a post together for a blog that my sister-in-law created to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday. It was a pretty clever idea and one I think I might have to steal in the future. :-) So if you're interested in seeing some fun pictures and hearing some stories about the Townsley family, you can visit http://mark-townsley-40bd.blogspot.com/.

Other than that, thankfully I've managed to avoid running over any more unsuspecting animals... ha -- but speaking of running and animals, I took Mandy up to Green Mountain a couple of days ago when it seemed like spring was finally here. (This picture of the daffodills was the ONLY indication of spring on the mountain at this point - but that also means that there weren't any bugs or snakes yet and that was nice) I ate lunch up there and then went to walk Mandy around the trail. Well, as we were getting ready to walk, I passed a woman and her dog that were obviously there for a RUN around the trail. Of course, the dogs had to have a short 'meet and greet' session and then we decided that it would probably be helpful if we started off in different directions so that our dogs wouldn't be after each other all the way down the trail. Well, I hadn't even made it a quarter of the way around on my walk, when she came running from the other direction and passed on by with her dog. A little later, I passed a couple of moms and their kids sitting on a bench. They had to taunt me a bit by asking me why I wasn't running with MY dog! (thanks a lot!) Well, a little further around, here she comes again. Lap #2. At this point I called out to her as she ran by and said, "Hey, you know you're making me look bad." She replied rather humbly that she had to run her dog because he has too much energy. I think SHE had too much energy! By the time I made it one time around, she was lapping me again for the 3rd time -- and it didn't look like she was planning to stop any time soon. And it's a 1.3 mile trail - at least. Even with this new love of running that I've found, I don't think you'll find me doing anything like that anytime soon. :-)

And now, on to what I was planning to blog about -- that was all just ramblings.... I've started reading Desiring God by John Piper. I have been off reading some Christian fiction lately that I've really been enjoying and getting a lot out of, but this book caught my attention as something that I thought would really help me dig deeper in my relationship with God. And I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts from the 1st chapter. Piper makes this claim:

"The purpose of God cannot be frustrated; there is none like God. If a purpose of God came to naught, it would imply that there is a power greater than God's. It would imply that someone could stay His hand when He designs to do a thing..."

"I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose." Isaiah 46:9-10

If you've been reading any of my posts, you know I sometimes like to share "things I learn from TV." Well, when I read this verse, I thought of the TV show "LOST." If you are a fan of the show, you know that one of the things the producers decided from the beginning is that they would limit the show to a certain number of seasons (I've forgotten now when it's suposed to end, exactly) and not drag it out and just keep it going. So they have a definite Ending in mind. This helps them with their writing, because it's a very strange show with a lot of mystery and jumping from the past to the present and then to future events. It also has a big cast of characters with a lot of intertwining story lines that just when you think you've started to figure out how they're connected, you find out you're wrong. ;-) Anyways, since the writers of the show have this knowledge of how the show is going to end, they are continually weaving the storyline of those characters to that end. From week to week, as I watch the show, I only get a little glimpse of the lives of each of these characters and thus stay pretty continually confused as to how everything fits together on this show. There are a LOT of unanswered questions -- and that's the point. It's what keeps people 'tuning in' from week to week.

So this is what I thought -- isn't it a little like this with our lives and God? He KNOWS the end of the story for all of us. He is the writer, the master story-teller. He knows past, present, and future - all the events of our lives - and weaves our lives together to accomplish the end of the story that He has planned. With our limited vision, we only see the here and now, often losing sight of the past and not having insight into the future... we just have a hard time seeing how it's all going to turn out. But God isn't at all confused. He knows exactly what he's doing and when and how the story will end.

So what this all means to me is that God is writing my story just as He planned for it to be. I wasn't supposed to be some different character in this story -- he didn't make any mistakes with my storyline -- and the newest thing I realized today -- He's not disappointed with my 'performance.' But since this is getting really long and my time is running short, I'll write more about that tomorrow...