Lemonade

Well… the sage of the loose tooth continues!  Everything was going fine at breakfast yesterday until I accidentally bit down on the tooth and pressed it into its root and let me tell you… I literally saw stars!  Then at lunch as I s-l-o-w-l-y and c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y began to chew my food there was an audible “Pop!” and I was suddenly free from any discomfort as the tooth broke off and fell on my tongue.  Like that old commercial used to say, “Oh what a relief it is!”  Then the little kid in me came out once again and I pulled out the tooth, checked it over and happily showed my wife.  She looked at me a little strangely and then gave me a weak smile.  Maybe it was the whole thing about her attempting to eat lunch and having to look at an old yucky tooth?

Never-the-less, I was freed from that pain induced trial and was happy to move on to the next phase as the words from Lamentations spoke to me saying: “But this I call to mind, I therefore have my expectation: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”  (Lamentations 3:21-22 English Standard Version – substituting the better translation of “expectation” for “hope”) 

God’s love never ceases to amaze me.  Sure, as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, this whole tooth incident was not something that I had planned for and definitely didn’t desire, but once I got re-focused on His love and the truth of His Word, I had an instant peace that everything would not only work out okay for me, but that it would somehow be of a greater glory for the kingdom of God.  Who knows, maybe my story in this blog has already helped someone.  Maybe my going to the dentist will end up with a word of encouragement being spoken to someone in the waiting room, to a nurse or even the doctor.  The “who knows” are unlimited!  So my best alternative right now is to trust in the Lord and let Him have His way and be open to whatever He instructs me to do!

I think that many times, we often only consider the inconvenience that a personal problem causes us, instead of how God can use it for His purposes.  I’m not implying that God caused the difficulty, but He can definitely use it for His kingdom’s glory.  If you go back to I Corinthians 13:7 and consider how God’s love in us “never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops expecting (and) never gives up.” (God’s Word ©), then we can gain a new outlook on the events of our daily lives and understand that while the world we live tends to look for the wrongs, we, through God’s love and grace, can always look for the best and as they say, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”  Have a great Tuesday.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What GOOD am I expecting today?”