Thought for the day
ATTENTION CHILDREN: The Bathroom Door is Closed.
Please do not stand here and talk, whine, or ask questions. Wait until I get out.
Yes, it is locked. I want it that way. It is not broken, I am not trapped. I know I have left it unlocked, and even open at times, since you were born, because I was afraid some horrible tragedy might occur while I was in here, but it's been 10 years and I want some PRIVACY.
Do not ask me how long I will be. I will come out when I am done.
Do not bring the phone to the bathroom door.
Do not go running back to the phone yelling, "She's in the BATHROOM!"
Do not begin to fight as soon as I go in.
Do not stick your little fingers under the door and wiggle them. This was funny when you were two, but not now.
Do not slide pennies, Legos, or notes under the door. Even when you were two this got a little tiresome.
If you have followed me down the hall talking, and are still talking as you face this closed door, please turn around, walk away, and wait for me in another room. I will be glad to listen to you when I am done.
And yes, I still love you.
(signed)Mom
I know that every parent (and especially every mother) can relate to that. Sometimes it seems that there is no hope of any privacy. No matter where you go, little steps are heard right behind you. You try to hold a private conversation and little ears are listening. There's no getting away from it!
That's true of God as well. Though we may sometimes wish that we could get away from Him for just a few minutes, there's no way. Listen to how David put it:
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there." (Psalm 139:7-8, NIV)Though, at first, it may seem that God's continual presence is something to dread, David realizes that there is great comfort in such knowledge:
"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:9, NIV)
God's omnipresence means that He will always be there to take care of us, no matter where we may be. Instead of being something to fear, His presence is something which gives us comfort.
Take comfort today in knowing that you can never get away from God -- not even by closing the bathroom door!
Verses
Romans 8:37
But in all these things we are winning an overwhelming victory through him who loved us.
Romans 4:19
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
John 8:31-32
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Luke 2:37
and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Romans 8:32
If God did not spare his only Son, but gave him up for the sake of us all, can we not be sure that with him there is nothing that he will not freely give us?
Prayer
Father, as we experience Your amazing grace through Your forgiveness of our sins it compels us to also show compassion to others who have not yet applied Your grace to their lives. As Jude writes, we are to “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” In reaching out to others who are still living in sin we must not lower our standards, nor do we want to appear more righteous then them. So give us the words along with a compassionate heart to reach the lost without losing our soul or lowering our standards, as we choose to love the sinner and hate the sin. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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