Miserable people will tell you everything that’s wrong with the world. They will tell you who’s wrong and who’s to blame (which almost always ends up being someone else). Many people who are miserable don’t want to be happy. They have become so wrapped up in their misery that it’s a part of their identity, a kind of emotional security blanket that they wear at all times.

Happy people are the ones who know that there’s a lot wrong with the world, but are the ones doing their part to fix it. They know there are wrong people and bad people out there, but they know there’s a lot they need to work on in themselves and are too focused on being better people to dwell and harp on the other sinners.

Happy people are the ones the Bible calls blessed. They’re the ones who know what it’s like to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for right living, to be merciful because they have been shown mercy, and to be pure in heart as they have been transformed by Jesus. They are blessed not because they’re materially wealthy or ridiculously popular but because they have the favor of God on them.

To be miserable is a choice. To be happy is a choice. It’s a choice we make every single day with every single decision and every single response to everything that is done to us. The Bible says that to be happy is to lose yourself to find yourself, to die to yourself that you might find real life, and to take up your cross and serve that you might know all the fullness of joy and abundance that God has to offer.

“OLORD, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen” (The Book of Common Prayer).

This is meant to be a family prayer for nighttime, but it could very easily work for someone who is nearing the end of life. It also makes me think of Father Tim Cavanaugh from the Mitford series by Jan Karon (which is adding another book to the series in October, by the way).

I love the idea that God supports us all day long until at the end of the day. In the Psalms, it says that He never slumbers nor sleeps but watches over His children all through the night. The old bedtime prayer about God keeping my soul reminds me that there is never a time when God is not mindful of me nor of my needs.

I found a version that is similar if not quite the same as I remember from when I was a wee little. It goes something like this:

“Thank you Lord for another day,
The chance to learn, the chance to play.

Now as I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Please, guard me Jesus through the night,
And keep me safe till morning’s light.

But if I should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And should I live for other days,
I pray that God will guide my ways.

                      Amen.“

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

“For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you” (Psalm 139: 13-18, CJB).

These days, I’ve noticed a bit of the Pharisee lurking in me, especially when it comes to social media. Whenever I see a post with questionable theology, I have a strong desire to go in, fingers blazing to give the correct doctrine. I wish it was because I want to fight for the truth, but more honestly, it’s because I want to be right and win the argument.

But I’ve noticed that very rarely has anyone ever changed their mind through an argument over social media. Most likely, the other person will double down on their side or point or whatever. Usually, whoever it is will see my post as an attack and me as the enemy. That does no one any good.

I’ve learned the best solution is to pray for the other person and for me. Typically, I pray that both of us will come to God’s truth on the matter, not mine or the other person’s. As much as it pains me to admit it, I could very well be wrong. In fact, I’ve been wrong a lot more times than I’ve been right.

The absolute best strategy when I see something that I don’t like or that bugs me: keep scrolling. It’s not my job to fix everyone else in the world and to gate-keep every biblical doctrine ever established. That’s God’s job, and He’s not looking for extra volunteers in that department.

Maybe if I spent more time working on me and seeking out how I can bless others and make a difference in their lives, I wouldn’t have as much time to cast a critical eye on social media. Just a thought.

Today, I had a job interview. I was nervous and excited, but mostly excited. In my mind, I was already planning the celebration for finally being employed after a year out of a job. But alas, it didn’t go as planned.

Actually, it went exactly the way God planned. Just not how I in my own vivid imaginations planned. It ended up being a call center job that I was being considered for and even the thought of being on the phone all day in a customer service setting freaks me right out.

I’m not saying it’s a bad job. Some people are wired for that sort of work. They come alive in that kind of high energy, high pressure environment. Just not me.So here I am, feeling a bit disappointed. I also feel a bit like I’m back to square one. But when I’m honest, I remember that God’s right there with me. His perfect plan is still in place. He still knows the plans He has for me and He still works all things together for good for me.

As the praise song goes, “even when I can’t see it, You’re working. Even when I can’t feel it, You’re working.”

That’s true whether I can see it or feel it or not. God doesn’t require for my faith to be perfect before He acts on my behalf. All He asks for is faith the size of a tiny mustard seed. I can even say, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief” and He will still hear me and heal me.

In the meantime, I continue to pray and do my part, trusting that God has been doing His part all along. I know that my hope in an unchanging God will not disappoint me now or ever.

Because sometimes you just need to laugh a little.

“Oh Lord, we often question ourselves to know whether we have real faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, and we will now pray asking you to search us, and try us and see that we are really trusting in him; and if we are, Lord increase our faith. But if we have merely a faith in name, rid us from the counterfeit, and give us yet the real, precious gold, which wisdom alone can furnish.

Oh, for a humble and sincere faith in our divine Lord. Lord, if it is necessary to break our hearts in order that we may have it, then let them be broken. If we have to unlearn a thousand things to learn the sweet secret of faith in him, let us become fools that we may be wise, only bring us surely and really to stand upon the Rock of Ages—so to stand there as never to fall, but to be kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation.”

The Bible talks about faith that is tested by fire like gold (1 Peter 1:7). I’ve posted this before, but I love the idea that a gold refiner knows that the gold is pure when he can see his reflection in it. That’s how it will be for us — one day God will see His reflection in us and so will other people. And every bit of the fiery trial will have been worth it for that moment.

Lord, do whatever it takes for your reflection to be seen in your people — in me.