Smile. God Loves You.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
abounding in steadfast love...
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame.
He remembers:
we are dust.

Psalm 103



In a world where sackcloth and ashes are appropriate attire, a smile is an act of FAITH, not presumption.


In a world turned upside-down, it is JOY that reveals true humility.
It is pride and rebellion that refuse to let go of the sins God wills to fling into the ocean;
it is arrogance to think that my sadness can atone for my sins, past or future --
or that any guilt-induced act of charity or contrition can truly and ultimately redeem a brokenness in my life or another's.


In reality, it is faith that saves both myself and others -- not any of those deeply ingrained and innate human reactions to the pervasiveness of the effects of the fall that we all share. They may be instruments used in God's right hand to bring comfort, but I know this: I am no savior.


Despite what we see or how we feel, this is what we hear:
"Steadfast love SURROUNDS the one who trusts in the Lord." Psalm 32:10


This is what it boils down to:
TRUST.


The words of God, then, become food and water, life and breath -- a way of seeing and knowing everything. And God is The Great Perceiver: as George Berkeley put it, "Truth is that which corresponds to reality as it is perceived by God." Our own hearts deceive us, and we are deceived. But when we listen and watch for "The One Thing that is needed," we find Ann Voskamp's words to be true:

"The uncontainable God reveals Himself in the smallest containers of grace."

Faith consists in an awareness that I am more than I know, said Madeleine L'engle. And Martin Luther said it best, many years ago:

"I must look elsewhere -- and see no sin.
This is wonderful, not to see what I see, not to feel what I feel...
Salvation is outside of ourselves."


Strongholds, high places, and idols are shattered when we listen and pay attention to the voice of The Great Perceiver speaking truth to our hearts; He alone can remove the scales and open the ears, and soften the hearts.


And so it ought not to be only the world that Christ's disciples turn upside down (Acts 17:6) -- it ought also to be our frowns.

Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I Thess. 5:16-17