NACR Daily Meditation for Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004

13 Oct 2004 07:00:01 -0000

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NACR Daily Meditation for Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004

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Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet
been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies
himself, just as he is pure.1 John 3:2-3

Christians do not believe about life that 'what you see is what you get'.
Quite to the contrary, Christians believe that many things we cannot now
see are still part of God's plans for us. Some days we cannot see (or maybe
even imagine) what it would be like to be completely recovered. But we know
that this is God's plan for us. God is committed to our full recovery. As
this text puts it, God will not be done with us until we are 'like him'.
That is as 'recovered' as you can get.

The clarity of God's plan for us can give us hope. It may be a difficult
journey, but you can get somewhere from here. We can make it because God
is involved in the process of our transformation. This hope can give us
a kind of purity of purpose and vision. Because God is committed to our
full recovery, we are not alone with our hopes and dreams. Because God is
committed to our full recovery, we have a power greater than our own to
help with the struggle. Because God is committed to our full recovery, we
can find rest and courage in the purity of God's vision for us.

Because God is committed to our full recovery, we can let go of our pathetic
little idol gods and turn to the true and living God. When we worshipped
a god-of-impossible-expectations, we became driven and compulsive. When
we worshipped a god-who-abused, we became fearful and frozen. When we worshipped
a god-who-keeps-his-distance, we fought despair. As we begin to see God
as loving, we come to believe that we are lovable. As we begin to see that
God wants us to let go of our self-destructive behaviors in order to live
more fully, we come to believe that we are precious and valuable.

What I see, Lord,
is not always a very pretty picture.
I long for you to appear.
If you enter the picture, everything changes.
Seeing you changes everything
because I know that when I see you,
I am changed.
Seeing you transforms me.
Sink this hope deep within me, Lord.
Purify me with this hope.
Thank you. 
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan 

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