Far too easily pleased...

songs in the night!

Any fool can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it; when wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can sing to the praise of a God who gives a plenteous harvest. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but the skillful singer is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light by read by- who sings from his heart, and not from a book that he can see, because he has no means of reading, save from that inward book of his own living spirit, whence notes of gratitude pour out in songs of praise. No man can make a song in the night himself. The Christian gets his songs from God: God gives him inspiration, and teaches him how to sing: "God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night."

So, then, poor Christian, thou needest not to go pumping up thy poor heart to make it glad. Go to thy Maker and ask Him to give thee a song in the night. Thou art a poor dry well: thou hast heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour water down it first of all, and then you will get some up; and so, Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask Him to pour some joy down thee, and then thou wilt get some joy up from thine own heart. Do not go to this comforter or that, for you will find them Job's comforters, after all; but go thou first and foremost to thy Maker, for he is the great composer of songs and teacher of music; he it is who can teach thee how to sing: "God, my Maker, who giveth me songs in the night!"

It is not natural to sing in trouble- "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name:" for that is a daylight song. But it was a divine song which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said- "Though the fig-tree shall not blossom…yet will I trust in the Lord."
Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of man because usually in the night of a Christian's experience God is his only song.

(Charles Spurgeon, Song in the Night pg. 171)

walking on water

As summer draws to a close it is a crazy feeling knowing that this might be my last (gulp) "real" summer. I start my senior year of college in exactly 22 days. I know people always say time flies but I feel like college has given that saying a whole new meaning. I feel like this is a time of my life I wish I could just freeze because I have the best group of friends and community in Chapel Hill. I feel so unbelievably blessed with friends who love Jesus and each other so well.
What am I going to be doing after college you ask? I don't know, but He does. I obsess about the future because I get anxious, and anxiety is simply living out the future before it gets here. The most important things in life center around WHO we are, not where we are.

I have to plan but I also have to remember that men plan but ultimately it's the Lord's purposes that prevails. His, not mine. He will place me exactly where He wants me so I can rest and experience peace in the face of life-changing decisions. It might not be exactly what I had in mind, but as long as I am seeking Him I can be confident that He's already determined how to fit my choices into His sovereign will.
God's teaching me to become more comfortable in the unknown, knowing that for the Lord, there is no such thing as unknown. What a mighty God we serve!

"We must renounce our sinful desires to know the future and to be in control. We are not gods. We walk by faith, not by sight. We risk because God does not risk. We walk into the future in God-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is known to God. And that's all we need to know. Worry about the future is not simply a character tic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God...So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God." Kevin DeYoung