Resilient

Resilient as defined by Merriam-Webster:
a : capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture
b : tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
 

From Praying the Promises of God, by Cheri Fuller and Jennifer Kennedy Dean

May 2, Resilient by Design
The oft-repeated metaphor of God as our Father paints a portrait of God's love for us as protecting, providing, guiding, teaching. It's a love that is personal and intimate, tender and compassionate.
Your relationship to God as you Father can be the basis for restful living. Consider who your Father is. The fact that God is your Father is not just a lovely idea or a comforting thought. It has day-by-day, minute-by-minute practical effects in your life. He is your provider. He knows what you need and has already made arrangements to provide it. He's going to take care of you.
Jesus portrayed the Father-heart of God in showing us that God is attentive to us and watchful over us. He directed us to consider how the lilies grow. Effortlessly. Without strain or anxiety. They simply receive what they need...
If he created them so carefully, with resilience built in, surely his blueprint for us includes the ability to flourish under any circumstances. With God as our Father, we can live at peace. He will not lead us into disaster. He will not leave us on our own to wander into danger for which he has not planned our rescue. He always takes into account our frailty and puts his strength in its place. He carries us like a father carries his child. We are safe in his arms.

It's so comforting to see common threads through daily readings. Safe in the everlasting arms of our Father, God our protector, provider, who is tender, intimate and compassionate.

My desire for the quality of being resilient is contained in the second definition--adjust easily to misfortune (misfortune as defined by our culture). Being able to endure suffering with grace would be my new description of resilience.

We are equipped by God for everything we need for life and godliness. If we shift our focus from us to what God provides, would our view of life change?
Would it cause us to be more reflective and less judgmental?
It is this second thought that began percolating after an incident last Saturday. Backing out of a parking space a car came up behind and blew their horn. My interpretation was they were in a hurry and so I pulled back into the space only to watch them pull in to the spot across and behind me. I assumed they blew their horn to get me out of the way, but what if it was to warn me they were right there?
How many times do I presuppose an action rather than contemplating an alternative? It's something to ponder...

Quote of the Day: My silence may be misinterpreted but it can not be misquoted!

Scripture for the Day: 2 Peter 1:3-9, The Message
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
^5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.