loose in the fire

Here are some random thoughts of the day:

• I heard a great sermon last night on the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they were bound and thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to pray to a golden statue. While they were in the furnace, the king saw 4 men walking around, unbound, in the fire. The king called the men out of the furnace, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out, completely unharmed from the fire. A story was also told of a young woman who is currently suffering from cancer. She says that everyday she is in the garden of Gethsemane, and everyday Jesus is right there with her. I found those 2 images very powerful: that when we go through rough times, God/Jesus is right there with us, in the furnace of fire or the garden of Gethsemane.
  

• Along the same lines, I am reading Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey, which is amazing. Philip Yancey is one of my heroes. He is so great at bringing real issues to light, questioning them as much as anyone, but having great insight. One of the chapters deals with "wrestling" with God. The idea is that lots of people in the Bible argued/struggled with God. Their prayers were passionate, raw, honest, and persistent. One of the examples of this was actually Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. I think I often think of these prayers as not being the best approach, but Yancey wrote that he believes God actually wants us to have this sort of closeness with God, which makes us comfortable enough to be truthful about how we really feel, which appeals to God's mercy. Of course, it's important to realize that sometimes our prayers will not be answered in the way that we would like them to be, but it's still important to pray, believing that God does answer prayer and does respond to people. And sometimes we also need to pray for the ability to accept and have peace with situations that haven't gone the way we wanted them to (but I feel somewhat relieved knowing that God can handle my ranting and pleading when that's what I am feeling).
  

• On a slightly different note, here's a challenge that was given to me: instead of trying to push away how I feel and being frustrated with my inability to change those feelings, I should think about what I want more of in my life in the next 6 months or so; what goodness do I want more of? What will I do to achieve that? My feelings will come along with me, but they will have a different meaning to me over time; less weight. I have lots of thinking to do...
  

• And on a completely different wavelength, I heard on NPR about scuba divers in Wisconsin having an underwater pumpkin carving competition in 40-something degree water... Awesome. Whatever floats your boat!?

• Finally, I want to say how grateful I am for good times with friends recently, and for ways in which family and friends have blessed me. I know that's not something to be taken for granted.