February 21

“All the dealings of God with the soul of the believer are in order to bring it into oneness with Himself, that the prayer of our Lord may be fulfilled; ‘That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. ...’”  Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, p. 219

I was having a conversation with a friend this morning about how women marry men hoping they will change, but they don’t, and men marry women hoping they won’t change, but they do.  That led into a conversation about the times we women don’t like change.  It was only later that I realized why sometimes we are eager for change and other times not.  It has every thing to do with whether or not we have control over what and when something changes.  As I think about Hannah’s words concerning God’s dealings with us I’m struck by the single-mindedness of this task.  Whereas we run around trying to grasp the meaning of this or that event in our lives or attempting to make sense of things that perplex and vex us, Christ says His prayer for us is that we all may be one--with one another and with God. I should think Christ will get what He prays for!  Grasping this makes my need to be in control of the events in my life rather pointless.  In fact, trying to be in control more than not interferes with God’s plan for me to become one with Him and others because only He can see the whole picture.  So I think I should just relax and see what He’s got planned for the day.

“I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.” John 17:23