Was Sarah’s laugh a bit cynical? If you heard Kyle’s recent sermon on Genesis 18, you may have been pondering this. After an evening e-mail chat with a friend concerning the pain of this broken world, I woke up and sent this:

My morning thought:

We are apt to react in a silent cynical laugh when in our pain and frustration we read "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things". (“Sarah laughed”. Abraham said, "Yeah. Right. Let's just use Ishmael.") However, the way we "think about such things" is not by ignoring the pain and the wrongs, but by applying the Promise to them. The angst you rightly feel over the news, day after day, and all the fury you justly feel over the wrongs done in this world, put you in a strengthened position to "whooo-hooo" over His promised eternal resolution. "He will wipe away every tear" means more when you understand how many tears there are (indeed, when some of the tears are your own). "The leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the nations" is all the more amazing when you grasp the unspeakable horrors generated by these fallen nations. He WILL do all this. Not just in a "well, I guess it's ok" sort of way, but perfectly. All these things will be righted. Really, truly righted. Impossible? Seemingly. But true nonetheless. How unimaginably awesome is that? Maybe down deep you are struggling to comprehend that God's power and goodness can and will heal ALL these things. The way we "think about such things" is not by ignoring the wrong, but by applying the Promise to it. I pray for Joy in His Promise for you today as you celebrate that each wrong you hear of, or read about, or suffer, is one of the wrongs He has promised to right. 

The next morning I wrote simply:

It is cold and dark out.  Coffee.