Days Like These

As the issue became clear late yesterday afternoon and it grew apparent that my evening was unlikely to go as I had wanted and expected, my natural reaction was to assign fault, grow frustrated, and get stressed. I wish I could say that by the power of the Spirit I overcame (Rom. 8:37) and lived out a godly attitude in the midst of trial, but that would be a lie and an insult to injury.

By God's grace, I did recover from such innate reactions more quickly than usual, being reminded of His goodness and many blessings. Even so, this battle continued as the night toiled on, wounds notwithstanding, with the words from a Bob Carlisle song ringing true: The saints are just the sinners who fall down and get up.

Another song which was playing after The Porch also ministered greatly to me in the early morning hours around 1am. I have included it at the bottom, courtesy of the David Crowder Band.

The graphic in the upper right has been my digital companion since yesterday and is the metric for my failure or success in this issue with DFS-R (Distributed File System Replication). To borrow from Switchfoot, thank You, Lord, for putting motion inside our souls and in this Task Manager graphic.

So, after and in the middle of days like these... I am thankful, Lord, that I have not had such a day for many months now. Forgive me for not being more grateful prior to Your reminder. I am thankful that I have a job--at all--and one which has not counted technical problems like these against me. I am thankful for worship, The Porch, JP and Your truth which he presents, and the encouragement of dear friends and companions who mean more to me than they know. Father, I am thankful that You forgive us when we try to rely on our own strength and seek our own relief and fall as a result. Thank You for Your love and how great it is. Thank You.

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

That He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

// David Crowder Band: How He Loves Us