the former and the now......

One of the names of God is Counselor. He knows very well our needs. He knows the heights we will experience and the depths because in reality He orders our steps. The Lord, in these 2 1/2 years has given and guided me to soooo many scriptures. They are all different ones, yet they have a thread, a truth woven into all of them. He is in control, He is God and all that He does is good and right! One of the things I am learning, not having "learnt" it yet, is that God wants me to "think higher." When anyone faces a trial, it is as though there is not a darker, nor lower place to be and our natural man seems to absorb in all the darkness and trial and we succumb so much that it then affects how we go about our lives, how we live daily, how we think! You see some times people when experiencing a trial or after one feel like they need counsel. But really they need Jesus, in the Cross or if they know him, they need Him as their Counselor. I am so thankful that He has been my Counselor, and that through scriptures over these 2 1/2 years, He is continually calling me to "think higher." He speaks and says, His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, that very scripture calls us think "higher." He tells us to set not our affections on things of this world, again we are called to "think higher."To look to the unseen, for a city not built with hands, for rewards in faithfulness, to invest in things that will not rust, all these truths should cause us to "think higher." For me, Joel being there, is definitely helping me to "think higher." But alot of times I have to say, I "think" about the former and how it was when Joel was here. I read a scripture today and it really spoke to my heart.

who is left among you that saw this house
in her first glory? and how do ye
see it now? is it not in your
own eyes in comparison
of it as nothing?

Haggai 2:3

You see, sometimes I think back to the "former" and "think" to myself that what we had was so right, so good, we were all together in our house, on our little farm, it was all "perfect." I think back to the former and remember our house in all of her first glory, like the verse says. What I do is compare the former to the now. If I "think," so to speak lower, I am thinking in my mind that I will not find now with equal delight and pleasure of what I thought we had. It seems like I am thinking, "God messed up, this is nothing compared to what I use to have." But what I need to do is think "higher," thoughts. I need to see the now as, even better and if for no other reason, it is because God himself has worked this plan for our family, for our house. There is no answer to the question above in the verses, I guess those people could not "think higher" either about the temple that once was and now needed finishing and they were weary, they were comparing the glory that use to be and so longed for that same glory. It is as if the Lord knows we will question and compare the former and the now. He is Omniscient, He discerns our thoughts. So in verse, 4- 5, He tells us to be strong, to work, He is with us, His Spirit remains among us. I need to "think" that the Lord is fully able to grant and give a "glory" even now. That He can give me delight and joys and pleasures even though Joel is not here with us. In verse 9, it says, the glory for this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. I can not answer if our house, the former, was not giving God all the glory it could have, but I am confident that in the now, God will get the glory, not because of anything of us or about us, but its because His plans are being carried out in and through a death. That is what He desires, for His glory to be manifested and our good comes from all His workings and plans. So, I want to "think higher" for the now and rest peacefully that it is better than the former. It will be an exercise of my spirit, heart and mind for sure!! Do you see how through scriptures, He is our Counselor?