Conspiring Against Me

For people will be lovers of self (2 Tim 3:2)

Tweaking what Calvin said, God sends afflictions into my life to wean me from an excessive love of myself. The Heidelberg, always encouraging, adds that God "will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world." (No. 26)

Bottomline: That terrible weekend I just endured, where everything conspired against me, Kristin was terribly sick, my three-year old suffered from some sort of urinary problem, my newborn owned the night, and my dog wouldn't quit barking, shows that God's loving providence is often acutely painful. But instead of "kissing the rod", I'm more apt to get out of its way. The old man -- that self-lover -- dies hard, and the new man needs a lot of maturing. The remedy for both problems is suffering.

This weekend reminded me that the Baileys, this family that I am the head of, certainly does not have it all together. We have our list of issues, we can be "high maintenance", we are often undone. We need the Lord. We need Him who comes "proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every affliction" (Mt 4:23).