Who calls me his child...

Sometimes I get to the end of the day--even good days-- and feel weary, and want to indulge in a little night-time pity party.  Some times, unfortunately, I manage to pull it off.  But more frequently, I find the kindness of my Savior simply won't allow me to go there, despite my foolish trying to do so.  Following on the heels of Sunday's excellent message, I read this tonight:

The bottom line is this: The problem is not that God is not here or that He is inactive; the problem is that we don't see him. Our perspective on life is is often tragically godless. We miss the one thing worth seeing, the glory of the ever-present God. When this happens, our lives are not built on the foundation of God's glory, which was intended to give our lives a starting point and a destination, a reason to get up and strength to go on...

~Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change (Resources for Changing Lives) p.98

The truth is, I could have quoted most of the 10 pages I read tonight for their sheer application to the sorry state of my own heart.  But the story doesn't stop with my weakness and sin and self-glorifying idol-making. 

Galatians 5 calls us to hold onto two realities. The first is the every-day reality of the war for the heart, the war between God's "within you" kingdom ad the kingdom of creation. I must face the reality of indwelling sin and my propensity to run after god-replacements. I am called to face my duplicity and my idolotry, and the fact that this war is the most significant inner dynamic of human experience...The second reality must be held tightly at the same time.  it is the reality of my idetity as a child of God and the resources that are therefore mine in Christ...

~Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change (Resources for Changing Lives) p.92

And so, I set my pity-arty aside, and remind myself not of my feelings, but of what I ought to be feeling: love and gratitude for a God who calls me his child.