Start Counting

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.
Phil 4:8

Paul was writing from a prison cell, and the people who received the letter were facing the harsh persecution of Rome, hell-bent on wiping out the growing ‘Christian problem.’ Knowing the situation surrounding this communique to the Philippians, we are surprised by Paul’s upbeat, joyful, love letter, until we get to get to the final chapter. There Paul gives us a simple key to finding joy- start counting. Paul tells the Philippians to take note of whatever is right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Paul encourages the Philippians to focus their thoughts on those things. In the words of an old gospel hymn-

Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your many blessings, see what God has done

This recipe for joy is not news to us. We have heard the encouragement to start counting more times than we can count. Yet, in the midst of all the awful the world is throwing at us, this call to claim joy needs to be shouted from the rooftops. START COUNTING!

The other day I went to the hospital to visit one of our dear members. She has metastatic cancer- the fancy terminology doctors give to a cancer that has no known pathway to a cure. Her cancer is currently held at bay by new medical advances that are buying her family precious time, but the threat is always looming. And if battling cancer were not challenging enough, now her body is fighting against itself, destroying blood cells, and damaging her body’s ability to create new ones. Yet, even with these battles raging, stealing away her strength and even her breath, she met me with a sweet smile that filled my heart with joy. She allowed just a few minutes to give an update on her medical condition before she quickly refocused our conversation. “I am so blessed,” she said. “God is so good.” The witness she gave in the ensuing minutes filled my heart with joy. If we were in her shoes, most of us would be overwhelmed with the reality of her medical condition. But she stubbornly chooses joy. Her natural instinct is to start counting God’s blessings.

Perhaps this is the moment when you would like to interject a ‘Yes, but…’ You might feel the need to point out how much is going wrong in our world today. Let’s count: a war in the Middle East that defies a peaceful solution, leaving millions of children in harm’s way… a war in Ukraine that most have forgotten… children starving in Africa as Putin holds Ukrainian wheat hostage… protests at home… politics that leave the American public with few if any honorable choices… violence in our streets… struggles in our classrooms… morality at an all-time low… The list could go on. Should I continue counting? Just one glance at the news gives us a count that overwhelms our senses. Using one of my mother’s old phrases- the world seems to have gone to hell in a handbasket. Yet should that count have the last say? St. Paul and our dear LVC member would answer with a resounding NO. They are not asking us to ignore the challenging realities around us. As God’s people, we are called to be God’s healing balm in a hurting world, so we need to be aware of the challenges. But we can only serve well, if we allow the beauty God is creating to be a balm to our souls.

This past weekend, the world was treated to an artistic display that only the Creator could splash across the skies- the Aurora Borealis. Those Northern Lights are the result of a violent cosmic event as solar flares slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph. Those flares could destroy life on earth, but God designed a protective magnetic field around the earth that turns danger into beauty. I saw the dancing colors of the Northern Lights years ago when our family was stationed on the NATO base in Iceland. Usually, those Lights can only be seen in the northern latitudes. But this past weekend, the solar storms were so strong that those stunning colors danced across all 50 states.

Unfortunately, our local weather kept the Philadelphia skies shrouded so we missed the whole show. Or did we… If you were at Lenape Valley for worship on Sunday, you know that God brought the show of His blessings inside, first with our little ones singing to their moms, then the sweet moment when Owen was baptized- not a dry eye in the house, and finally the strong worship leadership by Sarah as she prepares to start Temple’s music school in the fall. So many blessings! But don’t stop counting, because next Sunday our Genesis youth will lead us in worship as they take an important step in their faith journey. While I count the blessings today, I find myself singing… 

Summer and winter, springtime, and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness… Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

With you… still counting…
Anita