All posts by Lee Scott

Lee is a high school English and former elementary school teacher, a perpetual student, confessed bibliophile, aspiring writer, and someone who is at least eighteen-thousand inches from having "it" altogether & having "it" all figured out. She lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Currently a secondary substitute teacher for a local public school district, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education (The King's College, NY) and 1/4 of a Master of Education, Teaching and Learning, English cognate (Liberty University, VA (online) "degree" (she hopes to earn the other 3/4 sooner rather than later to make it a complete degree).
Enchanted Beholder Moments

Goodness

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“…[F]or my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.” ~Psalm 27:11b-13 NLT

‘Today’, I name you GOODNESS because God is good. Because He is good, I can eagerly anticipate His lovingkindness and unfailing benevolence towards me.

Recently, the numerous enemies were closing in on all sides. Egregious false accusations and punitive actions all fueled by malicious intentions were coming at me in all directions. I’ve been fighting the continuous onslaught for a while, but the recent intensification had pulverized even the smallest remaining amounts of strength. Once again I found myself in the midst of a gut-wrenching ugly-messy cry mixed with recounting God’s promises to Him. In the midst of it all, I told the Lord I needed to see tangible evidence of His goodness.

Almost immediately, I sensed God’s still small voice asking me to take what amounted to a giant step of faith, one that would require trusting God in an area similar to where I’ve experienced repeated hurt and betrayal. While I had forgiven the offenders, trust had been broken and not restored; keeping myself out of offenders’ potential stone-throwing range was my very comfy comfort-zone. “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him” (Tolkien, 217) was the name of my antitrust game plan.

An immediate incredulous high-pitched squeaky “What?!” escaped. I paused, if only to stop communicating with dolphins, and took a long breath. “Really? Seriously? Er, well, um…not exactly the confidence-boost in Your goodness I was looking for, Lord.” And the ugly-messy crying out-promise recounting became a lecture explaining to God why His idea to see His goodness manifested would never, ever work, and it would most certainly never, ever work because, well honestly, I was completely clueless on where to start. Nothing, no connections, nada. I even tried to prove it would never, ever work (#donottrythisstrategy -UGH!!) If this was the step I was supposed to take, God would have to put a starting point on someone else’s heart. And guess what? That’s exactly what God did.

If God’s goodness is His unfailing benevolence, if His lovingkindness, like His beauty, is past change, how can I be anything other than confident I’ll see evidence of His goodness in my life? The question is: Am I refusing to trust and choosing to despair while I continue to engage with the problem? Or am I choosing to trust, remain confident I’ll see His goodness and experience joy?

Ah, there’s the rub. And post-lecture I find myself staring at a mostly blank page in my gratitude journal. Eventually the “looking” yields the courage I need to take the first baby-step with the starting point God had put on someone else’s heart.

“God meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be.” ~Dr. Larry Crabb, Real Church

And He meets us in that place with His goodness because that is who He is: an ever-present God who relentlessly pursues us with His goodness and kindness every day of our lives. 

So, Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to trust the Creator for all I have yet to see.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to discover His mercies are new every morning.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to awaken to Christ’s presence in your moments.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to accept Mission: Impossible instead of another lap around Mt. Sinai.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to behold the beauty of your moments, not the ugliness.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to choose joy over despair.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me to count the blessings, not the cost.

Today, I confidently name you GOODNESS because recording over 2,000 ways God demonstrates His love towards me is teaching me when I count the blessings I discover the One who can be counted on.

And when I actively look for the One who can be counted on, I discover joy. So, Today, I name you GOODNESS and eagerly anticipate the revelations of God’s goodness in each of your moments.

What are you learning? Are you learning to count the blessings or are you still counting the cost?

#countyourblessings  #namethemonebyone #besurprisedbyjoy  #lookwhattheLordhasdone #heartitudeofgratitude #Nameyourday