Devotion - Wednesday of Holy Week

In 2 Corinthians 1:23ff Paul expresses how God must feel when He looks at us and our lives.  Paul finds it necessary to write to the church in Corinth of the ways in which they may be more consistent in their following of the way of Jesus.  And yet, he is hesitant to do so, because those very same persons (the ones to whom he must write) are also the very persons upon whom he depends for his opportunity to rejoice.

There is this careful balancing of speaking the truth about current realities, without forgetting the irreversible nature of their calling.

God does derive much joy and happiness from us, His chosen ones.  How it pleases him to see us go about our daily tasks with an assurance that we are his agents in the world.

But there are many instances in which we fall short of the fullness of his glory and his hope for us.  There are ways in which we grieve his heart.

On this Wednesday of Holy Week, it is important to remember both ends of the spectrum.  To be assured that we are God's delight; while also being prepared to accept critique about those things which would bring us more closely in line with God's hope for us.  God's joy is not removed; but it is at times tempered.