THY KINGDOM

I Chronicles 29: 11:

"Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, LORD, and thou art exalted as Head above all."

Matthew 6:10:

"Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

Matthew 6:33:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

The first scripture quoted is from a prayer that King David was praying. He was ascribing the kingdom that he was ruling to God--not his kingdom, but God's. The second quote is from our Lord Himself as he taught His disciples to pray to His Father. The third quote is a summary from Jesus as He talked to His disciples about priorities.

My mind has been processing the idea of God's Kingdom vs Our Kingdoms for many years (I process slowly). Since I am not a theologian nor a Bible scholar, I will just share some of my thoughts and how they relate to Ray and I. Hopefully, you can glean a little for yourself from my thoughts.

In years past when we were working at Ravinia, I often would refer to our working as "building God's Kingdom" or "Kingdom Building." A number of years ago, I began rethinking this notion. I watched as some organizations nosedived and methodically appeared to destroy themselves while onlookers watched in horror as those in positions to make decisions made obviously unwise ones. Being someone who likes to know the 'whys' of life, I tried to make sense out of it, even twisting my mind into strange thought patterns to understand what was behind it. Some decisions appeared to be a desperate attempt to save what these people had carefully molded and shaped into 'their kingdom'-aka- "God's Kingdom." Frightening? Yes. I believe that I can have the best of intentions and feel that I am performing 'Kingdom Building' when I am actually selfishly attempting to build a safe place for myself where I can be in control. What does this mean to us in Lower Brule?

• We are not in control of things--God is, and we will be satisfied with that.
• Whether we work alone or God calls someone else to work with us here is up to Him.
• We will accept who He sends. If He sends someone ,we will 'get along' with them.
• We will do what we can as far as encouraging people to attend services, and we will make opportunities, but we are not responsible if some respond or some do not. We will not count our success or failure by numbers.
• We will not complain if those who 'should be helping' are not helping. We are responsible for what we do.
• We will ignore those who compare us with 'success' and ridicule us, and we will love them.
• We will love those who ignore us.
• We will continue to love those who love us here in Lower Brule, and we will love those who do not love us.
• We will continue our labors here as long as we feel that this is in God's will for us.
• We will not constantly expect His will to change, but we will rest in the confidence that He will make His will plain to us when He wants us to make a change (remember, we will continue...)
• Lower Brule is God's Kingdom, and He has honored us to allow us to work here for a time. We will try to be faithful and do what we can, and we will try to always keep in step with and be sensitive to God's planning. God's Kingdom will advance, and Lower Brule is still a lighthouse in Lower Brule despite satan's attempts to destroy it. It is not our work, but it is God's.

I am sitting above Lower Brule at an outlook that overlooks the Big Bend where LB is nestled against the bend in the river. The view is spectacular this evening. I have taken pictures from this area before, but my camera is 'on the blink.' The sun is setting, and the golden bluffs across the river are mirrored perfectly in the still water. Buffalo wander in the buttes below, and the pink clouds are flung across the multi- blue sky. The river is reflecting the pink light of the sky at the bend, and the rose fades into a deeper blue as it progresses down the river. Lights are beginning to sparkle in LB as people are beginning their supper. This could be one of the last days left this fall when I can sit up here in the car with the window down and wearing a sweater enjoying the evening. I cannot express how much I love our time here at LB on the weekends, and how much we love the work.