Father, you are greater than anyone or anything in all the universe. For you created all that is, all that was, and all that is to come. There is no one like you. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You are full of wisdom, Father. You are all wise. Everything you have done, are doing now, and will do in the future is guided by your infinite good and perfect wisdom. When you created the universe, you considered how it should be made and how it should work. Out of the chaos of the darkness, you set in motion rules and order that every part of your creation would follow, down to the tiniest atomic particle. You created light and separated it from darkness. You created the sun, moon, and stars and in your great wisdom determined how they should operate. You carefully considered and commanded how your creation would operate at the tiniest quantum level, something we are just now discovering. You carefully considered and commanded how your creation would operate at the macro level. Much of that we are still learning about. When you created the earth, you did so with care and consideration, according to your great wisdom, as “the Spirit hovered over the waters.” When you created man, you did so according to your infinite wisdom, deciding how our bodies should look and work. When you breathed the breath of life into the first man, it was with great purpose and wisdom, creating someone with whom you could have a relationship. You made us in your image, according to your likeness. You did this because you not only wanted to have a relationship with us, but because you had decided that we would rule over the earth, and we needed to be like you to do so. Just as you created the earth, sun, moon, and stars out of the chaos of the deep, out of nothingness, you gave man the wisdom and intellect to create order out of the chaos that was the early earth and its creatures. Even though man rebelled against you, you were not surprised by this. For you saw it before anything came into being. You knew that it would happen, yet in your great wisdom you still created man with the option of following you or rebelling against you. For you wanted creatures who had a choice. Only with choice could you have a real relationship with man. Though this rebellion was horrendous and with awful consequences for man, in your great wisdom you had planned a solution to this rebellion, a redemption of man, though it would be at great cost to yourself. Yet this was part of your infinitely wise plan. For though it cost you everything to redeem man from his sin, the death of your only begotten son, Jesus, it showed something of you that could not be seen without it. It showed the spiritual forces in high places, and man, that you are merciful, gracious, full of love and compassion. It showed that you are the great Giver, the one who gives with no strings attached. No mandate that we should follow you, only an invitation to return to you. We saw these parts of your nature that we could not have seen otherwise. Again, in your great wisdom, you gave us the choice to follow Jesus and have a relationship with you – or not. This was always part of your plan. In this way, we are free to choose. In this way, we can have a relationship with you that is based on hope and trust. We hope and trust for what we do not yet see. This is called faith. We must believe that you are good and that you reward those who diligently seek you. We give up our rights to rebel against you for the joy of being redeemed by you and knowing you. We choose to trust and hope that one day you will turn these mortal bodies of ours into glorious eternal bodies that will serve you and others forever. And as a down payment of sorts, you placed your Spirit in us so that we would be comforted and guided by you along the way as we journey through this life. He guides us into all truth, giving us wisdom where we lack it and joy in place of mourning. We are so blessed by this wisdom of yours, Father! May your Spirit rule in our hearts as we draw closer to you. May we love as you love and give as you give. May we be Jesus to all whom our lives touch. May I be Jesus to all whom my life touches. This is my prayer. Amen.
Amen, amen