I began this humongous book of epic proportions to read to my kids entitled “The Arabian Nights: Their Best Known Tales.” I’ ve been reading it pretty much non-stop for the past 5 days mainly because it’s due back at the library today. I finally finished it last night and even my kids were glad.
This book was refreshing because the stories are all ancient and most talk a lot about God or Allah. It’s nice to see how the characters rely on God and his will for their lives. Some good quotes I enjoyed:
I resigned myself to the will of God.
Call upon the Almighty, He will help thee; thou needest not perplex thyself about anything else; shut thy eyes and whilst thou are asleep, God will change thy bad fortune into good.
There is no strength or power but in God alone, who is almighty.
God’s purposes concerning me are as yet hid in darkness.
Several times the characters submit to the will of God and chalk up the calamities of their lives and their situations to His will. They never complain and about it but just accept (or submit if you will) to it and move forward, making the best of what has happened.
I wish I had more of this attitude in my life. The ability to accept things in your life and not try to fight or change the bad stuff and to do all this humbly and with grace is hard in our day and time of instant gratification.
To realize that God does have a plan for your life but it is hidden in darkness, waiting for you to discover it.
Good stuff to think about this weekend.