The Perfect Deal, Sleeping to Glorify God

It is very frustrating how sleep-dependent God has made me. There must be some good in it. Perhaps to keep me humble as I would be prone to think too highly of my abilities if not hindered by my need for much sleep. I think my body needs more than 9 hours of sleep each day and it will never get them as long as I live.

Yet last week I had to come to a point of surrender. I was so tired and therefore so depressed that I despaired and cried out to God. I basically had to say, "God, you are God and I am not. You are great and I'm puny. You are wonderfully powerful and I am extremely feeble. I need you and you don't. I'm going to bed now, because I'm being a fool and you don't need me. I can sleep and you will continue to work out your wonderful plan for the salvation of your children, the joy of your elect and the glory of your name. Please give me restful sleep, in Jesus' name."

And with that I went to bed, cranky, tired and frustrated at how weak I am. Yet is this not a way to glorify God? To work with all your heart is God-glorifying, but to rest in His sovereignty is also wonderful worship, if done consciously.

So fear not you sleep-deprived generation. Glorify God by sleeping, granted that your life glorifies Him in the first place...

How good is good enough?

What is excellence? How do you know if you've worked hard enough and
tried hard enough? While working onboard the Doulos, I often heard
people remark in this manner. They would comment on how the task was
above them, they couldn't do it and yet, by God's grace the job was
done. I don't want to criticize this view, as I've been there many
times. But there is something in that attitude that perturbs me. It
seems to say that we should be placed in jobs that our beyond our
ability so that God is the one who does the job.
This is all very nice, but couldn't we also say that we do our best
and no matter what we do, God is the one who gave us the ability to
do and will what we did? I don't know if this makes any sense. What I
suppose I dislike is the attitude, "I'm not qualified for this, I
have no idea what I'm doing." I would contrast that with, "I can do
this. I've studied, worked myself to a place where I can confidently
say, 'I can do this, through God who strengthens me.'"

Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Phil. 2v12)

This is perhaps obvious for some and dumb to others. Again, I've
spent three years with the Doulos, where we're repeatedly placed in
areas out of our expertise. But in a general way, I think we should
take some confidence in our abilities and simply work our self hard.
And when we succeed in the end, we give God all the credit.
What I mean by this is simply:
Should we have a God who uses us in our weaknesses or a God that gives us strength? Are these different or the same thing?

Cutting Hedges to the Glory of God

Today, I spent the morning cutting the hedge in front of our house. I took a simple video that shows the morning's work in two minutes. My thought during the work was, "How am I supposed to do this to the glory of God?"
I didn't come to any great revelations in the matter. I still feel more value in studying the Bible, in conversation with others, in preaching and in any any other form that the gospel is shared (coffee drinking?).

Anyways, here is the video: