More Musings from Chicago…

...a lonely husband's thoughts on human circumstances and the Sovereignty of God.

Not wanting my wife to have all the new millennium fun, I thought I would leave the Dark Ages and take a crack at this new-fangled blog thing.

A lot of you wonderful people have been asking how to pray for me and my family. First of all, thank you. We FEEL your prayers. Without a doubt that is the most important thing you can do for us right now. Again, Thank you!

In terms of specifics, what can I say; it can be very easy for me to feel sorry for myself sitting alone in a basement office day after day, sleeping with my feet dangling off a girl's bed in the home of a church elder with the people I love the most in life being more than 500 miles away. Can you believe it...I am actually tired of eating out!

I want "normal".

But, God in his sovereign grace has decided that I don't need "normal" right now.

So, what do I need? What does my family need? I don't know.

But, I can share with you what I am learning...again.

You could say that my family is going through a classic "valley" experience.

Valleys are interesting places. The only place you can look is up. And when you do look up, you see a whole lot of things that are bigger than you...reminding you of your actual place in this world. For some reason, being in valleys give us all more perspective...about really big things and how we relate to them.

So, you ask, what are the really big things I am learning about?

In short...Valleys!

You see, in His graciousness, God has brought me back to those wonderful people: the Puritans. What’s not to love? Has their ever been a more God-soaked vision of the world and all that is in it?

This prayer in particular has been both a comfort and a challenge…

The Valley of Vision
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett

Sovereign Grace Ministries has actually written a song based on this prayer:
(you can listen to it by clicking the link Sovereign Grace Ministries next to this post)

So how can you really pray for us right now?

Of course, you can pray that the house would sell and that we could be back together soon.

But, what do you pray in the meantime?

On behalf of my family, I would ask that you pray something like this:

That while the Bechtles are “hemmed in” by the circumstances of life (and our sinfulness to boot!), we may experience new heights with our God and Savior.

And that we may revel in God’s glory in our “valley”,

And as we do so, we may be an example to those who have been, are, or will be traveling these same valley floors.

…just a humble request from a lonely husband (who really doesn't have it all that bad after all).