George MacDonald's Diary of an Old Soul

Well, I've had my copy of Diary of an Old Soul for several days. It is not what I expected; it's written in a "poetry/prose" style that is very different from that of Oswald Chambers. However, I take comfort in the forward, written by Alvin N. Rogness, which advises readers that Mr. MacDonald's content is not always easy to grasp, but is worth the time and effort.

For those who are interested, Mr. MacDonald was a direct descendant of the survivors of the Glencoe Massacre, and a writer of fantasy and fiction who influenced C.S. Lewis, J. R.R. Tolkien, Madeleine L'Engle. One of my friends from church, Tom , has read MacDonald's fiction, and I intend to continue to study his diary.

Choosing suffering versus choosing God's will even if it means suffering

Another reference from Oswald Chambers great My Utmost For His Highest.

http://www.myutmost.org/08/0810.html

My wife and I discussed that very topic after I kept "going back" to that day's devotional. The challenge is to know whether we have chosen the suffering: a bad job, poor relationship, etc. , or if "it" is God's will for our lives.

I confess that I do not know whether or not my "suffering" (such as it is) is indeed God's deliberate will for my life or is it the consequences of my actions, or the actions of others? Perhaps I may never know until a day when I will not even care.

The relationship, an Old Soul's Diary, and Still Higher for His Highest

During my Monday morning Old Gold (a mens group) meeting one of our group talked about his feeling there is something he is supposed to be doing but can't quite grasp it, and needs The Lord to show him the path. I responded "Join the club. Been in that position for 5 years." Eventually though I realized what I need to get is that my first priority needs to be my relationship to God, through Christ, and all else will fall into place.

Oswald Chambers wrote about that very thing in today's My Utmost for His Highest: "We must never allow anything to injure our relationship with God; if it does get injured we must take time and get it put right. The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is being continually assailed. "

On other subjects, I found, when ordering a book for my wife, that Mr Chambers wrote a follow-up to My Utmost, and it's called Still Higher for His Highest. That and Diary of an Old Soul, by George MacDonald, will soon be in my hands and serve, along with My Utmost as my daily devotional readings.