Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Dearest God,

On this very chilly day I was working in the cold wet leaves, raking, bagging, and rolling heavy bags to the curb when you came to me. I was chilled to the bone, exhausted, aching all over, and growing irritable. I had fallen into temptation by temporarily slipping back to "yesterday." Jumping to a conclusion I was allowing myself to become upset. Your whisper challenged my thoughts, attitude and behavior. "Trust me," you said, "trust me." As it turned out, a phone call changed things. Shared words brought me around. I saw faith work...again.

How easy it is, O Lord, to fall back to old attitudes and old ways. I know them so well. These familiar friends or maybe enemies know me well and sometimes they try to seduce me to join them in the past. The good news is they take me back to the old emotions that I surrendered some time back. A brief visit reminds me where I was and where I am going. They reveal to me the truth that I made a good decision to let them go, begin again, walk a different path, trust more, and walk with you. At day's end when all was well, I remembered your faithfulness and grace.

Thank you,
dearest God,
for reminding me
to trust you.
Sometimes I need
a little nudge
or even
a lightning bolt
to put me
back on course.
Forgive me, please,
when I fail
and give way
to the past.
Teach me
your way
as many times
as needed
so that
I may learn
and follow.

Love, Andrea