Happy 4th of July…
At 5:30 am, I began diligently trying to discern God’s morning message. At 8:00 am today, hard-found words zapped away. Frustrated. Exhausted. Angry at this unexplainable error. I took a deep breath. I closed my computer. I walked away, went on with my day.
After waiting awhile, I went back to rewrite. Languish. Listen. Learn. As I went to send once again, our post mysteriously disappeared. Confused. Tired. God, what’s going on?
After waiting, waiting, and waiting some more, I return now for a third time to discern God’s fresh word. Humbled, I pray, “LORD, what wisdom am I to harness from these holiday hang-ups?”
“Simplify, Sue,” I sense the Spirit say. “Shed your expectations. Shake off control. Surrender to Me, everything.”
I shed. I shake off. I simply surrender.
Now quietly I am drawn back to the key verse from the Scripture I was studying: And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3, NIV).
The whole earth is filled with his glory.
The whole earth is filled with his glory.
The whole earth is filled with his glory.
Just as waiting in the dark heightens our fascination with fireworks, might holiday hang-ups teach us to patiently wait for varying shades of God’s glory to burst forth from our inner darkness?
Take a good look at God’s work. Who could simplify and reduce Creation’s curves and angles to a plain straight line? On a good day, enjoy yourself; on a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for granted (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, MSG).
…Sue…
