Oh, how I want to learn regularly to choose well. All day, everyday, there are countless choices we make and much of our lives can be traced to these choices. I want to be able to look back when I am near my life’s end and see that I’ve made clear choices to believe in the great goodness of God, to trust Him when it’s hard, to love with all that I am and have, to die to my selfishness, to move about my days Spirit-filled and to orient myself toward serving others. Since You redeem even our bad choices and can create beauty from our few loaves and fishes of repentance and humility, great hope is ours no matter what befalls. Oh, to see You actively involved, fully present and engaged in my life as You are...
Jesus, thank You that I can choose...
Choose how I will conduct my life.
Choose the thoughts I will entertain about my day, my life and my future.
Choose to resist the temptation to live in defeat, in depression, and without hope.
Choose to disbelieve lies of the enemy.
Choose instead to trust You to be faithful to me as You walk closely with me today.
Choose to believe that I can actively worship now, no matter what my circumstances are. You have a will for me today to accomplish and this will is good, pleasing and acceptable.
Choose to learn to walk by the Spirit today, relying on You to guide my decisions, fill me with Your peace, empower me and give wisdom from Your stores.
Choose to believe You are working Your will, always.
A conversation I had with a friend the other day helped me see that we each have different boundary lines drawn out for us by Your sovereign hand. There are things in our lot that we do not want to live with, barnacles in our corner of the world. Often these challenges remain unchanged for years, out of our control. This is where time to simply be in Your Presence helps us to live beyond survival. Here I find that that within these very borders, with barnacles and all, I can offer You beautiful worship. Here I can choose to surrender my idol of “the ideal life”--a barnacle-free life. Here I can choose not to focus on my challenges, disappointments and pain, but center myself on Your love for me and respond back in love. Here I can resist the weighty force that thrusts my mind downward back onto fixating on my discontent. Only by the Spirit’s power can I escape hopelessness, depression and despair. Holy Spirit, let my spirit soar to the heights Your Spirit wants to take me to!
I came across this amazing verse today. Note how the psalmist chooses to center on God’s love that results in joy and gladness, in the midst of affliction.
I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. (Psalm 31:7-8 ESV)
Tears come to my eyes as I reread this passage because His steadfast love is inherently unchanging. It is independent of my heavy circumstances. My mind returns to when our Biblical professor friend once described in beautiful word pictures the amazing Hebrew word hesed, used here for steadfast love. In a word that is worth pausing long over, His love is loyal. How the Lord wants our relationship with Him to be so very close. Years ago, I wrote a song called My Love’s Come based on Song of Solomon 4, which invites us to press into the closeness that He wants to have with us.
Oh Jesus, so often my thoughts betray me and I lose sight of my treasure that is You! Make me like Mary, who sat at Your feet and worshipped. She chose well. So can I. Distractions, leave center stage. I choose to bask in the beauty of Your Presence that surrounds me. Helen Lemmel said it well (1922) “...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
No one else is awake now but me (though I hear slight rustling from the baby monitor). The room I’m in is finally orderly, the sun is up and promises hope in the warm stillness that fills the room. How I need to deliberately carve out regular time to think, to be and to mediate on You. Yesterday I rested well and now having these 20 minutes to get these thoughts down helps me to finally move beyond living in my own power, from task to task. Adequate sleep and chunks of time to focus my attention on my constant position of being in Your Presence… I must make these high priorities.
Oh Jesus, be to me all that You are. Help me to see well, to choose well.
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How can you choose well today in order to walk in the broad place? He has set your feet there.
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