The day after.
After the work.
After the fellowship.
After the anticipation.
After the chaos.
After the clean up.
The day we wonder what comes next. What will be my next anticipation?
For much of my life, the stillness of the after, led to feelings of sadness and letdown. So much anticipation and then simple quiet.
I have found that today I sit in the stillness, and breathe with a feeling of satisfaction, not letdown. Perhaps it is age. Maybe experience, but I am learning to enjoy the simple. The simple quiet, the simple laughter, a simple tune, a simple hug from one that loves me.....it's enough.
The day after is the day without expectation, and that in itself is a simple pleasure. Today I can truly offer up a prayer of simple thanksgiving....for the craziness of the day before, for the bounty that remains, for the relationships that grow, and for the peace of a family.
The day after is a day of simple breathing and praying and loving. Tomorrow will come and with it more battles to be fought, more plans to be made, more money to be stretched and more anticipation of more days to come.
But for today....
we.
will.
just.
be.
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." Hebrews 4:9
We look forward to that day when it is truly the day after all, when we will be able to experience the true rest in the presence of our God.
Owl's Head Lighthouse, Owl's Head, ME
Friday, November 29, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Grace In The Hallway
I saw a quote this week that has stuck with me. "Until God opens the next door, praise Him in the hallway."
The first time I looked at those words, I immediately saw my life lying out as one long hallway. I know there have been many doors opened in my life, but in my mind the hallway just keeps going on. There is always a longing to belong; to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am in the place that is the culmination of all the years of preparation. Still that longing continues; waiting.
Every once in awhile, and more and more often, I think about that waiting....and it makes me wonder if I am missing something. For God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, is the God of today as much as He is tomorrow, or yesterday. His beauty and His perfectness are omnipresent, always available to His children.
It so often seems that clear direction is lacking in life, but that does not change Who He is. He is the same...regardless of our circumstances, our time of life, our failures, our hurts. He longs to be "sufficient" for us, but still we wait for a future that is not guaranteed, overlooking the grace that has been layed out before us today.
"Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." Psalm 25:4,5
"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Psalm 73:25
"O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalm 34:8
"And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." II Corinthians 12:9
The first time I looked at those words, I immediately saw my life lying out as one long hallway. I know there have been many doors opened in my life, but in my mind the hallway just keeps going on. There is always a longing to belong; to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am in the place that is the culmination of all the years of preparation. Still that longing continues; waiting.
Every once in awhile, and more and more often, I think about that waiting....and it makes me wonder if I am missing something. For God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, is the God of today as much as He is tomorrow, or yesterday. His beauty and His perfectness are omnipresent, always available to His children.
It so often seems that clear direction is lacking in life, but that does not change Who He is. He is the same...regardless of our circumstances, our time of life, our failures, our hurts. He longs to be "sufficient" for us, but still we wait for a future that is not guaranteed, overlooking the grace that has been layed out before us today.
"Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." Psalm 25:4,5
"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Psalm 73:25
"O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalm 34:8
"And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." II Corinthians 12:9
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