Today’s Readings: Psalm 18; Genesis 31:1-24; Luke 1:67-80; Acts 15:30-41
One of my biggest character defaults is that my natural tendency is to want to have everything thought through before I commit myself to something. Now when some folks read that statement, they might think to themselves, “Thinking things through first is a bad thing? Sounds pretty responsible to me!” If that’s your first response, I can certainly empathize. That’s because for years I couldn’t imagine any other way of being. Zechariah’s words of prophesy in Matthew, however, contains words that point us toward another way of being. In speaking of his future child and the way in which God will use that child Zechariah noted, “Through the heart felt mercies of our God, God’s sunrise will break in upon us, shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace” (Luke 1:77-79 – The Message). I particularly like the last 14 words of that passage – “showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace”. That phrase helped me uncover two limitations of my previous “plan it all ahead in advance” approach toward life. The first limitation was that often I would put the bulk of my energies into planning things rather than actually doing things. The second limitation is that the outcomes were nearly always limited to the scope of MY vision. I rarely allowed myself the luxury of thinking or dreaming outside of the box. Thankfully Zechariah’s words offer a different way of being: a way where things unfold one moment at a time. They also point us toward a reality that would be bigger and better than anything we could dream of ourselves. So much for our beloved boxesJ If you are like me and struggle with an addiction to preparation and planning, I invite you to sit with Zechariah’s words and see if they might help encourage you to let things unfold for you so that you too could be put on “the path of peace”. Til next time…
One of my biggest character defaults is that my natural tendency is to want to have everything thought through before I commit myself to something. Now when some folks read that statement, they might think to themselves, “Thinking things through first is a bad thing? Sounds pretty responsible to me!” If that’s your first response, I can certainly empathize. That’s because for years I couldn’t imagine any other way of being. Zechariah’s words of prophesy in Matthew, however, contains words that point us toward another way of being. In speaking of his future child and the way in which God will use that child Zechariah noted, “Through the heart felt mercies of our God, God’s sunrise will break in upon us, shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace” (Luke 1:77-79 – The Message). I particularly like the last 14 words of that passage – “showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace”. That phrase helped me uncover two limitations of my previous “plan it all ahead in advance” approach toward life. The first limitation was that often I would put the bulk of my energies into planning things rather than actually doing things. The second limitation is that the outcomes were nearly always limited to the scope of MY vision. I rarely allowed myself the luxury of thinking or dreaming outside of the box. Thankfully Zechariah’s words offer a different way of being: a way where things unfold one moment at a time. They also point us toward a reality that would be bigger and better than anything we could dream of ourselves. So much for our beloved boxesJ If you are like me and struggle with an addiction to preparation and planning, I invite you to sit with Zechariah’s words and see if they might help encourage you to let things unfold for you so that you too could be put on “the path of peace”. Til next time…
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