Dear God
If You followed my quest
I won’t be alive
If You heeded every plea
I won’t be here today
Through my grumblings and wailings
You followed Your plan:
To make me just like You.
I look back and I’m amazed:
Where went who I once was?
From where came this new me?
I am grateful You don’t bow to me
You don’t work my thoughts
You don’t follow my plans.
Yes, I am so grateful
You follow through on Your plan.

Food For Thought: There are things we chased with all our passion and possession for extended periods of time with nothing to show for at the end of it all. Our efforts and resources were guzzled by greedy times that remained like we had done nothing, like it had taken nothing of value from us. Some of them were clear messages that we were dialing wrong numbers. However, some stood out as battles that must be won but definitely not in our way or time. In such places of seeming no-reward, I learned surrender: not just because I was spent and my all was gone. Surrender became a choice I had to make in trust, that God can make something out of all that clearly defied my abilities and capabilities. Again and again, I have learned, that when we are bent on making it go our way, we struggle and often end up frustrated, our glorious hair shaved by failure. When we choose to surrender to the Lord, to locate where He is at in our lives and focus on what He would rather have us do at the time, He goes ahead to move mountains we couldn’t get Him to shift in our way, in our time. For every case that we let go and let God, He does what we can’t do. And that makes me wonder, what if we made it a lifestyle – what if we all made it our culture – after we have given our best, to step back, let go and let God?

Scripture: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 55: 8.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me, to now and always, submit my thoughts, my words, my actions, to You, amen.