As I pondered stepping out of hiding
Follow my heart and run into the waiting arms
Of that good Shepherd I failed, Guilt jumped up
And slapped. Shame followed suit and slammed
Kicking up dirt, smearing my already muddied
And messy appearance. Together, they dared me
To step out, to dare escaping them, to dare to face
The Good Shepherd I failed. I wept. I struggled
As regrets ripped remorse, swearing I am incapable
Of repentance. Despite the raging storm within,
Reason arose; “If I hide from Him, I will remain
How I am, where I am: an aimless wanderer,
Ever walking, going nowhere. For once I can filter
What I need from what I want: I know where I need
To go for now though I want it not: I need to step out
Of hiding and confess, ‘Forgive me good Shepherd
I have sinned. I need home sweet home. I need rest
To find contentment in bonds and gifts once despised
Which my labor and slavery could not afford me.”

Food For Thought: It is one thing to know the right thing, it is another thing to put that knowledge to practice. I have heard it said that it is better to make a bad decision than to make no decision at all. I once worked for a man who so believed in it that the majority of times, the main work we did was cleaning up the mess he left wherever he went as a result of endless streams of bad decisions. What made it so pathetic was that he will look back, behold the mess and not feel remorseful. Instead, he flaunted this favorite quote of his that was doing neither him nor the organization any good. For the period I worked there, he didn’t learn or have a change of mind for one day, enough to reconsider his ways. The times he acknowledged the mess was too much, he requested to know the cleanup strategy to ensure it made him look good and smart but you can’t fool everybody all the time. Soon enough, people learned but he didn’t. I learned from him that it is better to take time to think things through before deciding. It is better to ask for a little more time to enable us get a better perspective of things before we decide than to jump first only to realize that we should have known and done better. Bad decisions are manageable every once in a while but to build a life around it is error. Investing efforts to right the wrongs of our bad choices is costly but it may also help to instill unforgettable checks, acting as future restraint, which we are bound to miss when others have to do the cleanup. There is no one who has never made bad decisions but when we see it for what it is and choose to right the wrong rather than ignore or try to forget it, we stand out from those who have chosen to make it their way of life.

Scripture: He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1: 8

Prayer: Dear Lord, when doubts assail and assault, help me to rise above them and stretch out my hand, my heart, and my hope to You , amen.