Category: Devotions

I have begun writing out the Psalms I am up to 57. It’s been quite the adventure. Before I go to bed at night, I write out a Psalm. I journal the highlights, make the words that jump out at me in large special design and it’s the last thing I think about before I lay my head on my pillow. That’s a good thing- that’s a bad thing. That’s what I am thinking about as I slowly drift off, or awaken in the middle of the night.

I am not a morning person. I have never been although I have desperately tried to convince my body that morning is a blessing and being a part of it should be a double blessing.  I have tried getting up early and spending the “Jesus quality moments” and it just doesn’t work. I don’t do mornings. If I do too many mornings in a row, and I blame it more on the one doing the snoring, I actually get sick. I cannot sleep good enough to wake up before my sleep number factor is reached.  Which, is why I am usually in bed at 9 p.m. doing my calm down and Psalms moments.“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;I will sing and give praise. “Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn”     I am not sure anyone in the house wants me to get out the guitar or mandolin and begin making music.  Well, they don’t mind, but not right now-before the dawn is awakened. I am only awake this a.m. because I totally forgot to shut off the alarm on my i-pad and it kept going. Technology doesn’t ever do what our minds think it should do, it does what we program it to do. 6 a.m. every Sunday the alarm goes off and continues going off until it runs out of battery or the one who set it gets up and shuts it off.

The beauty of the dawn awakening is unlike any other beauty. I had the honor of traveling around the world this past year. There is beauty in every place I saw. Most every picture I look at is breathtaking either from a physical beauty or a spiritual beauty. My heart smiles when I see the Victoria Falls of Zambia, and the smiles of those kids at the well in Uganda. I marvel at the windmills of Holland and the castles of Germany. The picture of the lighthouse in Duluth with the waves crashing against the shore is breathtaking…. but, when and if I am awake and see the sun rising, that’s a beauty all unto it’s own. There were a few times in our flights that we flew into a sunrise.That’s almost indescribable. And God tells reminds me through David, “my heart is steadfast, I will awaken the dawn.”  We all know what’s in our heart does affect the beauty of the sunrise means something different.  If we are troubled,  the start of a new day may simple be overwhelming with how we will handle the troubles we didn’t leave on our pillows but brought with us when we awoke. If our heart is steadfast, it’s a totally different way we awaken the dawn. It’s more of a confident, reassuring, calm conquering of our world that we greet the sunrise and say, “God, you and I got this and it will be a wonderful day. I am alive and you are within my being.”  The rest of the chapter definitely does lead up to the awakening, which is very indicative of our lives. What’s happened before we lay our heads on the pillow usually does affect how we get up.  David had run away from Saul and was hiding in a cave. I haven’t had that exact experience, but I have been in many caves in my mind.  And yet, praise and understanding who God is was first in David’s mind.  I am in a crappy place, and yet God is still God. I am frustrated with how others are treating me, God is still God. I am running for my life, God is still God. And both of us, will awaken the dawn much better than simply one of us; especially if that one is me.

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It’s beauty is unparalleled. Lighthouses along the shore are gorgeous. It’s usefulness perhaps not as demanded as in the days before our technology, but lighthouses had a purpose. So, as beautiful and scary as a storm may be off the Great Lakes, the relief of seeing the light across the waves and knowing you were close to land, but then the realization you didn’t know how close to land, and could you still perhaps, crash along the shore. The power of the waves and the power of the light.

How, can I be a lighthouse? For to be a lighthouse, I must be close to the storm. I must be close enough to potential danger to be able to warn others. And yet, if I am close to danger, there is a chance of my being in danger… I must love others enough to be out of my comfort zone, and close enough to them to lend a hand, to extend a rope and to wrap them with my warm coat while I shiver…

Lake Superior. Beautiful, dramatic, powerful and yet the inlet from gooseberry falls was frozen. The sand and rock from the lake tides has created a barrier. However, water coming from under the depths of the ice breaks through in a very powerful demonstration forcing its way from down under to come bursting out at the shore. What’s in our hearts also can’t be hid for long. Eventually it will force its way out… remember to be careful what’s in your heart. The power of suppressed things is incredible….

The candles are burning . I am a long ways from home but the observation of Hanukkah is a big part of my faith walk. The dedication of the temple so many year ago reminds me to daily dedicate my heart and my motives… So I light the candles. Tonight there Are 6. The shamash or helper candle lights the others. It’s higher than the others. The heat of the other candles is melting the helper candle. If only our influence was so strong that we melted the hearts of those beside us….. Jesus said we are to be the light others see him through. But are we so incredibly hot, we melt others? What if our witness was so powerful they had no other response but to see Jesus?

So we prepare…we anticipate. We work hard at getting all things lined up and ready. We get excited.. that’s really what the advent is all about. Preparing for the Messiah. So we did. We prepared. The service. The music. The plan. The Bible verses. The candles. The program. The extra music. The binders made. The bulletins printed. We were prepared for the coming..and for Sunday the first Sunday of advent.. and it never came. Oh well,yes it came but because of a mess in Minnesota, many country churches cancelled church. They call it snow. We call it a mess. Several of hours of moving snow with the bobcat to get the driveway and farm site where you could drive around or out. Some places 5′ drifts. Other places plodded to an icy glare from the high winds and ice. We did go to church but the church where I am helping for a few months, the bulletins,candles, folders are all still very much prepared: for the day that church was cancelled due to the snow.

Sometimes God asks us to prepare and we sit. There is a snow storm, or a health storm, or an earthquake in our heart and we sit. Our programs were printed and we were pr pared and it didn’t happen. That’s a disappointment some never feel. That’s a reality many don’t have to shovel. For others, it seems like they prepare to be constantly disappointed. God simple says prepare ye the way. Make ready for me. I will worry about extra programs, candles that didn’t get lit and dinners that never got served. Prepare for God, but be ready to change the plans you make. Preparing gets us excited. Sometimes that’s the point. We need to get excited. God will bring your heart to where he has the things for you but he still requires that you roared your heart, your mind, your wallet and you calendar. And so,times sitting and waiting is an extremely calming thing.