new day

Sunday, August 30, 2009 (4:59 a.m.)

Beloved God,

Thank You for this new day. Thank You for every single element of hope that is to be found in it.

You are truly amazing God! I fret. I moan. I stew. Tears are shed. Blame is assessed. Judgments passed. And I end up standing before You stripped of all my worldly securities. Yet You continue to offer me the one thing I keep insisting is too risky for me. Hope.

I no longer want to take the chance of disappointment. Everywhere I turn, there’s another one. Yet off in the wings, always, there You are. Beckoning me on.

For so long I have been naïve. Gullible. Over trusting. Easily deceived. Impressionable. Unsuspecting. Now it seems I have gone far off in the opposite direction. I’ve become far too wary. Cautious. Careful. Hyper alert. Watchful. Attentive.

As I continue on this walk with You, I see that those ARE the things You would have me be. Time and again throughout the Bible it is written that we are to “be alert” (Isaiah 21:7, Mark 13:33, Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 1 Peter 5:8). Thank You Lord that You don’t ever just leave us stranded and on our own.

These past few months have been especially trying and eye opening. I’ve come face-to-face with pronounced discrepancies of what I thought was true and what truth really is. Thank You Lord that You have been fully involved with every step of the reveal. And thank You especially that You are here guiding and directing the healing.

As I continue laying blame on myself for all the things I’ve done wrong. Every conclusion I was so quick to jump to. Here You are (this morning in the book of Zephaniah) ‘shaking the people of Judah out of their complacency and getting them back on the path of recovery’.

Zephaniah 3:5, “The Lord within her is righteous; He does no wrong. Morning by morning He dispenses justice, and every new day He does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.” (Sidebar here Lord – truly, does this mean that the guilt and shame I have been feeling these past days, weeks and months is not only appropriate, but ‘righteous’?)

Lord, how I ask that You would keep working in me. Plucking out every single defect of character that You find unpleasing. You know what You’re going to ultimately end up with. Thank You for that Dear Lord! Thank You that I am not in charge of the final outcome.

Forgive me for the mistakes I’ve made through the years. The things I was so absolutely sure about that have turned out to be so wrong.

Thank You for this glorious brand new day. Complete with its breath taking beauty. I ask that You would make me able to encourage not only myself but others as well to “rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

I love You so much Dear Lord. Thank You for loving me. Amen.

(498 words ~ 6:08 a.m.)