Daily Gratitude Year 3-Day 275: Today, I am grateful for the compass provided in God's word. It is my "true north".
If I open His Word and read it, I will never be without direction. I may not always like where it is pointing or the truth it holds, but that is where our relationship changes and my trust grows. He does not change. Like a compass, there is true North and direction I can follow with confidence. I may wander, get tossed in a storm...but I will not be lost.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. - Psalm 119:105
I have always loved that song by Amy Grant that she wrote with Michael W Smith back in the early 80's. It is still popular for the sense of worship it evokes in the words of David and the contemporary melody.
I am so grateful that in this past three years - where I have not always enjoyed the journey... I have never felt abandoned. Not once! Yes, I have felt the shadow of death...but it is only a shadow. The shadow can't hurt us. Grief hurts...but that is because we have known love. A price worth paying. I would not trade the tears because I would certainly have to give back the joys, the celebrations and the laughter. Let the tears flow...and let my Lord count and collect them...and keep them in His bottle. Let our tears be a sparkling offering.
"You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" -Psalm 56:8
Our pain does not go unnoticed.
The promise of what is to come and the comfort of knowing those who go before us...those who walked in truth... will be waiting. In fact, the shadow is simply a reminder of the dangers missed... the consequences that grace spared us...and the promise of what lies ahead. Praise God, that by His mercy and providence... I don't get what I deserve.
Today-I know my compass is true. I get excited for time in the scripture and in prayer. Relationship and truth...together they give direction. For a sailor on the seas, knowing where North is provides the knowledge needed to stay the course. It doesn't mean the journey will be without squalls...those sudden gusts of winds and localized storms that often provide rain, snow or sleet... or the hurricanes that rock us to the depths of our souls.
As I read, study, play, create and make notes in my journaling Bible...I attempt to "write the vision and make it plain, that he may run who reads it". I pray that it will be my legacy.
Today, I am grateful for the compass provided in God's word. It is my "true north".
