No Fear of the Dark

 

Daily Gratitude Year 9-Day 167: Today, I am grateful we need not fear the dark. 

This season in my life, I find myself torn. I am...by nature... a morning person. I love to be awake before the break of day to see the first glimpses of dawn. Each new day is a reminder that God deems this world... with all of its woes... worth investing in for another day. He longs for every soul to return to fellowship and faith. The birds break into song, and I find myself singing with them. 

The other part of me loves the night... the wee hours of the night when most of the world is silent. Prayer feels different in the stillness and silence of the night. 

I am reminded of Jesus... after his cousin and childhood playmate John the Baptist was beheaded... went into the wilderness. He needed to breathe, to pray and to feel the grief of what John had suffered because of Him. It ached.

The night Jesus knew he would be betrayed by Judas and arrested, again he chose to go into a garden to pray. What did He find in the dark? This Ann Voskamp quote speaks to the question: 

"Darkness isn't the presence of God leaving us - but the shelter of God coming near to us." - Ann Voskamp  

Jesus sought out the desolate, dark places to pray.

" rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." - Mark 1:35

It was His way. He would seek out the Father and find him. God does not leave us in the dark. He draws nearer and nearer. We only need to pause, pray and practice patience. 

He is our hiding place.

Today, I am grateful we need not fear the dark. 

Prayer: Innate Response

 

Daily Gratitude Year 9-Day 166: Today, I am grateful for when prayer becomes more of an innate response than an action plan.

There is a Christian Contemporary group called "Need to Breathe". I've always loved that name. Breathing is something we take for granted until we are struggling to take a breath. 

They sing a song called "Who am I" that wrestles with the unfathomable love of God that reached out to us when "we were yet sinners". Yes, in the middle of the train wreck of our lives, our God stepped out of heavens to be with us, for us and not against us. Their song asks, "Who am I? Who am I, to be loved by you?"

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." -Romans 5:8

How can we reject such love? His love is not dependent on our goodness and what we get right. He loves us in the desperate messes we make, when we don't know which way to turn. When our need for him becomes equivalent to our need to breathe. That is when... and where... we will find him waiting for our surrender. 

Yes, real faith requires us to surrender. To pray as Jesus prayed, "Not my will but Thine be done." The universe is His. He longs to walk with us, to work beside us and to be in fellowship with us daily. Like that first call or text of the day to a loved one... that is the glory of prayer. Prayer opens us up to receiving Him. Kind of like turning the radio on. CS Lewis said it like this:

"I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me." - CS Lewis

It is the same lesson I learned in the first year of "Daily Gratitude" back in 2013. Spending time with Him didn't change God, it changed me. It is the same when we learn to pray like we breathe. Without thinking, but in full sync with The One who grants us breath for all of our days. 

Some days I get it sort of right. Other days, I blow it big time. He doesn't run from our messes. Shame grows out of our failures and shortcomings, but his God goggles always see what is redeemable and worthy of His Son's blood. 

I don't really get it, but I am forever changed because His love never gives up on us. My human mind doesn't really stretch that far, but that is okay. He's got us covered. 

"Never stop praying." - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer without ceasing... just like breathing. Not a task to be checked off our obligatory "to do list", but our soul's response to His love. 

Today, I am grateful for when prayer becomes more of an innate response than an action plan. 

Shoes That Fit

Daily Gratitude Year 9-Day 165: Today, I am grateful for shoes that fit.

They say, "If the shoe fits, wear it." It is a phrase that usually accompanies some reality check. Sometimes, the reality check is less than comfortable. 

Are there times we have old pairs of shoes that are so comfortable, we hate to give them up? Those who know me best know I don't give up favorite shoes or coats easily. They are old friends that provide comfort. I love fashion, but shoes and coats are sometimes more about what fits, feels good and does the job. 

For Cinderella, the shoe that fit was life changing. 

Have you ever had to wear uncomfortable shoes? Oh, I can feel the blisters forming as I type this. I am confident I broke a toe in a raucous game of "Happy Salmon" awhile back. Some of my favorite sandals are no longer comfortable. I no longer choose them first from the closet. I miss them, but it is no fun to be comfortable when walking for any length of time. 

I think about our Jesus, and the human skin he wore that really did not fit him. He did it because he loved us. He would rather be with us in discomfort than lose out on the relationship. Doe we seek Him in the same way?

"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."- Isaiah 53:5

His human shoes made a way for all of us to come back into a relationship with God. He bore our punishment in discomfort... out of the purest love for the Father and for us. He honored the Father, even when it meant a sacrifice. 

Today, I am grateful for shoes that fit... and for the ones that didn't, changing everything.

Lemonade

 

Daily Gratitude Year 9-Day 164: Today, I am grateful for lemonade.

There is something uniquely refreshing about lemonade. It shouts summer. It quenches the the thirst and lifts the spirits. Lemon shakes ups are the best, but plain, old fashioned lemonade is a perfect pitcher of goodness. 

Lemonade is sunshine in a glass. 

Here in the Midwest, summer heat has arrived. Temperatures are high and thirst is real. We know the importance of good hydration. Lemonade is hydration with a kick of vitamin C. 

I am reminded we have a God who quenches our thirst. 

"I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land." -Hosea 13:5

In a dry and thristy land, our thist is quenched. 

Today, I am grateful for lemonade.

Local Food

 

Daily Gratitude Year 9-Day 163: Today, I am grateful for local food businesses.

We live in the time of big chain restaurants. They are easy, plentiful and you know what you will get every time.

Growing up in a small town, you rarely had a chain restaurant come to town. A local diner or restaurant was a blessing. Today, my little hometown has a DQ but the Main Street Diner is my favorite place in town.

The place I call home now has several local options. Each one has something unique that keeps us coming back.

When traveling, it is always fun to seek out the local favorites. The picture is of a local pizza place in Winter Haven, Florida. Really excellent pizza! The Twisted Prop is another pub on the water... worth seeking out.

Perhaps, it is the company of family and friends that make the local restaurants taste so good. I can't say for sure. Maybe it is the way a local restaurant make you feel like you are an invited guest at their table, and not just a customer. The welcome is sincere.

“Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.” -1 Peter 4:9

Hospitality makes all the difference.

Today, I am grateful for local food businesses

A Place To Rest

Daily Gratitude Year 9-Day 162: Today, I am grateful for a place to rest.

Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” says, “There is no place like home.” The phrase caught on for a reason. Home is the place we can truly be at rest. We don’t need to explain ourselves. We are known and we can be still.

Today, I am grateful for a place to rest.

The Well Was There

Gratitude Year 9-Day 160: Today, I am grateful “the well was already dug.”

I saw this quote on Pinterest:

“Long before the Samaritan woman needed water, the well was already dug.”

Not sure of the author.

The recollection of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is the longest recorded conversation with Jesus in the Bible. She was a woman of questionable morals and not Jewish. For Him too pause for her was shocking to those around him.

I love that He sent the disciples off on little assignments. I imagine he was rarely alone. For her, he made an opportunity for her to get to know Him. he already knew about her.

He didn’t condemn her, he merely let her know he was aware of her situation and choices. I have often wondered about the rest of her story. Women had such limited choices in that day. Culture dictated so much. Jesus saw her pain and loneliness. He invited her to drink from the well that will not run dry.

The truth is that the well was in place long before the encounter that would change her life forever.

Today, I am grateful the well was already dug.