Trust God to Lead
Why do we worry about what lies ahead when we know the One Who is already there? Worrying is one job you cannot farm out – but you can overcome it! And there’s no better place to begin than David’s beloved “Shepherd Psalm”: He leads me beside the still waters… (Psalm 23:2 ESV). David declares: “He leads me!” God isn’t behind me, yelling, “Go!” He’s ahead of me bidding, “Come!” He’s in front, clearing the path and cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks, He warns watch your step there. Isn’t this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day, but He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Jesus reminded us to give our entire attention to what God is doing right now; don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. God is leading you – so, leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. Adapted from Max’s book Traveling Light. © Max Lucado. Used by permission. All rights reserved. About the author: Max is the best selling author of many many Christian books, a sought out speaker, and loving husband, father, and grandfather. Max is in real life what you see in his book — someone who loves Jesus and loves the same kind of people that Jesus loves!
Your Sins Are Forgiven
Only God can forgive. A fourth of the way through his Gospel, Luke uses the seventh chapter to have Jesus, in words and actions, leave little doubt that he is God. The chapter opens with him healing a servant from a distance, then he raises a son from the dead as his corpse was being carried to the graveyard. In fact, Jesus himself describes the activities by saying: [T]hat the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them (Luke 7:22). Jesus did a lot of miracles in the course of two days, things that man could do only with God’s help. In fact, some of the Old Testament prophets did similar things, with God’s help. It is at the end of the chapter, that he does something only God can do. The story has Jesus eating at the home of one of the religious leaders when a woman from the city begins to wash Jesus’ feet. This woman had a reputation. Jesus knew this, the religious leader knew, everyone else knew, that she was a sinner. Actually that probably should be spelled SINNER. I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for She loved much… Then he said to her, “Your sins are Forgiven… Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:47-50). And with those words, spoken out loud for all to hear, Jesus claims he is God. Only God can forgive sin, his followers couldn’t, the religious leader couldn’t, the woman herself couldn’t, only God could and can. Only God through Jesus can forgive you, SINNER! Want to know how you can claim that forgiveness? Join our conversation at www.hopeforlife.org or email me at bbrant@heraldoftruth.org. (Expressed written consent must be obtained prior to republishing, retransmitting or otherwise reusing the content of this article. Contact us at info@hopeforlife.org) About the author: Bill Brant is the President and CEO of Herald of Truth Ministries based in Abilene, Texas.
Trust His Timing
Don’t you find it hard to wait? One of the features of my new mobile phone is a clock that allows me to see the time in multiple time zones, set an alarm, use a stopwatch, and time an event. When I take a walk, I usually set the timer for about fifteen minutes short of the length of time I want to walk. That way, I can decide the route for the last part of the walk. For instance, if I plan to walk for an hour, I will set the time on my phone for 45 minutes. Invariably, I will check the timer a number of times before the alarm sounds. Is this thing working? Did it sound and I did not hear it? Has something malfunctioned? Thus far, the alarm has never failed to work. I have never walked an extra hour by accident. The device has never failed to perform as it is designed to do. Yet, I still have a feeling of distrust in the clock. The same thing happens as I walk through life, trying to live on God’s time-table. I have read the instructions from His word about trusting Him. I am listening to God, praying for His will to be done. I believe that He is working even though I cannot see it. I know that the Father is in charge. I know that nothing will happen that escapes His view. I know that He cares for me. I know that the Lord has always dealt, and will always deal, with me according to His justice and goodness. However, there are still times when I have difficulty trusting His timing. I have discovered three realities about trusting His timing. First, trusting His timing is sometimes hard. There are times when I eagerly lay my cares down, but then I decide not to wait for God to work and pick them back up again. There are other times when my concerns must be ripped from my hands. My doubts and fears take over: What if He does not listen? What if He hears the wrong thing? What if He chooses to act in a way that I do not like? Or worse, what if He chooses not to act at all? I have swallowed hard when He responded with “No,” and I have laid awake at night wrestling with His answers that appear to be, “Not now.” Second, trusting His timing is sometimes easy. There are times when waiting for God to work His plan is easy. Laying my concerns at the feet of the Lord and leaving them there comes naturally. I have experienced answered prayer soon after making the request. I receive his “Yes” with joy and gratitude. I receive His “No” with patience and trust. Third, whether easy or difficult: I have learned over life and from His word, that the Father’s timing is always right. Solomon said it this way: He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV). You may be in a waiting time. Waiting for the answer. Waiting for direction. Waiting for peace. Waiting for hope. Waiting for healing. Waiting for victory. Doubt and uncertainty may have set in. You may be left with questions and fears. Whatever is the focus of your wait, trust His timing … it is always right. He has made everything beautiful in its time. About the author: Tom Norvell is the author of “A Norvell Note” — Thoughts and reflections on God, life, people, and living as a follower of Jesus. He has ministered with followers of Jesus for four decades and loves Jesus, his family, and those seeking Jesus, passionately.
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
O how our hearts ache till all our precious ones are in Jesus! Waiting is hard work. I confess, I am not good at this work of waiting. I am impatient. Sometimes my impatience borders on an ugly arrogance – “Why should I have to wait so long for something like this?” Sometimes my impatience is just plain impertinence – I romp, stomp, fidget, complain, whine, and make everyone around me miserable. I have opened Christmas presents early, sneaking in with a sharp knife in the middle of the night and carefully opening my presents just enough to see what they were. This made my Christmas at 11 years of age miserable – I faked being surprised by my Christmas morning gifts. Rather than taking delight at my careful sleight of hand at opening and resealing my gifts so my parents wouldn’t know, I was miserable. No surprises, only fake delight on that Christmas morning. I have left lines, only to stand in longer lines because I was impatient. I have daily checked the mailbox, the front porch, and driven the folks at UPS and FedEx crazy trying to track a package that was not even late yet. When my son was assigned in high school many years ago to spend the day working with me, he reported that, “Dad never wasted any time waiting. He was always doing something on his BlackBerry so he didn’t waste time.” What crushed me is that I realized I had not spent the time talking to him! I apologized after reading his report. However, sometimes my impatience is humbling and eye opening. For four years, my heart has stood on tiptoe waiting, praying, and gently visiting with someone I want to come to Christ. She is precious – not just to me, but to my wife Donna and to several of my friends who know her. She desperately wants some switch to go off in her heart so she knows in that place of her reluctance that this is the right thing for her to do. She is gracious, sweet, smart, kind, and good. But she has not yet fully surrendered her life to Jesus… and this keeps my heart in agony. Her decision is not something I can cajole, pressure, nudge, or push. She has to do this for herself. But waiting for her to do this, to confess Christ and step into a baptistery and go public with her faith, is harder than I have words to describe. This is a person so precious to us that we cannot imagine her not being in our forever family of grace. This is a different kind of impatience. This impatience has been humbling because it has opened my eyes to parents, spouses, grandparents, and friends who have stood on tiptoe until their spiritual legs have gone into full spasm waiting for their loved one, their precious child, their intended spouse, or their precious one to come to Jesus. I have been blessed to have taken the confession and baptized both of my children, now adults and strong disciples. (Thank you God for this gift beyond words given me by both children!) So this four year experience has opened my eyes and my heart to each of you who are waiting… pleading… hoping… that your special person will make that next crucial step toward the Father. So we keep expectantly scanning the horizon hoping that this is the day they make that crucial step toward Jesus and home. This impatience has been humbling because it has given me a glimpse of how our Father feels with those so close, yet so far away, from being His child. It helps me appreciate and understand that it was not strange for the father in Jesus’ parable (Luke 15:11-32) to scan the horizon every single day, and every single opportunity during the day, to catch the glimpse of his prodigal son on the horizon so he could run to that lost son and welcome him home. In some ways, it is even harder when the person for whom we wait is not a prodigal, but a precious person who is hung up on something we can’t remove… or fix… or at times even understand. So like my life right now, these thoughts won’t end with a simple five-step plan to deal with our impatience or three easy ways on how to win the reluctant loved one. This kind of impatience, this kind of waiting, is hard and without a simple Mr. Fixit recipe. All I know to do is to keep loving my precious one and to keep praying for her heart to reach that decision point and to keep living for the day of joy for which I yearn for her. In addition, I feel a deeper bond and commitment to pray for those who are caught in this time of waiting for someone else they love to come home to Jesus. The waiting is the hardest part. Let’s keep trusting that our waiting will one day give way to what Peter describes as being “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” because the one we love has come to receive the salvation of our God” (1 Peter 1:8-9). O God, please help your day of salvation come soon in the life of this one so precious to me. While I yearn for Jesus “to come quickly, hallelujah,” I beg You Lord to tarry until I can see this one so precious to me become part of our forever family. Amen. Here’s a late update. At 10:45 Thailand time on Sunday January 26, I was privileged to baptize Melody, also called XiaoKang and Nam Tam, into Christ along with two others who have become so precious to me over the last two weeks. Four years of loving and praying and waiting ended in a celebration of joy with this one I have called Precious from the day I first read the story of Jesus with
Dared to Hope
If only we would trust that the Lord can make us all grow! We paused to visit a tiny railway station that used to be a busy place on the southern line. It was now all but deserted. The Station Master’s office and the parcels’ office were silent. They were clothed in a dull brown that has become the mourning color of dying railway stations. We wandered along the tiny platform and saw the remnants of a garden outside the Station Master’s office. Now there was no running water, but there used to be competitions up and down the line for the best-kept garden. On this day, the old garden was just a dead square inside crumbling railway sleepers. Over in one corner stood a rusty drum, and barely alive in it was the commonest form of geranium. It was stunted and tired – nearly dead. I took a piece about as long as one finger. When we returned home, I dared to hope it would grow. So for old time’s sake, I planted it in the best pot in the best location. Feeling terribly foolish for even hoping for growth, I even said a prayer for the unknown hands that planted it long years ago. Today, this finger of planting is now a meter wide and half as tall. It is a joyful and lush plant, but too common to be prized by anyone else. It is valuable only to me because I sense its history in a harsh world where only hardy plants can grow. Do you sometimes feel like a common plant where only hardy plants can grow? God has a word for you. He says that He chose the foolish ones of us in this world, the most common of us, to shame those who are worldly-wise. (1 Corinthians 1:26-28) So say a prayer some time for the ones who planted you! Give thanks that they dared to hope that you would grow! While you’re at it, take a risk on plain ol’ common folks who seem tired, stunted, and nearly dead spiritually, and dare believe that the Lord can help them grow, too! About the author: Elizabeth is a team writer for “Just a Minute” e-zine.
Don’t Just Do Something
He was oblivious to the truth that our attempts to live for Jesus will succeed only if we have the power of the Holy Spirit released to us through prayer. The new community of Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem quickly multiplied and faced a series of potentially crippling crises. One of these crises involved widows, especially widows who didn’t speak the local language – Aramaic or Hebrew (Acts 6:1). The early believers from Pentecost had come from many different lands (Acts 2:5-11), and some had not returned home. Among these non-Jewish speaking folks were hungry widows, neglected by their fellow believers in the regular food distribution. People who didn’t speak the local language were upset. More than a few were angry. Many people in the predominant church culture hadn’t even noticed the problem because they spoke the “correct” language, and “their” widows were not being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Prejudice and neglect threatened the fabric of a fellowship known for sharing life (Acts 2:44, 47, 4:32) and not having a needy person among them (Acts 2:45, 4:32-35). This failure could thwart their witness as followers of Jesus while their neglecting widows, the fatherless, and the foreigner among them was direct disobedience to the will and teaching of God (Deuteronomy 10:18-19; Isaiah 1:23; Psalm 68:5, 82:3). Women worthy of respect and needing care were forgotten and hungry. The neglect of these needy women undermined the disciples’ claim to live in harmony with a heart for the things of God (James 1:27; Deuteronomy 27:19). What did the apostles, Jesus’ hand-selected leaders for his new church, do in response to this crisis? They continued to devote themselves to a higher priority, “the word of God and prayer” (Acts 6:4). What? You read it correctly. Before doing something, the apostles reminded the people of their highest priorities as leaders: kneeling in prayer and sharing the good news of Jesus. In the face of a fellowship-threatening crisis, they prayed! More than three decades ago, as a young minister, I answered the knock on the door of the church leadership’s meeting room. When I stepped outside, I discovered a red-faced, angry, long-time friend of my parents – he knew them before I was born. He verbally pressed me to let him into that meeting. As firmly, but also with as much calm as I could muster under attack from a long-time family friend and someone twice my age, I refused. “It’s prayer night,” I reminded him. “The elders and ministry team are gathered for prayer. That is our only agenda. Our prayer time will take several hours. There is no other plan tonight other than prayer. No intrusions are allowed except in the direst of emergencies.” “I wish I had time just to sit around and pray,” my friend said impatiently. “This was an important matter about our missions program that I needed to get approved. Tonight!” He stormed away in an angry huff. Several weeks later, in one of his mission meetings, a fellow mission committee member quoted this frustrated brother’s hero when my friend recounted what he considered a waste of time by the church leadership. What was that significant quote my friend needed to hear? “I only get done what I pray for!” Over time, this family friend mellowed. He became a man of prayer. Our congregation raised up seventeen long-term missionaries that we supported in world missions, and over 600 of our members went on international mission trips. His zeal for mission work never dimmed, but he also learned that many missions missteps could have been prevented through prayer and waiting on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He experienced the power of prayer, the leading of the Holy Spirit, and a clear sense of our specific call to world missions, which were essential. He realized he needed a new commitment to guide his life: “Don’t just do something; kneel and pray!” Today, many Christians fret, complain, post on social media, and stomp around, worried about what is happening in the world, their churches, and the dominant culture. They sense a decline in faith and righteous living. Most of all, they worry about the decrease in the number of people at their church services. These worried churchgoers press their church leaders to “do something” to fix the problems. They want something done immediately! “Don’t just sit there, do something!” they demand. All too often, desperate leaders respond in one of two ways: they either “just sit there” frozen and fearful or “they do something” to try to make things better. Those who “just do something” start trying all sorts of things they’ve heard about in other congregations. They reach for the latest fad. They push the newest quick fix. They copy other churches or follow the advice of the latest “how-to” article from a so-called expert. After several decades of oscillating between doing nothing (“just sit there”) and trying quick fixes (“do something”), most Christian groups find themselves in worse shape than when they started. Their churches have a much higher percentage of gray hair than ever and less patience for the slower-paced transformation based on a commitment to prayer and a focus on living on mission rather than trying new things for the sake of doing something. “Don’t just sit there, do something!” is not the answer. It wasn’t the answer to the problem of the neglected widows in the early days of the growing new Jesus movement. It certainly is not the answer to today’s congregation with genuine challenges. But, just sitting there while things continue to fall apart is not an answer. In reality, our problems today don’t approach the challenges of those first-century believers. Their politics were more brutal. Their culture was more extreme. Their travel, communication, and opposition were all much more problematic. Opposition and persecution were more pervasive. But, the commitment of their leaders was different. They chose to live by the value, “Don’t just do something; kneel and pray!” In the crisis
His Peace
There have been many times in my life that I believed I would only find peace when… [Jesus said to his disciples,]“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus made several statements like this to remind us that there is peace amidst all the chaos we see going on around us. There have been many times in my life that I believed I would only find peace when: I had all the things I thought I needed. All the conflicts between nations ceased. Churches I served actually practice the teachings they say they believe. All turmoil within and around me had calmed. I had matured enough to consistently reflect the image of Jesus more than my own. Guess what? Those conditions haven’t happened! I still have days when I think I’ll only have peace when I reach a certain status, have acquired or accomplished enough, or we have less turmoil in the world. But on a deeper level, I have discovered the peace Jesus promised. Even when chaos and uncertainty directly impact me, I know that Jesus overcame the world, and that thought calms me. That assurance gives me peace. I’m pretty certain that each time I return that realization of peace, Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit must surely smile. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you (2 Thessalonians 3:16). About the author: Tom Norvell is the author of “A Norvell Note” — Thoughts and reflections on God, life, people, and living as a follower of Jesus. He has ministered with followers of Jesus for four decades and loves Jesus, his family, and those seeking Jesus, passionately.
Finding Beauty
So where can you go to find beautiful things? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2 NIV). Poetry. The book of John is pure poetry, especially the prologue (John 1:1-18). It’s one place I like to go when I need a dose of beauty. In a world of pop-culture, I need those doses regularly. Over the summer, my twenty-year-old daughter, Maddie, was lamenting all the pop-culture I was responsible for making her miss during her childhood. “Mom,” she said, “when people my age talk about ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ or ‘Strawberry Shortcake,’ I’m lost.” This made me laugh. “What was so bad about ‘Strawberry Shortcake’?” she asked. “What’s so bad about (fill in the blank)?” This is a question my children have asked me and I have asked myself hundreds of times over the years. We’ve asked it about all sorts of books, movies, and activities. It seems to me, we only have so much free time – time set up for no purpose other than enjoyment and we can choose things that are “not bad,” or we can choose things of value. Early in parenting I wanted to give my kids only value. So while other children were reading books about a babysitting club, mine were reading the “Wind in the Willows” and “Misty of Chincoteague.” I softened my stance somewhat as the years unfolded, so by the time my son was old enough, he saw all the “Star Wars” movies (I only liked the original three). Maddie laments this, too – how Spencer had it better. I try not to laugh. One of my favorite verses of the Bible was written by Paul in a very intimate portion of his letter to the Philippians as he seeks to instruct them how to live: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (Philippians 4:8 NIV). I’m not immune to pop-culture and I admit to watching things that are “not bad” and sometimes, even things I know veer straight into “bad.” These things don’t edify me in any way; in fact, if I’m not careful, they erode my convictions. But sometimes I watch them. That’s when I need a dose of “pure” or “lovely” or “admirable.” That’s when my husband and I trek to some beautiful part of God’s world, or I listen to “Pachebelle’s Cannon” or I read the poetry of the book of John. The other day, Maddie called to say she was tired of seeing little girls who dress too old for their age – that when she has children, she is going to pick “nice, age-appropriate clothes.” I was glad we were on the phone and she couldn’t see me smiling. Maybe I’ll surprise her the next time she comes home. I’ll put together a “Strawberry Shortcake Fest” complete with videos, shortcake, and balloons. Time spent with her laughing – that’s worthwhile. About the author: Lisa is a Christian, a wife and a mother of three. Lisa shares, “I know how my story began and Christ divulged the ending, so now I’m concentrating on developing the middle. May the setting, characterization and plot twists all work to His glory.” You can email Lisa using this link!
Strength and Help in Our Time of Need
Could you keep on coming after so many years and trips? We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26-28) Brad Gaines spent Christmas this year in Russellville, Alabama. It’s the same place he has spent every Christmas since 1991. His wife would rather he be in Nashville, Tennessee, with their daughters, but Brad goes every Christmas just the same. “Everyone needs to be with someone during Christmas,” Brad always says by way of explanation. The person Brad goes to be with is Chucky Mullins, a man very different from Brad and someone Brad might never have known, but for a fall afternoon in 1989. They met on a football field in Oxford, Mississippi, on October 28th, 1989, when Chucky’s Ole Miss Rebels were playing Brad’s Vanderbilt Commodores. Brad was the leading receiver in the Southeastern Conference; Chucky one of the conference’s best defensive backs. On one particular play – as it turns out, the play that would change both men forever – Brad caught a pass in front of Chucky. Chucky did what he had done thousands of times as a college football player; he hit Gaines and knocked the ball loose. Both players went down. Gaines got up and started back to the Vanderbilt huddle. Chucky didn’t get up. Chucky never would get up normally again. Somehow, when Chucky Mullins hit Brad Gaines he fractured 4 vertebrae in his neck. As minutes ticked by and Mullins stayed on the ground, as trainers and doctors clustered around him, and as Ole Miss players began holding hands and shaking heads, Gaines asked the referee how Chucky was. “They think he can’t move,” came the reply. In fact, Chucky Mullins was paralyzed from the neck down. Brad actually spoke to Chucky for the first time in the hospital. About a hundred people were clustered outside Mullins’ room when Gaines arrived. They parted without a word to let him walk in. The first words out of Chucky’s mouth as Brad entered the room were, “It’s not your fault.” Of course it wasn’t, but Brad still carried the incident around with him. He lost all desire to play football. Even though he finished his college eligibility and played a year of pro ball in Canada, his career basically ended on that October afternoon in Mississippi. Brad Gaines made his first trip to Russellville, Alabama, Chucky’s hometown, on May 6, 1991. That was the day of Chucky’s funeral. Brad, the strong and tough football player, cried like a baby beside his casket. He went on with his life, but he never forgot. And every year since then, Brad makes the drive from Nashville to Russellville three times a year: on May 6, the anniversary of Chucky’s death, on October 28th, the anniversary of the game, and on Christmas. He spends a couple of hours at Chucky’s grave, cleaning each letter of his headstone, pulling away grass and weeds and leaves from around his marker, and then sitting and praying and reflecting before getting back into his car and driving back to Nashville. He has not missed a visit in thirteen years. He claims he never will. The years of reflection have given Brad a perspective on the terrible events that link him with Chucky. “It makes you appreciate life so much more,” he says. “It makes you appreciate relationships. Life is so fragile. It makes you value life.” Brad speaks often to schools and church youth groups about meeting and overcoming the challenges that life brings. He always leaves them with this message: “I don’t question why God does things,” he said. “I just know that some good comes of it, and that He gives me the strength I need.” It takes strength to live with the memory of such a tragic event without being devastated by it. Then again, many of us have to live with such memories. Brad Gaines just understands that the strength he needs doesn’t come from figuring out why his life took the turn it did. It comes from believing in a God who knows what we need even when we don’t know how to ask, and who brings something good from everything that happens to us. Maybe you know a little too well what Brad Gaines carries with him. Maybe you know what it’s like to live with tragic or difficult circumstances – to think every day of a person you wish you could see or an event you never anticipated or a mistake you wish you could take back. Maybe you’ve made a few pilgrimages of your own. If so, I hope you realize just as clearly as Brad Gaines that your strength does not come from demanding answers, but from trusting in the God who brings good out of what seem to be irredeemable events. And even if you don’t see it yet, the Cross and the empty tomb prove without a shadow of a doubt that God is not absent – not even from cemeteries. Surely you don’t imagine that the God who sent his Son for you would leave you alone and helpless. He will give you the strength you need. Even if it’s just a day at a time. About the author: Patrick Odum lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Laura and son, Joshua. He is one of the ministers at Northwest Church of Christ, and an avid Heartlight fan. He enjoys writing and maintains a website of his work called Faith Web where you can find all of his articles. Email Patrick
When I Am Afraid
I’m thankful for the way the Lord teaches me about his character through the pitter patter of those little feet. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side (2 Chronicles 15:15). Every morning, I roll over to find a tiny body lying between my husband and me. Sometimes I remember how he got there. Sometimes it’s as if he magically appeared. Some nights I’m just lying there thinking about all the things I need to do the next day (or the things I forgot to do that day) when I hear the swishing of his pajama pants across the tile floor occasionally accompanied by a crash or two into a wall as he makes his way to us in his sleepy stupor. He pushes the door open and whispers, “I’m sca-yed. Can I way wiv you?” And because I’m putty in his hands, and because I’m too tired to care, I hoist that three-year-old up and over and under the quilt. I know it’s gotten to be a habit, and I know all the good moms out there would tell me I need to break it before it gets out of hand (#toolatebro). But he’s my last one. And there’s something about him knowing that when he’s “sca-yed” he knows exactly where to go to feel safe. I was thinking about it one night, while he was curled up next to me. He had just crawled in, yet was already asleep. It was as if he had never really been awake at all. He knows that path well now, the one from his room to ours because in the not-so-scary daylight he’s walked it over and over again. He’s worn a path to our room because he’s come here often. Not always because he needed something, but just because he loves to be near us. I love those who love me,and those who seek me find me (Proverbs 8:17). So at night, he follows that beaten path to our room. He knows all the turns, all the walls, all the furniture he needs to avoid. Even in the dark. Even when his eyes are half-open. Even when his brain is still snoozing away. It’s muscle memory. His feet just take him where they know he needs to be because he’s been there a thousand times before. It’s the place his little feet know leads to security and comfort. I wonder if I have worn a path to my Heavenly Father as our son has to us. Do I go to him often enough in the daytime, in the still, quiet, joyful moments, for my feet to blindly lead me there in the darkness? Or would I have a hard time finding him when I needed him because I haven’t visited in a while? Seek the LORD while he may be found;call on him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6) Am I seeking him enough in the daylight to find him in the night? Of course, God will meet us in our darkness. Of course, he’ll be there, waiting for us. He’s longing to hold us and carry us and lead us. But if we haven’t worn down that road to him, if we haven’t walked it back and forth and back and forth, we might have a harder time finding our way to him. We might run into a few walls, stub our toes on a few door frames, hit our head against a lamp or two before our weary bodies finally collapse into his waiting arms. I thought of all the times I’d neglected to walk that path just to spend time with my Father, how I’d waited until I needed him, until circumstances turned desperate and out of control, only to stumble my way around searching for Him. He was there all along, in the same place he’d always been. I’d just forgotten the path because I hadn’t been walking it every day. But the good news is we serve a God who sees us stuck in the corner banging our head against the wall in our lostness and throws down everything, leaves it all behind, and sprints to us. He looks at us not in frustration or disappointment but with JOY and COMPASSION. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him (Luke 15:20). I’m thankful for a son who knows how to find me even in the pitch dark with his eyes half-open. I’m thankful he knows how much I love him and want to protect him. And I’m thankful for the way the Lord teaches me about his character through the pitter patter of those little feet. I pray that I will grow to understand the heights and depths and lengths of his love for me. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).