Beginning With God
Isaiah 26:3-9 (NRSV)
Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace-- in peace because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD you have an everlasting rock. For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul's desire. My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
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Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
- Colossians 3:2 (NRSV)
I didn't know where to begin.
A major project, weeks behind schedule, needed my attention. I had six telephone calls to return, a stack of financial reports to review, and a personnel report to write. An important meeting was set to begin in an hour. I had to make arrangements for a trip. My car was in the shop.
I needed to do so many things at once that I found myself unable to get started on anything. Deciding where to begin became as large a problem as everything else pressing on me.
I worried. I tried to do everything at once, and I ended up doing nothing. I had become paralyzed, and I realized I had forgotten God. I had set my mind on things on earth instead of things above. So I asked God for focus. As I remembered that God is the center of my life, my focus returned; and the internal turmoil subsided. I thanked God for being there, and in peace I was able to get back to work.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for staying at the center of our life, even when we forget you are there. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
What distracts me from attending to God as my first priority?
PRAYER FOCUS:
Those who feel overwhelmed
By Bob Tippee, Texas
