We were gathered outdoors as a body of believers to worship and learn the lessons of Our Lord. The sky was just gorgeous this morning. The weather was not overly hot or muggy and I had the best seat in the house; in the shade and directly in front of one of the large fans set out to increase the breeze. We were encouraged to worship with our own words. To do so it was necessary for me to get my mind off the birds, the telephone lines, people around me, the cross on the top of the church…I think you get the picture. Observing the material world comes naturally to me. Focusing on God’s kingdom requires intentional, prayerful effort. Why am I thus? Because two kingdoms wrestle over me.
I looked down at grass beneath my kitchen stool and prayed, “You made each blade of grass Lord. You know about every bug on them. For that matter, you know about all the bugs and every other kind of problem in the whole wide world. So, that makes me wonder; what were You thinking about the day You left Your home in heaven? You know everything. You knew what was going to happen each and every day as You walked on earth. How did You feel about that Lord? I know the day on the cross was horrendous, but what was the day You were preparing to set foot on earth as a man like? What were You thinking about when You left Your place of perfection to rescue people like me…people who start paying more attention to birds and telephone lines instead of concentrating on how great You are? How do You feel when my attention is drawn back to You by Your love and patience? I know it makes me feel safe and secure when You do it, but how does it make You feel to have to constantly draw me back?”
The music started up again; then Pastor preached. I tried to keep my focus on what he had to say and did a fair to middling job of it. His messages have been very good, and I am flawed just enough that there is almost always something I need to hear and usually something I miss because of distractions. Today I noticed a couple of people were talking a bit. The look of deep concentration on my friend’s face as she tried hard to listen was very obvious too. Then I noticed something very, very amusing, but I won’t share what it was.
Once service was over, I visited with a couple sisters in Christ, then headed up to Lakeland Park where I listened to the same service over again with more of a prayerful, intentional focus on Jesus. I do not know what the day He prepared to leave His home in heaven was like for Him, but I am certain He was very
intentional about making the journey. There is no way He could even have begun to accomplish the Father’s great plan if He had not been determined to do so. Jesus endured the journey, the sojourning, the mundane, the day by day challenges, and the cross because of the joy set before Him. What was that joy? One of the greatest aspects of it was the knowledge that we would someday be able to enter into
perfect fellowship with Him. Oh Lord, help me…help us…to become increasingly intentional about our relationship with You. We need Your time and Your touch to endure the days ahead. I LOVE YOU LORD, AND I HAVE EVERY INTENTION OF LOVING YOU MORE AND MORE AND MORE! GOD HELP ME, HELP US!