A Morning Prayer

In our Bible reading together we have recently been going through the life of the prophet Samuel and how he was instructed to anoint Saul as king over Israel. We encounter Saul as a nice young man full of hope and potential. How sad it is that once given high position and the blessings of God that he soon failed, broke Samuel’s heart and missed the path that God wanted him to walk.

Saul’s failure was that, while he was respectful and well liked, he never had a personal connection with God. He was always just trying his best to serve Samuel’s God. How different the heart of David, who longed to know and serve God long before he was called to be king. Watching over his father’s sheep while he was still a teenager, David prayed to really know God and learn the path God wanted him to walk. Sure David had plenty of his own failures but he never stopped longing to know and please God. These verses from Psalm 25 are often central to my own morning prayers. A few years back I wrote this song based on those verses and I pray the words and music may awaken your own hearts to really seek God and His ways today. Only He knows the path on which each of us are called to walk today!

The Missing Piece

When the puzzle was almost together we noticed something missing…. It was the final piece! Ten minutes of searching yielded our prize which had discovered a hiding place under the table! But our victory was short lived because surprisingly even though there was only one open space left the piece we found didn’t fit!

That is when my wife’s sharp eyes picked out the problem. One of the other puzzle pieces had taken its place. The same is also true in the church. Two bad things happen when we try to be something we are not. The place God chose for us remains empty and we also steal the spot that God designed someone else to fill!

Let God fit you in where you belong and the puzzle will show the world the face of Jesus Christ!

Music in the Rest

But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:20 KJV

Since I come from the “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” generation it has taken me decades to learn the value of quiet. Only now am I beginning to see that silence is also worship.

In the busy symphony of life God places some whole rests in between our Allegro movements. We must learn to play not only the grace notes but also the pauses placed in our score. God being both kind and gentle hears our voices even when no words are uttered.

Yes one day we will return to the happier pace of marches or the soaring crescendo of horns and timpani. But even in a moment of silence God is still keeping time. Our hope is not in the loudness of the part assigned us but in the kind and loving conductor who leads us in Christ to hear heaven’s music even in the rest!