Sunday. The Lord’s Day. The first day of the new creation. The day on which all of those who call upon the name of Christ, who call him savior and Lord, begin to enter the rest that God has prepared for his people. While we are now only experiencing the first fruits of that future completeness, it is still a time of joy and wonder and refreshment, capped off with the Eucharist, which according to the sixth chapter of John, is food and drink indeed, the sustenance of life eternal.
Sunday is usually a time that includes thinking and planning. Today finds me pondering a number of things, unsure of either of the course or the possible expectations that may lie ahead. A little poem I wrote several years ago pegs the moment well.
There are many things I could have been
Many things I could yet be
But one thing lies beyond my keen
Lord, what would you have of me?
My wife counsels patient waiting upon the Lord. She believes if my intimations are true, then it will become obvious in both the call and the means. I just need to let it happen in God’s own time.
Sorry, but I don’t want to say more than that, as all of this speculation may be a bit presumptuous. I do, however, covet your prayers as I attempt to discern what the Lord is saying to me. Those of you who don’t believe that God gives specific personal guidance probably think I have slipped a gear or two. But, those of you from a more Charismatic/Pentecostal background will have an inkling of my current struggle to understand what God may be saying.
Our heavenly Father is gracious to us his children. He understands our weaknesses and makes allowances where necessary. So I pray he will allow me to have a more obvious path laid out before me. If something is indeed afoot, I pray I will have others who will bear witness to the truth of it, since I feel inadequate for what it may demand if I am correct.
There are three weeks left in our journey and one of those begins tomorrow. I pray the Lord continues to instruct us in our discipline of prayer and I look forward to what lies ahead. May God bless you this week, keep you healthy and safe, and may the good works he has prepared for us to do give easy purchase to our feet. Amen and good night.
William,
In answer to your question posed a few days ago, I have been, well…”resting”. I have undergone a profound shift in my interests these days (for reasons I will return to blogging to explain), and as such, I found myself having very little to say, and whatever I might have wanted to say was never realized by my lack of inclination. Also, I was busy working as well, and unfortunately, my work is despotic with my time. Thanks for checking in with me, however. I pretty much lost my entire readership, but I needed the break.
Hi William,
I teach my congregation that faithfulness today is the best preparation for tomorrow. Our hunger is satisfied when we live by our ‘daily’ bread. And no matter how much I eat I will always be hungry tomorrow, at least on this side of the promised land of “milk and honey” where the tree of life gives its eternal fruit.
Your wife sounds like a wise woman, probably from years of living with…oh, well.
If it is any encourgement, I remain convinced that the Spirit of God lives in you; I would also say it is your spirit of humility that convinces me so 🙂
I once read a book on Joseph called, “God sent a man”. I’m convinced that he still does. Where and how he sent him remains a challenge to our souls, but Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, prison or palace. And as you recently wrote, “we have learned to be content in all things”.
I almost closed, but something came to mind after re-reading your wife’s counsel, to which I would add my Amen. My own experience with calling is that God also speaks to other parts of the body when he moves through our spiritual gifts. He confirms our calling within the body; others will hear “on the roottop” what he says to us in secret. As Barth said, the church is that group who can say “Emmanuel”, God With Us.