My flesh prickles against authority.   

My will stiffens when met with opposition. 

Too many times I have caught myself squirming in the trap of self-sufficiency.  Believing that I am capable of directing my life’s course; of making my life’s decisions (and many more times, I’m sure, I’ve not caught myself!)  

I like to do things my way. 

I am told my adversary is more beguiling (which interestingly can be interpreted as ‘charming’) than any other creature the Lord created. 

Is he appealing?   Yes.   

Is he creative and omniscient?   No. 

He has used the same basic strategies from the start.  He may tweak his packaging a little, but at their foundation his deceits are unchanged.

 Since the beginning of time when the serpent crafted his deceit and said, “…Your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods…” mans’ desire to rule his own destiny has been apparent.  Satan’s lie, and our human inclination to believe it, is in evidence everywhere.  From Satan’s lies in the Garden to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness,  from man made ‘religions’ to the mantra of our culture, from the demand of the toddler to the soaring incidence of selfish divorce. I want to do it my way.  

I know what is best.

Yet I neglect God’s voice on the matter.

His admonition through the prophet Jeremiah,  

“…the heart of man is deceitful above all things.”   (Jer. 17:9)

His thoughts in the days of Noah, 

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually."  (Gen. 6:5)

His words at the dedication of the temple when Solomon addresses the condition of mans heart, 

“What prayer and supplication soever be [made] by any man [or] by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart…”  (IKings 8:38) (emphasis mine)

His wisdom displayed in the Proverbs,

“The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.”  (Prov. 19:3)

It is clear from the Scriptures that my very heart can not be trusted.  No wonder Satan targets my own heart’s desires to bring about the eternal ****ation of my soul (yes, I know, HSblogger will block half of this word!).  His work is half done before he has even begun.

This is the definitive battle for my soul.  Will I place myself on the throne in my life or will I humbly bow before the Living God as He takes His rightful place as Lord of my Days?

"When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men), that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

(I Kings 8:37-40)

"No distinction was made between the sacred and the everyday...

their life was all one piece.  It was all sacred and all ordinary."
~ Sue Bender ~

Occasionally I am able to sneak away from my sleeping family in the wee hours of the morning and meet my lover.  I stealthily put on my carefully laid out clothes in the dark, pick-up my bag with my Bible and notebook, gingerly take my keys and get in the car long before the sun arrives. 

This morning it was cold, dark and wet.  (Alas, summer is over and the rains have come.)  I wove my way through the empty streets to my favorite coffee house to get my extra strong cup of coffee and then I went to my secret meeting place and He was there.  Waiting, just like always.

We talked as the sun came up through clouds heavy with rain.  I opened His Word and wrote quickly as He spoke.  He answered questions I’d been pondering.  He gave me strength enough for this day alone.  He gently took the burdens off my drooping shoulders.  I felt Him hold me in the quietness and tell me all was well. 

At last I raised my eyes. I watched the clouds brush across the tops of fading Cottonwoods.  The river, ever moving, was racing down its familiar path.   Geese were noisily beginning their journey south in search of warmer days.  Ducks scattered to make way for a jogger on her morning run.  I watched her plod along and wondered if she saw the things I did or was she immune to the beauty all around her.

I was swept away in the majesty of a day.  My eyes stung as I marveled at the splendor. 

You see, each and every moment He is there waiting.  Waiting for me to pause and know that He is God. To reflect on His sovereignty...His power...His love. 

Even in the unfolding of an ordinary day….He waits.

If only I would still myself and listen for the sacred in the everyday things of life.

"Be still and know that I am God..."

Psalm 46:10