Trust & Obey

I spent most of yesterday getting a cabin ready at church camp…will have people staying in it for four camps this summer (praise God!), and then last night and some of today getting the bus and me ready for our trip to the reservation at Pine Ridge SD…leaving early on Saturday. So much yet to do…then this morning I received a text from a friend who referred me to the Upper Room for the devotional for today (June 10) and it reminded me of what I already knew…the God who created this earth and me, also created time and tasks. As long as He’s in control of my life, I will accomplish what He needs me to accomplish…nothing more, nothing less. Here’s the devotional:

The Clock is Ticking

Read Proverbs 3:1-8

I trust in you, O Lord . . . My times are in your hands. -Psalm 31:14-15 (NIV)

I seem to spend a great deal of my day fighting against the clock. There are always more things to be done than hours in the day to do them. Sleeping, nurturing my marriage, and taking time with each of my children can't be done quickly. And it seems that before I've blinked, another day has gone. Often the tasks don't seem worth the time they consume. Little time seems to be left to do the things I really want to do.

I never expected life to look like this. As a teenager and young adult, I prayed that I wouldn't be average. I wanted to be different and to change the world. I didn't expect life to involve rushing around washing socks.

How relieved I am, therefore, to discover that God can and does make the ordinary extraordinary. Day by day, as I follow God's paths -- as I trust and obey -- I become more content. I've seen that however mundane some tasks may seem, small acts can have greater impact than anyone could have imagined. Who knows, for instance, how my children might change the world for God? What I do know is that God goes ahead of me and walks beside me. God is not restricted or pressured by clocks or calendars, and my times are in God's hands.

Jenny Sanders (Hampshire, England)

Prayer
Dear Father God, help us to know your peace as we walk through the days you have ordained for us. Amen.

Thought for the day
When we obey in trust, God can use our small actions to accomplish much good.

Prayer Focus
Those who feel harried