Hallelujah! Today is
the first official day of summer, my favorite season of the year. I think that it is the fresh crisp mornings,
the warm days and cool nights (at least that’s the usual weather pattern where
we live as we normally receive the fog coming in from the coast a few miles to our
west), the bright green lawns and shrubbery, all the gorgeous flowers and the
delicious fresh vegetables picked right off the vine, that gets my vote for
this time of year.
In fact, my plan for today is to spend some time cleaning up
the final few piles of cuttings left from my pre-summer clean up a week or so
ago, sweeping the patio area, cleaning off the patio chairs and rearranging
some of the potted plants in preparation for the wonderful times of solitude
while my wife and I sit in the late afternoons, sip from cold glasses of Ice
Tea or soda (or pop to those outside of California!) and enjoy the view.
Shortly after resigning from my position at the church a
couple of weeks ago, the Lord made it very clear to me that I was to STOP
and take some much needed time of R&R.
He likened it to the need to stop and get off the train before it sped
out of control and derailed. (Have you
ever seen the movie “Unstoppable?”
All the potential hazards that they faced came to mind as He spoke to my
heart!) He said that it was important to
step out and back from everything that I had been doing and take whatever time
necessary to reevaluate, refocus, and regain the proper perspective. It was in this way that He told me that I
would find the next step that He had planned for my wife and I to pursue. And although it has been hard to do, I must
admit that I have never had so much peace in a leading from the Lord, as I do
now!
Now as I have been earnestly seeking Him through the Word
and with much prayer, it feels as though I am back in Bible
College
Each day I have been taking copious notes in two different
binders as the Lord has been pouring out His revelations, instructions and
encouragements to me. Day by day the
excitement and expectation has been growing within me. This morning I was awakened by our dog’s
uncharacteristic movements at the foot of our bed. She was stirring around and then sat up and
stared at me. It was peculiar in that
her ears were not peeked upright as if she had heard something, but she just
sat there and looked at me as if she had something to tell me. I reached out and petted her and she relaxed
and laid back down, only to get up a few moments later and jump off the bed to lay in the doorway of our bedroom.
At that point I figured that I didn’t need to be a rocket
scientist to figure out that the Lord was calling me to get up. (Didn’t
He use a donkey to get Balaam’s attention?) So I arose from the bed, made some fresh
coffee and began to pray in my heavenly language. In I Corinthians 14:2 the Apostle Paul said
that “he who prays in a tongue does not
speak to men but to God” (NKJV) and I figured that since I didn’t know what
this was all about that it was best to pray directly to Him in a language that
He alone understands. Later on in that
same chapter it says that “He who speaks
in a tongue edifies (builds, restores, and repairs) himself” (I Corinthians
14:4 NKJV), so I figured that was just the process that I needed anyway as I
waited to hear the Lord’s plans for us.
When I entered my study I was impressed to get on my knees
as I prayed. I definitely felt like
there was a need for prayer and as I prayed I mentally reviewed all the
different situations happening in and around my wife and I to see if I got a
tingle of recognition. The only thing
that kept coming up was that we were near the place of receiving God’s divine
directions for our lives. As I prayed
the words from Matthew 6:10 from the
Lord’s Prayer kept coming to mind saying “Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done as it is
in heaven.” (KJV) Then suddenly I found myself singing the words
of the old hymn:
“Have thine own way,
Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after they will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,
as in they presence humbly I bow.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with they Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me! *
As I repeatedly sang the words, I began to realize that
everything that I had been praying for was included in the lines of that
song. All the things that I have
desired, all the hurts that I have endured, and most importantly of all, all
the answers that I could record. Let the
words of this timeless tune be the call of your heart today as you seek to
follow His way. “Have thine own way, Lord! Have
thine own way! You are the potter and I
am the clay.” Open up your heart to
Him and allow Him to mold you and make you, and to hold over your being
absolute sway. “Power, all power, surely is thine,” let him fill you with His
Spirit so that the world will see Christ only and always living in you.
Have a great day.
Keep in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”
* Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Words
written by Adelaide
Music by George C. Stebbins, 1846-1945.
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