The day after Easter I launched out on what I’ve now called a Resurrection Adventure. You can read a more full description of that here in “What Does Resurrection Life Look Like?” As I stepped out, my daughter Katie and the Redheaded-Wildflower joined me. Then last Sunday about fifty people from my church, Saint James Presbyterian also joined in. I’d love to have you join in too.
My daughter defined the adventure by saying “What if, we said yes to whatever we felt Jesus asking us to do. It could be as small as a smile, dropping everything to play, [or as large as] buying groceries for someone, forgiving a hurt quickly, praying instead of worrying.”
After a full week of this exciting and difficult journey, I realized that I had not yet sought God for the provision and power of the Holy Spirit to say, Yes. That then is the heart of today’s Sunday Psalm: The Power to Say Yes to God.
Almighty God,
I confess I’ve started on this adventure with a half empty knapsack. It contains my honest desire to say yes to you. It contains meager hope you’ll be with me as I climb and labor to love and serve you, the living Lord, in daily life. But now from the side of the road, I admit my intentions and desires are not enough. I need you.
My eyes are not wide or sharp enough to see you in your beauty and glory. Let me see through your eyes.
My heart’s not open or big enough for you, much less your other children. Work a miracle in my tiny, fearful heart. Give me capacity and courage.
My will is not steely enough to climb the steep sections of the trail.
God who is with me,
Through your Holy Spirit empower me:
To say YES to living a resurrected life,
To say YES to living in light rather than the dark,
To say YES to walking in forgiveness rather than guilt,
To say YES to throwing off shame,
To say YES to extending grace to the graceless, hope to the hopeless,
To say YES to joy rather than bitterness,
To say YES to justice and giving to others freely from the abundance you pour out on me,
To say YES to recognizing and not looking away from the hurt and need in others,
To say YES to join you in bringing justice and healing to those in need,
To say YES to holding my hands open to you,
To say YES to to your best for me no matter how hard your best is,
To say YES to living in vulnerable faith,
To say YES to bold love rather than timid fear,
To say YES to being present to those in my life,
To say YES to not attempting this in my own strength rather
Empower me to To say YES to you, God of love and life here and now and evermore.
Amen
You’ll find another source of encouragement for our Resurrection Journey @ Doing Easter Right — 50 Days of Joy by Alastair Sterne
Thank you, Eugene,… I love this!,…
my favorite point is asking for the Lord to help us see what He wants us to see, and showing us the way He wants us to see these things ~ honing our “vision”, via His Spirit,… I imagine that that could be much different than our habitual way of seeing/(judging?)/(avoiding?) things ~ (speaking for myself there, lol!),… but I think the main point is that we acknowledge Him and give Him permission to be the leader and guide, which actually “sets us free” to be willing followers, rather than having to “come up with the whole program”, on our own,… sounds good to me!,… (-:
That seeing with his eyes has been a phrase that has tumbled around my mind for some time. It is seeing with truth. But that is hard. Yes, we are followers before we are leaders.
“seeing with truth”,… yes, that would be a challenging concept, as the human situation-at-large offers many different (and conflicting?) claims about “what truth is”,… but “how does God see it?”,… can we help to find “peace in the middle of a storm?”,… “seeing with love” could be another aspect,…
I thought of these ideas (below), after what I had initially written,… (& thanks for letting me pursue these ideas, btw,… it is stimulating to want to think more deeply about such things, than I usually do ~ being kind of a “laissez-faire” person in general),…
(1) it might actually end up being a better thing overall, to just “follow Him” in simpler things and smaller direct actions, than to fret ourselves over trying to build bigger and more complicated projects,… maybe “bigger things” might come later,… or not,… we don’t want “ourselves” to be “getting in His way”,… do we?,… (-:
another thought,…
(2) considering that “our soul” contains different aspects of our human awareness, (which may actually not be in agreement with each other ~ such as some “fears” inhibiting our expressed “desires and wished-for confidence” to reach out, and on and on) ~ it seems also very “useful” to deliberately ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, which may help over-ride some hesitancy or confusion, if we’ve been trying to rely more on our own “good ideas and ‘shoulds and oughts’ and random impulses” ~ some impulses can be tricky and work against the “good ideas”,… so, learning how to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to have an accepted and trusted guiding way over our “soul”, may be a very big help in many situations that we are involved in,… good idea!,… (-:
lol,… the “adventure” continues,…
point (1): the mere intention and act of “inviting” the Holy Spirit to guide me, in any potential human connection/interaction, (although just a quiet thought in my mind, as far as I’m concerned), seems to already make a difference, as I “contemplate” my target,… so, maybe I end up “studying” them a bit more than I usually would in our hustle-bustle world,… I’m sure it’s very subtle, but it seems to be perceptible, ~ crossing some unspoken, invisible/habitual human barriers,… so, as I considered what to say to a very-tired-out-looking post office attendant, (as I rushed in at the end of their day), I was at a loss at first ~ so, a “long pause” followed,… ordinarily, I’m pretty sure that I would have continued in an apologetic and co-operative silence, going through whatever motions were required, with a polite “thank you”, at the end,… but the “challenge” wanted to “dig deeper”,…
then, some very old (almost extinct) “grandmotherly” wisdom from yester-year popped into my mind ~ “find something to genuinely compliment”,… my staged wide-angle vision unobtrusively searched, but I was at a bit of a loss,… then I noticed a very simple but very nice sweater that she was wearing, and at an open moment, I just quietly said, “I like your sweater!,… it’s very nice!”,… wow! ~ no fireworks or anything, but there was a definite softening all the way around!,… and it was a very rewarding and confirming moment,…
so, (2): was I “on to something?”,… for the next few days, I was ready to try “my secret” again,… and I think it boiled down to me just “paying more directed attention” to someone else, for one thing,… but also realizing that if I really looked, I could probably find something to be genuinely interested in,… (I don’t like “fake”, so it’s kind of a “good pretend excuse” to ignore things, and avoid confrontations),…
but I think this might be a “clue” to cultivating something better,… (-:
I’m glad you were responsive to God and her. I think these small noticing and responses are the foundation for walking in new life.
to Eugene ~ I agree,… just to mention a “flip side” to creating “openness”, I was taken aback today by some awful stuff that I (inadvertently/unknowingly) ran into online ~ unexpectedly “gross” (compared to the “usual”), and I’ve had a really hard time blocking the memory and negative effect out,… so this is probably one type of factor that has encouraged our self-protectiveness, until it has become a habit,… “discernment” probably involves being able to handle “a double-edged sword”,… (-:
I’m sorry about that evil intrusion. Vulnerability to God does open us to other input as well. Is this why many close themselves off all together? I pray he cleanses your memory.
A few of those in your list got under my skin, but I thank you anyway.
Thanks, Ann. Some are under my skin too.
thanks ~ I’m not worried,… if nothing else, I’m sure that I’ll sleep it off,… one of my best “defenses” against such things is to remind myself (and the devil) that these things are “all lies” and have no ability to remain, and no claim to authenticity, or my attention,… but he just does try to be nasty,… I don’t mind “squashing him like a bug”, but I’m sad for the humans who let him use them,… & thanks again ~ I think I feel better already!,… (-: