“Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.” Proverbs 4:7
Father,
Sometimes life can just be overwhelming. I have been in such a harried form that recently going into a Christian bookstore almost left me in a state of panic. I am in need of answers to some difficult questions and guidance for a rough journey ahead. Advice can be a dime a dozen. Some of it is very good and God-centered and some of it needing to be tossed over my shoulder like a pinch of salt. So I look to the experts to see what they have to say. Walking down rows and rows of books written by well-known authors with degrees and titles that run off the page, each offering a ‘how to’ and suddenly I feel like I am being swallowed whole. I pick up book after book trying to choose; which one will help, which one will give the direction I need, which one will speak directly to my heart? I am grateful Father that you have gifted so many of your servants with the ability to write wonderful books that offer help and direction. However, as I continue to walk throughout the bookstore amid the volumes of videos, cassettes, kits, studies, and even new Bibles in more translations that I have fingers and toes to count, I am again overwhelmed. Standing there in the middle of all this ‘godliness of a store’ I want to scream! I don’t want an expert, I don’t want another book, I don’t want to watch a video or listen to a tape. I just want my Lord! I want to collapse in His arms, bury my head in His shoulders and pour out all my pain on Him. So that is what I do. Leaving the bookstore behind I head home and go to the place where we meet every morning, the middle of my dining room floor. There your arms welcome me and your strong shoulders hold all of my liquid fears, hurts, and haunts. Then you guide me to the book that is above all others – your precious Word. With its tattered, frayed, and note-smeared pages that are so dear to me, I read and re-read. Through my cloudy, sin-cataract eyes you begin to give me new vision. There is calm. Thank you mighty God for the ways you bring my life balance. Thank you for so often reminding me that nothing else will do, save you only. There are many times I am inspired through the written and spoken words of others but lest I get too dependent upon them, you carefully orchestrate my life so that even those wonderful pieces of work will not satisfy my soul. I was made for you. Only you Jesus.
Learning to lean,
Penny
