Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 11:9, “By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”

Nomads who didn’t follow mercantile routes or grazing lands, weather patterns or time-set agendas, but waited for a word—the word—from God alone when to stay and when to go.

Were they anxious for the signal to move when as outsiders they were regarded with such distrust they would post a sentry each night? Or so settled in comfort and plenty they dreaded the call to go. Perhaps even pleaded a little—we still have some tent repairs, a child is teething, the lambs and calves are too wobbly to travel a distance.

Or, a house divided. Some up early to eagerly explore the new geography and meet the neighbors. Others huddled near familiar daily routines grasping at permanence in fluctuating days.

All waiting—all trusting in a word spoken—looking to be shaped by kairos time instead of daily uncertainty. Learning to live by spiritual roots instead of geographic. Knowing that the when and the where and the why and for how long belonged to the Lord.

Lord, please guide us into a new way of living each day. Ground us into Your word and Your Spirit so that our foundation is Your will, Your Purpose, and in Your timing. Help us to be willing to change our agendas at the sound of Your voice.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 16: 5-6

“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; Thou dost support my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Indeed my heritage is beautiful to me.”

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 5:5, Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”

New technological concepts root out traditional business practices like a farmer prepares his field for a new crop. Passerbys see a churned plot of land upside down, inside out, and no idea what the produce will be. From elementary school on, students speak a math language foreign even to older siblings. Speed and accuracy are said to increase production. Now people are expected to yield results at a quicker pace.

Pharaoh would have appreciated these developments. His goals were to fill quotas. Production-cost-money. Personal lives were of no consequence. They were slaves-produce output.

What about my own agenda? Is there room for people, for fellowship, or do I give all my time to completing my daily lists? How willing am I to stop the busy flow and become a participant in living? Perhaps I have become so caught up in fulfilling expectations that I am even doing those not mine to meet. I need Your discernment, Lord, to separate the urgent from the necessary, to make my life more than a production line.

Fix my tasks on Your choices. Keep my work within the boundaries You have set. Only there, will I truly feel satisfaction in completed goals.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 90:17

And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And do confirm for us the work of our hands;

Yes, confirm the work of our hands.