God is Calling

The last two months have been brutal for me. Several weeks ago I preached a sermon entitled, "distracted by the things that had to be done." The title references a story from the Bible about Mary and Martha. In the sermon I pointed out that Martha was not distracted by unimportant stuff, but by things that had to be done. How do you put aside something that "has to be done?" I think it was Martin Luther that had the answer, "I have so much work to do that I must spend at least three hours in prayer in order to accomplish it all" (my paraphrase).

Things were great for me up to that Sunday; or so I thought. Since that Sunday, the Lord has allowed numerous circumstances to line up in such a way that they revealed my need for personal change. The circumstances have forced me to recognize that I had allowed my priorities to get out of order. God has spoken to me through my family life, church crisis, sermon preparation, friendships, leadership responsibilities, etc. What I originally saw as road blocks in the way of my journey with God I now see as guard rails helping to push me back on track. What I first saw as attacks of the enemy I now know as the gracious discipline of my heavenly Father. Without knowing it, I had strayed and God is calling me back. Thank you, Lord for your grace. I'm coming.

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