Spiritual Puberty: The Know-It-All

If there is one indication that someone is going through puberty is the fact that he/she firmly believes that he/she is infallible. In other words, puberty people think they know it all.

Well, such is the case with my 14-year old son Grant. Beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt, he knows, with positive certainty that he is always right. This is why “discussions” between us could only take two shapes:

1. They could look like play-date banter with very short exchanges of a maximum of three sentences, wrapping up with me rolling my eyes as I sigh a complacent “you are right…”

or

2. They could look like a battlefield with endless exchanges of countless sentences, wrapping up with both of us walking into our rooms with the respective slamming of doors.

Scenario 1 happens when I am not in the mood for a LONG diatribe in which I inevitably become upset/angry, so I concede.

Scenario 2 happens when I believe it is important that he realizes that he is wrong, and I am right! Towards the end of this scenario he would say something like: “You just don’t love me!” I follow that with a desperate attempt to prove him wrong and explain: “I just want you to understand that I’m disagreeing with you not because I don’t love you or don’t want you to be happy. On the contrary, my goal here is to help you see the truth. And the reason I want you to see and understand and accept the truth is precisely because I DO love you. I love you more than I love myself!” …which, of course, he doesn’t believe, and makes him insist causing a mad spin that eventually ends with the slamming of doors.

Sigh…

This constitutes the first sign of immaturity characterized by puberty: the inability or reluctance to recognize/understand/accept the fact that we are under the control of a higher authority.

Obviously, I’m not just talking about Grant here. As you can see, immaturity runs in the family and in our case, it may or may not have anything to do with puberty.

Fear, rebellion, inflexibility, inability to adapt, insistence on one’s own way, rigidity of thought, resistance to accept the need to let go all stem from rejecting the truth that God is Sovereign. We all want a Savior, but a few of us like a Lord. I believe that’s why Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4 what I see as the first principle to keep in mind when striving to walk toward spiritual maturity:

1. Remember that The Lord is Sovereign and we belong to Him. (v.1) Remember that there is: one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (v. 6)

It’s that simple. If I could just internalize this truth…I would never be afraid again. I would never doubt again. I would never be anxious again. He loves me. I belong to Him. And not only does He love me, but He did go through great lengths to prove it as He became flesh and died for me. The disagreements between my plan and His will are not meant for me to be miserable. They are meant for me to grow up. Just like I could not allow Grant to go through life immersed in the arrogant believe that he is always right and that he knows it all, God cannot let me fall into that same trap either.

It is impossible for us to know all that there is to know and control all that there is to control in this life…if it were possible…what kind of a God He would be?

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 

Romans 11: 33

It is true. My 14-year-old and I have a long way to walk still ‘till we grow up. However, I am determined to intentionally surrender to Him as I pray that He turns our hearts of stone into malleable clay to be molded by His loving hands.

Spiritual Puberty

I have a teenager at home. Wow…I can’t believe I just said that… but at 14 years old, Grant is just that, a teen. And even though he is the sweetest, SWEETEST guy ever…he has his moments on which he act his age. What can I say? He can’t help it…and I must remember that. Eventually, this too shall pass.

The thing is that he is not the only one in my house who acts like a teen. Actually, more often than Grant, I am the one behaving like I’m going through puberty.

Of course I’m not talking about physical puberty, but spiritual. I show my lack of maturity on the subject of the Spirit when I lose it and give free rein to my emotions, mostly anger, fear and worry.

Unlike physical maturity, which just happens without much we can do either to hurry it along or stop it all together, spiritual maturity doesn’t come automatically. Its growth depends directly on the effort we put into cultivating it. Its development depends on how intentional we are about nurturing it.

For instance, if we go adrift, semi-unconsciously riding the cultural current of today’s world, our spiritual maturity would be thwarted. The pattern of this world is not the most conducive to the growth of the soul; hence, the need NOT to conform to it. (Romans 12: 2) On the contrary, we are called to “put off our old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4: 22-24) This way we would be able to stop living on the “futility of the thinking” of our former ways.

Who do we achieve such state?

Paul gives us an outline to strive to in Ephesians chapter 4. The following list is a compilation of the principles that he instructs us to follow:

1. Remember that The Lord is Sovereign and we belong to Him. (v.1) Remember that there is: one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (v. 6)

2. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (v.2)

3. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (v.3) Remember we are one: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism. (v. 4-5)

4. Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor. (v. 25)

5. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (v. 26-27)

6. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. (v. 28)

7. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (v. 29)

8. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 

(v. 30)

9. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 

(v. 31)

10. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (v. 32)

Of course this is not to be taken as a legalistic list of do’s and don’ts. No one can actually achieve the level of holiness the Lord demands of us without the Holy Spirit directing our path and infusing us with His presence, wisdom and strength. Alone, we fail. But His unfailing Grace delivers us over and over and over again.

In an effort to be intentional on my focus on Spiritual Maturity, I think I will try to explore each of these 10 principles Paul offers us to help us “live a life worthy of the calling we have received.” I’m not sure what this journey is going to look like, but I do hope you join me so we can discover, together, how to finally say “good bye” to puberty and begin to grow up in Christ. After all, I don’t think there’s much room for more than one teenager at a time in our house!

The Hundred Acre Woods Called Life

Well, I’ve never been an optimist…yes, I’m ashamed to admit it, but it is the truth. I’ve always been that girl who focuses on the empty part of the glass…more of a hard-boiled-egg than a sunny-side-up.

I have a hard time keeping a positive attitude in life. I can’t help to pay too much attention to the unfavorable odds that often seem to stack against me. Left to my own nature, I’d be a real-life Eeyore.

Right now, as our family faces a bump on the road, I feel the weight of the situation begin to crush my spirit. I’m trying not to fall into the trap of despair and worry, but my default negativism is threatening to push me in.

The thing is that on top of being a major Eeyore, all gloomy and down, I am also short-tempered, cranky and a bit of a control-freak…now that I think about it, kind of like Rabbit. I like things to go the way I planned them and I don’t really like surprises.

Hmmm…

What I keep forgetting is that in this Hundred Acre Woods called life, being a rigid pessimist is not going to lead me to a sunset of joy, but to a midnight of darkness. I need to remember that if I believe God is Sovereign, I must believe He is Sovereign over ALL…not just over certain things. He is Lord over the empty side of the glass. He is Lord over the hard-boiled eggs. He is Lord over the unfavorable odds. He is Lord over the Eeyores and the Rabbits. He is Lord over the entire Hundred Acre Woods and beyond.

Today, I pray that God allows me to become flexible so I can adapt to the His plans. I pray that the Holy Spirit helps me/us understand that even though from this side of eternity God’s plan might seem like a scary adventure, in reality, He is in control of it all, and it all works out in the end. I pray that me/us see that even though the odds might seem to be stacked against me/us, I/we don’t need to fear the odds because God is Lord over them. And I pray that His presence surrounds us so we feel the victory instead of the fear as we travel through this valley of tears.

How do We Overcome Trials?

How do we overcome trials? How do we get over disappointment? How do we move on when the road gets rough? How do we recover from the sting of the many doors constantly shutting on your faces? How do we walk courageously when we are paralyzed by fear? How do we live when we feel unloved?

I don’t know…

I don’t have a clue how to do anything apart from the Lord.

It sounds easy and simplistic…the single answer and solution to all of our problems rests on faith. Sure…

Perhaps you are tired of hearing that. Perhaps you are even a bit ashamed because you sense that this formulaic statement just doesn’t work for you. Your current situation, your current spiritual and emotional state are so overpowering and crushing that you barely have enough heart to breathe and survive. Therefore, the very thought of mustering strength to intensely focusing on an abstract concept that is so hard to grasp is just out of your realm of possibilities.

Well-intentioned comments from those around you encouraging you to “keep the faith” seem plainly meaningless or at best too trite to bring any comfort. How can keeping the faith help me in this present agony? The Bible stories appear too far away and detached … too unreal and irrelevant to actually matter or make a difference in my life today. The added guilt I experience because of the way I feel only makes things worse by increasing the weight of my already heavy burden that now truly becomes impossible to bear.

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

The words come to my mind…where have I heard them before? Who said this? I can’t remember, but for sure it was someone who knows real pain.

“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

Who sweats blood? What kind of anguish makes someone’s pores bleed?

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me…”

Please, I can’t take it anymore! Take away this cup…this bitter, harmful, lethal cup away from me so I can live!

Yes…it was Him…it was Jesus who said all these. He experienced it too. Jesus was also there. He was on that place where all the weight of the world (literally in His case) falls on one’s shoulders, making your knees bend out of shear pressure and your face fall flat on the ground out of pure agony. He’s been thee too. He knows what it feels like.

“Yeah, but He was Jesus, you know? He is God. Of course He can handle it all?” You are tempted to say and do think in the depths of your mind, that what Jesus experienced in the Garden moments before He was taken to be tortured and kill doesn’t have any implications to your current condition.

Think about how He knew exactly what was going to happen to Him. Imagine the added stress and fear of knowing that His flesh is about to be ripped and torn, literally, and that nails will pierce Him as He slowly dies a most horrible death by slow asphyxiation. Don’t forget that even though He is fully God, He is also fully man. (For a few Bible verse evidence see Isaiah 9, John 1, Colossians 2) And as a man, He felt sorrowful and troubled. (Matthew 26)

Yes, He is God. And yet, He still had to go through it! Even though He is God He couldn’t escape the hour of anguish. Better yet, He chose it. Jesus agreed to it,

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross! (Philippians 2: 6-8)

He could have spared Himself the agony. But He was committed to the love He has for us:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep… No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again…” (John 10: 14, 18)

He chose the pain as a sacrifice to redeem us because He knew that was the only way for us to be saved.

How do we ever expect to go through life without experiencing a measure of such pain when Our Own Creator, Savior and Sustainer chose the nails for Himself? Not even Jesus escaped the trials of this life. As a man He didn’t want to have to go through it. As a person He sought refuge in prayer. As a human He bent His Holy knees on this unholy ground and cried out to the Father for help, for strength and for resolve. Not even Jesus could face His hour of great sorrow, trouble and agony without seeking God’s face first.

How do we overcome trials? How do we get over disappointment? How do we move on when the road gets rough? How do we recover from the sting of the many doors constantly shutting on your faces? How do we walk courageously when we are paralyzed by fear? How do we live when we feel unloved?

I don’t know. I haven’t a clue how to do it without Christ. I don’t have what it takes. I’m not nearly strong enough. I’m too selfish. I seek comfort at all cost. All I know is that I’m glad I’m not in charge of perfectly arranging each and every tiny detail of my life in order for it to end in Paradise.

I read in my devotional today this prayer that I’d like to use to conclude our conversation today. I hope it brings you peace:

“One day I will have all the answers. But until then, I must trust that You have power and dominion over all things and that You know best. Help me to believe this even when I don’t feel it.”

Linking with:  Wholeheartedhome.com and Rosilindjukic.com

The Sting of a Closing Door

While still on the subject of doors, let me just say that no matter how much you have prayed for God to close a door if you are not meant to walk through it…once He closes it, it is still possible to feel the sting of pain when it shuts on your face.

It just happened to us today, and I can´t help but feel the impact of the abrupt stop caused by the sudden closing of the door...a door that just an instant earlier seemed completely wide open…and now stands tightly shut in front of us…

The funny thing is that just last night, as I enjoyed the comfortable sensation of the feeling of safety the open door offered me, I prayed that God would close that door if that wasn´t His will for us. I knew that had the door remained opened, we had walked through it seeking the stability of the road less complicated. However, I had a feeling that was not the road destined for us at this time…therefore, I lifted the prayer in obedience…for the road is not my own.

At any rate, my point is that I´m glad God closed that door…and I see how the way He did it was the best and most loving, but again, it wasn´t easy to take it. However, I´ve gained renewed confidence on the fact that He is guiding our every step. And I know that even though it will not be the easiest or most comfortable way, He will provide for us as He continues to lead us into His path. The Holy Spirit is growing His fruits in us. The tests are developing perseverance. And as we enter His path, He will grant us discernment to move on and make choices based on the design He has created for our lives.

Doors of Understanding

For the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about doors. It’s funny because the slogan for the Modern Languages and Cultures Department where I work is: “Languages Open Doors.” So the topic of doors is always fresh in my mind as I daily walk the hallways of our building and see the pictures of doors and the slogan posted on the bulletin board at a rather prominent place.

I happen to believe that languages do open many doors…at least that has been true to me ever since I learned English in my early twenty’s. For the last few days, however, I’ve been mostly focused on a different language that opens not many doors, but the door to all other doors: the language of prayer.

After an eventful week that began with my heart caught up into a relentless whirlpool of stress and fear that I thought impossible to escape, constant prayer has opened the door into a much more manageable course on a smoother current. But the thing is that prayer is not so much the key, but rather it is the language that helps me get more of an understanding of the heart of The One Who actually opens the door. By praying without ceasing, the Lord reveals Himself to me and allows me a glimpse into who He is and how He operates…into the quiet waters of His presence…so I can enjoy the peace that transcends all understanding.

Christ opens the doors…not me. It is His plan…not mine. The doors as well as the plan belong to Him, and Him alone. But prayer brings me closer to Him, which in turns opens the door of understanding. There is no door that will shut when He has opened it; or open when He has shut it. I just place myself in His hands and let Him open them and close them as we walk together.

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens, no one will shut; and what He shuts, no one will open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3: 7-8

May we learn the language of prayer as we allow the Lord to open and close all the necessary doors so we can follow His Path.

Stay in the Present!

Change is not an easy thing. Depending on your level of tolerance for uncertainty and on your ability to adapt, change can be actually terrifying. Particularly for people who seek stability and enjoy control (ME) seasons of change can be utterly stressful and anxiety ridden.

As my family is entering one of those dreaded seasons of great change, I’m reminded of the importance of keeping my eyes on the One Who Remains the Same! 

In order to do that, I need to meditate on the reason I experience fear when change falls upon my horizon. And the reason is quite simple. Fear rears its head when experiencing change because change is distracting and it makes me turn my eyes away from the Lord, away from His presence in the present and causes me to look/focus on the future. 

The Lord is the stability that I seek. He is the only one who can provide it. So when I turn my eyes away from Him, it is no wonder things begin to fall apart.  The thing is that He provides that peace that comes from the stability of His presence usually as we remain focused on this other detail: the present. 

Jesus tells us not to worry about anything and not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will carry its own problems, which added onto today’s become a burden impossible to bear. (Matthew 6: 34)
He wants us to rely on Him, for He is today. Christ is the Lord of all. Past, present and future belong to Him… but He wants us to stay focused on the present. Even though He is the One Who Was, Who Is and Who Is to Come (Revelation 1: 8)…His name is The Great I AM not the great I will (Exodus 3: 14). The implication of the present resides in His very name!

Therefore, when everything around me begins to shift and shake, and fear threatens to overpower me, I must drop it all, go to the One Who Never Changes and ask Him to help me not get ahead of myself...ask Him to help me stay centered on today. One day at a time, becomes then, a God-given philosophy worth practicing.

My prayer for all who are going through change right now…including myself…is that God may reveal Himself to us with every step we take, bringing us the comfort of His presence in the present and giving us the strength to not fear His plan, for His plan is perfect, even when we don’t understand it.

As He Has Purposed

Trials and hardship are like spring time for trust. Plain and simple…it is during seasons of pain that our trust in the Lord blossoms best.

Not so much while everything is going according to our plan…not really…it is mostly when the earth under our feet quakes, and we lose our footing, that we remember we have an Almighty Father who can rescue us from our fall. The thing is that Our Heavenly Father is always here with us…in the good times as well as in the bad times…however, we tend to forget about His presence when we cruise through life on a smooth road, with the top down in a bright sunny day.

In the seasons of extravagant bliss and lush abundance we think we are the ones behind the wheel of that convertible. And, although we acknowledge our blessings and enjoy the bounty in gratitude…we often take credit and toy with the thought that perhaps, there was something, even if so small, that we did that turned on the sun that warms our skins or that produced the ripe fruits that delight our taste.

In reality, however, neither in hardship nor in comfort there is much we can control. There is only One God who is Sovereign above all:

I am the Lord, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

people may know there is none besides me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things. Isaiah 45: 5-7

He is clear, both the prosperity as well as the disaster belong to Him and He can turn it all into good for His glory. He is the Divine Designer, the Maker, the Potter…the Architect of all the days of our lives. Our path is in His hand and our plan fulfills His purpose,

The Lord Almighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,

and as I have purposed, so it will happen. 

Isaiah 14: 24

Our job is to remain in constant communication through prayer, so the wisdom of His design flows through us and the Light of His Spirit guides our every step. No matter what happens, we hang on to His hand and let Him be at the wheel…as the driver…as we call out for His presence to be evident in the bumpy rides as well as in the smooth cruise.

May we let go and be able to enjoy the ride…the ride of our lives!

Happy Birthday Grant

“How can you love so much, someone you just met?” I remember hearing this question a long time ago in a movie. The question popped into my mind a couple of years later when I held Grant in my arms just seconds after he was born.

Where does the love you feel for your newborn come from?

The feeling lives in my heart completely untouched, pure…intact.

Today, fourteen years ago since that moment when I first saw my son, I still don’t comprehend the depth of the feeling or understand how it emerges, but I do know it is God’s way to illustrate, even if just faintly, the kind of love He feels for us…His children…His beloved.

It has no explanation. Love just is…like God, for He is Love…unique and unexplainable. So it is the love a mother has for her child…never ending.

As Grant celebrates his birthday today, I am reminded of the gift that He is to my life…unmeasurable…and I praise God for He has allowed me the privilege of coming one step closer to imagining what love really is…unfathomable.



Happy Birthday to Grant…and happy anniversary to me, of the day I began to get what love really is.

The Gift of a Season

Thinking about the dance of the seasons and the gifted nature of the child of God I can’t help but notice that the seasons are, indeed, gifts as well.

The seasons of our lives, just as the seasons of the earth, are intended for a divine purpose. Our God, the God of Order has designed them to create a perfect balance that meets every need of the body and of the soul.

Each turn of the Earth brings about a change that in time evolves into an element of nature that provides a unique particle of life. Even winter has its purpose:

As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater… (Isaiah 55: 10)

Therefore, the winter seasons of our lives have a purpose as well. I believe that journeying through a winter time has the purpose of refocusing. As it gathers us inside a shelter and shuts us out from the world outside, winter is destined to isolate us from the distractions when our hearts have wandered and we need to be redirected toward home. We hunker down and travel through the trial, but we also move closer to Him as we fix our eyes on the One who makes sense of it all.

That’s where and how we find the gift in the harshest of seasons…we find it when we realize that the snow that gently falls and piles up, keeping us trapped in our own deception in time becomes the much needed water that eventually makes our spirit resurface to a field filled with new blooms…the blooms of hope that will open up into the blossoms of trust:

But I trust in you, Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hands… (Psalm 31: 14-15a)

But Even If He Does Not...

Recently, I heard a Bible teacher on the radio say: “Faith does not demand a miracle.” Don’t ask me the teacher’s name, but he was talking about one of those passages in the Bible that really are seminal when dealing with trusting God. It was the moment when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were about to be thrown into the blazing furnace because of their refusal to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3: 16-18

The part that prompted the expression, “Faith does not demand a miracle” was when the young men said “But even if He does not…”

I had to get out of the car before the teacher could fully make his point, but to me, the expression means that trusting God´s promises doesn´t mean demanding the outcome we expect or want.

As I contemplate the fact that for as long as we are on this world, it is inevitable to travel through different seasons in our lives, this phrase made me think about how I live out my faith and trust in Christ. It made me ask myself: Do I demand the miracle?

I think I do…

I expect the outcome to be what I want, and I forget that God is in charge, not me. I forget that when in the midst of a season of trial, my job is to trust God´s promises, not to try to manipulate the situation so my level of comfort is unchanged. When facing the blazing furnace, my job is to remain faithful, with a heart that belongs to God and a pair of eyes that stay fixed on His presence…no matter what the outcome is…even if He does not give me the solution I want…even if I don’t get the miracle I hoped for.

I believe that is the state of true contentment: having a faith that does not demand a miracle, but a faith that expects God to be who He says He is and to do what He says He can do.

The First Step

Not all seasons are the same. In nature, they are completely distinct. My very favorite, summer, is a season of warmth and growth. Over a powerful green canvas, God paints magnificent pictures full of color and life. Then in comes autumn and even if for a brief moment, the colors explode covering the canvas with pure awe. Shortly after, winter enters turning the canvas blank again…bare and white…as if God had taken an eraser to wipe off the lively pictures of the previous seasons, in preparation for a new master piece: spring!

The seasons in our lives are just as different. Joy, sadness, silliness, contentment, loss, loneliness, depression, impatience, insecurity, fear, love…are all colors on our canvas that the Divine Painter mixes in perfect mastery to create the moments that constitute our lives…the seasons of our lives.

In the seasons of trial, trouble, hardship and tribulation, the darkest shades dominate the palette. As in the short days of winter, gloom quickly falls upon in the seeming absence of light. It is very common during this season to fall into a deep ocean of despair where the clutches of fear grab us and push our heads under water. We drown in the current of panic, losing sight of the horizon. We uselessly toss and flap our arms hoping to push ourselves up, but the waves of worry overpower us.

The greatest temptation is to give in to hopelessness.

However, there is another temptation which can yield just as damaging results as hopelessness: the illusion of self-sufficiency.

Sometimes, some of us resist falling into the trap of believing that all is lost by falling into the trap of thinking we can solve it all…that we are in control. We manipulate, concoct and strategize. We spend so much of our time thinking the situation through, searching for answers, steps, procedures, processes that will take us out unharmed, back to the shore, that we lose sight of the truth. And the truth is that we invest endless hours trying to fix things, but often none of those long hours are spent in seeking the Lord. We get so caught up into our plan that we forget it is God’s plan. We get so busy designing venues and possibilities that we forget it is God’s design. We become so self-absorbed into our own little world that we forget we belong to the family of God and He is in control.

Today, regardless of what season of our lives we might be stepping into, let us remember that the first step should always be prayer. Let us forget about everything else, and first, let’s get down on our knees to contact He who knows what each of our days will bring. Let’s seek Him first…and may the only thing we try to fix be our eyes upon His face.