Daily Devotion - Friday, April 1, 2016

I have a lot of interesting journals.  I have a pocket journal made by Rogue Journals that is entirely handmade with soft leather binding, handmade paper. I bought one in Greece once that was bound in a wooden cover. I've bought Moleskin journals in the past, too--always a classic way to go.  

The funny thing is, until a few years ago I never actually wrote in the journals that I purchased.  I mean, I would start writing a few things in them, full of great intentions. But then reality would set in, life got in they way, and all of my great intentions would fall to the floor. 

I would open the journal and see that my last entry had been two months ago, and then I would feel like a loser. The nasty little voices in my head would start in on me:  "You can't finish anything."  "Why do you even bother?"  "What's the matter with you?"  And then I would close the journal and put it away.  

Sometimes life can feel a bit like a well-intentioned journal.  Maybe we feel like where we are or what we have isn't enough. We think that all we need to find purpose and meaning in our life is a new job, a new direction, a new car, house, even a new look.   

But then we get what we thought we wanted, and we discover that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  And the voices start in on us:  "What's the matter with you?"  "Why do you even bother?"  

In a letter that he wrote to the early Church, the Apostle Paul exhorted Christians to "grow where they are planted."  He urged them to find purpose and meaning in their walk with Christ, and to be fully present in the present. 

17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him...So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

Over time, I have come to see the empty pages in my journals as symbols of possibility.  I've given up my desire to have the perfect journal, too.  Now, I pretty much write in anything that resembles a journal.  I also write in my journals every day, and I give myself grace when I don't.  

Take the time today to be present.  Embrace your current circumstances, even though you might not understand fully why you are experiencing them.  And pray that God would give you glimpses of where you might be a blessing, where you can be the hands and feet of Christ in the world.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.