My thoughts are not your thoughts; my ways are not your ways

Let us give thanks to the LORD for His mercy and the wonders He does for His children. For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8-9

And as the deer longs for water brooks, so my soul thirsts for You oh LORD. My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God. Psalm 42:1-2

And my tummy is quite full, thank you, with oatmeal and raspberries and freshly ground Starbucks Breakfast Blend as I sit here with Pippen snuggled at my feet.

And I think of other wonders and good things from His hand, particularly as I sift through today’s Facebook photos…watching Marco wander the streets and byways of London as he translates for a group of Franciscan monks on an evangelistic journey. Who would have thought? And Matteo singing happy songs with his dad, recovering from a horrific car accident. And Andrea and Charly splashing along the seashore of Rhode Island. Good things.

And life is hard, and I have an ever-growing list of beloved people who I am carrying to the LORD God Almighty and in the midst of not understanding the mystery of prayer but knowing that He commands us to pray, I lift them up. And wait for His mercy and wonders.

You alone are my strength, my shield
To you alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship you.

And as one who has sung those Scripture choruses with one or two guitars and a clump of fairly sincere teenagers over and over, the words are certainly engraved deeply in my heart. And yesterday, I marked a small blue X on the back of each of my hands, as I headed back into Tucson after lots of full tummy. This blue X is a reminder of yielding my Spirit, to stand back so that He can work mightily, and that all might be amazed.

And in this yielding, I will find peace.

The pounding surfs rolls over me

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1-2

Who are You, Oh Living God?  

Verily I seek to know You.  To know Your heart.   To see as you see. To love as You love. To live as You lived when You walked the earth wrapped in flesh.

Jesus answered, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth. Every one that is of the Truth heareth my voice.

I really have no interest in the constructs of man, of the Pharisetical scaffolding pounded together with ever-so-many hammers and nails, yet wobbly and blocking the view North.  And dangerous to the soul, which has sent many an unsuspecting crashing to the jagged rocks below.  

Listen! It's the voice of someone shouting, "Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight path through the wasteland for our God!

Through the wasteland of the human experience there is a voice calling, a tender voice, a bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench.

[Roaring] deep calls to [roaring] deep at the thunder of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and Your rolling waves have gone over me.Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

The Spirit is the One Who guides us in all Truth, along this path through the wilderness and His presence is clear: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, meekness, temperance and faith.  And the greatest of these is love.  

Selah.