Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

I wonder as I wander

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Isaiah 63:16-17
You, Lord, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever. Why do you let us wander?

The carol's lyrics are pastoral, peaceful, musing. My own wandering is chaotic, stressful and embarrassing. I am afraid when I shouldn't be. I do anything I can to regain control over what is too often beyond my control.

There is a moment, though, when rather than exploding in a cloud of dust, I breathe and stop and rest. This is the moment of remembrance. I remember that God is my father and my redeemer who is named forever.

Without these recurring moments I think I would have been long gone by now, strangled by some misshaped idea that I am in charge of my life.

I'm just not.

And I ask with Isaiah, "Why do you let us wander, Lord?" I forget time and again every day that I can turn to my redeemer who is named forever, and take a breath. Wait once more for the quiet touch of my ever-present Father.

Do I have to go through this gauntlet of forgetfulness? I think perhaps the answer is "yes." I carry the eternal illness we all recognize: the getting-ahead-of God-disease we sometimes call "sin."

But as one of God's children, I have been given an antidote: the authority to believe that my father really is right here, and all I have to do is sit down and he will sit down with me.

This is a most precious gift. I am so thankful for it.

Jesus, you tell me to watch, to be alert. Nothing is more important than this. You will protect what your right hand has planted. You allow me to believe you, and I do. I know that my redeemer lives.

Devotions Archive

I wonder as I wander

Sunday, December 3, 2017