Richard whistled a tune as he began the ascent up the mountain.  For a few days Richard breezed through the climb.  It was easier than the last mountain he had climbed.  The fourth day of his climb Richard crawled out of his tent early and enjoyed the sunrise while he ate breakfast.  He packed up his gear and glanced around his campsite before starting his trek.  He noticed the trees were thinning out and looking more weathered from the elements.

Richard struggled up a section of the mountain, relieved when he arrived at the top and the ground leveled out.  He looked forward to an easy walk after the hard trek up the mountain.  He pulled an apple out of his bag and munched away while he wandered along enjoying the scenery at such great heights.  The gravel slipped beneath his shoe and he looked down in time to see a huge cavern just one step away.  He backed away, horrified at the narrow miss and vowing to himself to pay more attention to where he walked in the future.

After backing away from the gorge that made the Grand Canyon look like a baby, he pondered how he would cross it.  He heard the familiar voice of his friend calling him to cross over to the other side.  He walked a short distance both ways along the edge of the canyon, but didn’t see any way across.  He decided to set up camp there for the night and then begin walking along the edge of the canyon until he either found a bridge or a narrower place to cross.

Richard woke up after a sound sleep to the sound of the voice calling him to the other side of the canyon.  After a breakfast of apples and granola he rolled up his tent and shoved it in his pack.   Slinging it over his back he followed the edge of the gorge.  By the end of the day Richard was pleased with the distance he had covered.  He gathered a few sticks for a fire and warmed up dinner.  He set up his tent again, he had done it so many times he felt he could do it blind folded.  He woke up to the sound of the voice calling him to the other side again, but this time the voice was more distant.

He traveled the edge of the canyon for a month before he got up one morning and realized he could no longer hear the voice calling him to cross over to the other side.  He also realized that the canyon had just gotten wider and wider until now he could barely see across to the other side.  He decided to back track and hoped once he got back to where he had started he might find a way across if he just looked a little harder.

Thirty days later he stood back at the narrowest part of the canyon and heard the voice clearly calling him to the other side.  He searched and searched for a way across, but couldn’t find anything to help him reach the other side.  He sat down frustrated at his inability to do what the voice told him.  Then he remembered the times in the past when the man who was calling him to the other side  had helped him cross the impossible.   Maybe if he just took a step out over the canyon, he mused,  possibly a bridge would appear.  Excited by the possibility Richard found a firm place to stand and took a deep breath, holding it in anticipation he stepped one foot gingerly over the edge.  A small stepping stone appeared under his foot.  He was disappointed a bridge hadn’t appeared, but after hesitating a long moment  and picturing himself falling to the bottom of the canyon, he decided to step out with his other foot.  Just before he plunged into the abyss another stone appeared under his foot, this time slightly bigger than the first.  Richard’s heart beat faster at the thought of crossing the deep canyon with nothing to hold him up but floating stepping-stones.  He was grateful that with every step he took the stones became larger.

Richard’s fear gave way to confidence.  In fact, his confidence grew so much that about three-quarters of the way across he broke out into some break dancing moves.  He danced from step to step, even throwing in a few back flips.  He smiled, if only his friends could see him now.  A gust of wind instantly wiped the smile off his face as he struggled to regain his balance, just as he was almost upright a stronger gust of wind sent him falling through the air.  “Help me”, he screamed into the air.  As soon as the words left his mouth he felt a rope railing stop his fall.  He held on tightly, his heart pounding and his whole body trembling.  The rest of the way across he held tightly to the rope.  When his feet finally touched the ground his knees buckled under him and he lay there shaking all over.  He felt strong arms wrap themselves around his shoulders.  Slowly he stopped shaking and looked up into the kind, sympathetic face of his friend.  The one with the voice who called him to do the impossible.  Richard thanked him for providing the rope to catch him when he called.

The man replied, “The rope was always there, you just needed to ask for it.  My love and care for you always surrounds you even when you cannot see it.  I hear your cry from all the ends of the earth.  When you are afraid, take refuge in the shelter of My wings.  Through the dark, through the night, through the dense fog, I’ll lead you as if you are in the light of the day.  When you need to cross the sea I will part it.  I will make a road in the wilderness and create rivers in the desert to give you a drink.  I lead the way and clear your path.  You are precious in My sight and I love you.  You are My child, I hold you in My hand, I protect you.  Stop wasting time pouring over maps and planning your future.  I know the path you are to take, seek Me and you will find it.  Seek Me first and My power will be yours.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1

For the past several nights Brett has holed up in the bedroom or downstairs in his office writing the script for the movie he will be shooting over spring break, just a week and a half away.  Rather than leave Aspen and I alone again, he decided to stay with us in the living room and write.  He sat down for a few minutes, but then got up to go to the bedroom.  He couldn’t write with the noise of Aspens games resounding in his ears.  I gave him a hard time about not being able to write with distractions and  told him I would write something despite the repetitive noise of Aspen’s game right next to me.

I am writing despite the noise, but I doubt it is of the same quality as Brett’s writing  since he is writing in peace and quiet.  I am reminded of how great it is to get up in the morning before anyone else to have quiet time with God.  How much easier it is to concentrate on what He has to say when I seek Him first before the noise of the day starts to disrupt the connection.

It is also easier to stay connected to God throughout the day when I connect with Him first in the quiet.  So many times during the day it is easy to put self first without thinking about it.  But, just like Aspen knows a game or a favorite movie by the music it plays, I need to stay tuned to my connection with God throughout the day so I can easily recognize His voice over my selfish inclinations.

Richard whistled a tune with the early morning birds while he jauntily strode through the cool morning mist on the forest trail.  But, by mid-afternoon he was hot and sweaty and the well cleared path had turned into a hard to find trail that was occasionally obliterated altogether by weeds and brush.  Just when it seemed he had lost the trail altogether he heard the sound of rushing water.  He veered slightly to the right and pushed forward.

A tall narrow waterfall flowed into a muddy pond.  A large muddy pond to be exact and he couldn’t see where the water continued to flow.  He had hoped to find a river he could follow until he found a path again, but he wasn’t even sure how to get to the other side of this body of water.  He couldn’t climb up, the waterfall fell straight down a rock cliff and going around looked impossible.  The area surrounding the water was marshy and full of cat tails and other water plants.  He thought about swimming across, but jumped back in fear when he saw poisonous snakes swimming in the water.

He heard a voice calling to him.  “I’m over here Richard, come over here by me.  He looked around, not seeing anyone.  He heard the voice again, “I’m straight across the pond by the big tree, just come on over.”  Richard shaded his eyes against the sun and squinted, finally seeing a man in the distance next to the big tree.  Richard called back, “How am I supposed to get over there?” The voice floated across the pond and reached his ears, “Just walk on over.”

Richard started to feel frustration arise.  What was the guy thinking?  Couldn’t he see there was no way to just walk on over to the other side?  He called back, “I don’t see a way to get over there, can you come over here?”  Feeling a little smug, he waited to see what would happen.  His smugness disappeared when the man stepped out onto the water and started walking.  He watched him confidently stride across the top of the water, paying no attention at all to the poisonous snakes swimming in the water beneath him.

The man stopped in front of Richard.  “Do you still want to cross to the other side?”  Speechless at the moment Richard looked with amazement at the man and fear at the muddy water.  The man reached down and picked up Richards bag and turned to walk over to the other side.  After the man had taken a few steps, Richard found his voice and croaked out, “Wait, stop!  I can’t do it, not with those snakes out there.”  The man turned and looked back, “As long as you walk with me, you will be safe.”  The peace in the mans voice almost convinced Richard to step out onto the water.

Sensing Richard’s hesitation the man pointed to the waterfall and made a sweeping upward motion.  The water instantly stopped flowing down and started to flow up.  He turned and reached for Richard with the same arm that had just made the sweeping motion.  Dumbfounded Richard reached for the mans hand and in amazement walked across the pond with him to the other side.

Richard followed the map and at the fork in the road took the path that led to the lake he would need to cross.  After taking a closer look at the map he had noticed a bridge spanned it.  He wouldn’t need to swim after all.  But, when he arrived at the lake, he did not see a bridge and realized that the lake was too big for any bridge to have been built across it.  The lake was so big it looked more like an ocean.  He sat down and took the map out.  The map said there was a bridge, but that was impossible, no one could build a bridge across a lake that size.

Richard heard someone walk up beside him.  A man sat down and took the map from Richard.  “I created this map.  I promise you there is a bridge to cross the lake.  I know it is there.  I built it myself.   Believe Me.  My promises are true.  Richard took the map back and walked over to the place by the lake that the map showed the bridge.  He turned around and said, “It’s just not here.”  The man got up and walked over to Richard, “You will be able to see it when you step out onto that rock.”  Richard looked in the direction the man pointed and saw a rock just out of his reach.  “But, I can’t step out that far, I’ll fall into the water.”  The man stepped over the water onto the rock and reached his hand over for Richard.  “But, we can’t both fit on the rock,” Richard said.  “Do you want to see the bridge?”  Yes, Richard did want to see the bridge, he didn’t want to fall into the water, but he had come this far, he might as well see what the man was talking about.  He made a big leap, grasped the mans hand and stepped onto the rock.  Now that he stood on the rock, he could see the bridge.

The man spoke again,  “Hear the wind blowing?  Where does it come from?  My promises are like that , you don’t understand how they are yours, but they are.  I made them for you.  They create trust in Me.  Believe in Me.  Believe My promises and they are yours.  You are My child, I have these promise gifts for you.  My promises sparkle like precious jewels.  Don’t you want them?  Don’t you desire them?  Pursue Me and they will be yours.  Open your arms and I will fill them with more promises than you can hold.  Why do I have to convince you to take them?”

“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”  Luke 18:27 NKJV

Colby is home for ten days over spring break.  Last night he sat down at the computer and showed me a few basic computer programming moves (he is a computer science major).  We chatted for a while and he said that when he is finished with a lab at school he will usually stay after for two or three hours and walk around asking people if they need help.

I found the following story sadly amusing:  Colby was making his rounds asking people if they needed help and a couple of guys told him that they did not need help, they had it figured out.  Colby said a couple of weeks later, he was passing through the lab again and saw the same two guys with the two other people in their group working on a problem.  He asked them if they needed help and the girl in the group immediately said, “Yes.”   He helped them figure out the small thing they had been over looking and next thing you know they were finished with their work.  The funny thing is that it was the same problem Colby had asked if they needed help with two weeks before.

Why is it that we insist on holding so tightly to the lies we tell ourselves?  If we would only let go, our arms would be free to accept God’s truths.  The more of God’s truths that we allow into our lives, the more we become capable of accepting.  God’s promise’s are truth, God’s promises are blessings, if we want to grasp God’s promises and blessings we must first let go of the lies we are holding onto and then hold tight to the promises of God which will provide the blessings we seek.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”  (Matthew 6:33)

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free [that is, from sin, ver. 34]” (John 8:32).

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

“The LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

The Sophomore Bible teacher at the school where Brett teaches was unable to finish the school year.  While the principal was tossing around ideas about how to cover the class until the end of the school year, Brett tossed my name into the mix and next thing I knew I was hired to teach Sophomore Bible  until the end of the school year.  Brett generously offered to help, and so began my sojourn into Sophomore Bible 31 years after the first time I took it.

Class periods are an hour and twenty minutes long.  Brett and I decided a project that would include class time in the computer lab doing research would be a great idea.  At the beginning of class they were assigned five questions they needed to answer and turn in at the end of the class period.  I supervised the lab time and for about 45 minutes the students appeared to be working quietly, or at least as quietly as Sophomore students are capable of doing.  I expected great progress by the time they returned to the classroom, after all the five questions were simple enough they mostly knew the basic answer before they went to the computer lab.

Ten minutes  before the class period ended, the students returned to the classroom to turn in their work.  I was truly amazed that several of the students hadn’t finished their work during the lab and were hurriedly writing the answers on a sheet of paper.  Quite obviously they had wasted the time spent in the computer lab.

High school was a long time ago for me and I would like to think I was the model student.  But, if I really stop to remember it correctly, there were times I wasted in class and out of class that I could have used more productively.

God gives me 24 hours in a day.  If I really think about it how many of those hours do I waste and how many do I truly use productively?  To take it even further, how many do I use for God vs. the time I use for myself?  God created me, He loves me, He wants to spend time with me, because He knows the only way I will be truly happy is if I spend my day with Him.

Richard rounded a corner on the trail.  A brightly wrapped gift sat there just two steps ahead.  He paused and looked around, then took the two steps forward and picked up the gift.  He opened the folded gift tag to see who it was for.  He blinked in surprise when he saw his name written there.  Then excitement buzzed inside and he carefully removed the wrapping paper and opened the box.  He pulled out a map.  “A map?”  he thought.  “What kind of gift is that?  I’m not lost.”  He pulled the map out of the box and unfolded it.  He saw the written directions next to the map with a long black mark that traced the course he should take. 

He looked at his first instruction.  Turn left at the “Y” in the road just a mile ahead.  But, he didn’t want to, that would mean he would need to swim across the lake that was too big to walk around and he didn’t like to swim.  It looked so much easier to go the other way.  He yawned, maybe he would take a little nap and wake up with a new perspective on the map instructions. 

He laid down in the tall grass next to the trail and immediately fell asleep.  A soft voice flowed through his dreams; Go forward by the hand of God.  Wake up and follow my directions.  I know you can only see the present, but I see the future.  A land of promise.   Don’t fight Me.  Walk forward and do what I have asked you to do.   Sometimes My gifts are commands.  If you accept them and obey them your life will be a gift to others.  My love for you never ends, it flows on forever.  Jump in and the current of My love will carry you to your destination.

Richard started out full of new energy, he went up the hills, down the hills, across the streams, through the brush and across the clearings.  After a few days his energy and excitement began to wane, the trail was mundane and the top of the mountain just seemed as far away as ever.  He brushed off a nearby log and sat down to take a break.  He thought he heard a voice humming near by, but surely he had spent too much time alone and he was hearing things.  He looked around and decided to follow the sound of the voice.  He left the path and crunched through the leaves.  Finally he saw a man painting a picture.  He stood and watched him paint, the painter apparently unaware of Richards presence.  At first Richard couldn’t define what the artist’s brush depicted, but soon each stroke revealed a more detailed picture.

He heard the voice beside him say; I am like that, you may not always see Me working in your life, but every brush stroke reveals Me in your life.  Climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest sea, wander the hottest desert, I will always be.  It doesn’t matter where you go, I will always be.  When you lay down to sleep, I will be, when you dream, I will be.  When you get up, I will be.  The big moments in your day, i will be, the small moments in your life, I will be.  The mundane times, I will be.  The exciting times, i will be.  The happy times, I will be.  The happy times , I will be.  The sad times, I will be. Every moment, every second of your day, I will be.  I will surround your time, I will be your joy.  I will be your sadness, I will be your high mountain, I will be the deepest sea.  I will be the water in the hottest desert, the cooling cloud of shade in the sun.  I will be the voice that guides you.  I….will….be.  I AM