When I greet each day with “I SHOULD” or “I HAVE TO," then I will always find excuses not to. My energy drains, I inwardly complain, until with cascading self-pity I’m slain. But horizons open with a tiny shift. I look up, a brightening rift. The mundane has split and I can see mountains! That’s where I’m headed, I shout! There are people, there is music, there is good work, and there’s Him. And He’s huge. He’s everywhere. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So I am free everywhere I go. Opportunity for good is everywhere. Like my dog’s hair. Or my own. But seriously, what have I sown? That’s what I should be asking at the end of each day. The little garden of each day. Because if I’m diligent, the end result should be magnificent. And what will really matter when I’m standing before Him? The King, the Creator, the One to whom all must give an account? “Sorry, Charlie, I took a rain check and bowed out.” I spit on your design and did my own thing. I let consumption be my king. Got distracted by all the shiny bling. Wasn’t “pray without ceasing” just a helpful suggestion? You made me to run so why the constant check-in? Oh, wait. You’re the Artist and I’m the clay. And there was never a day that I successfully spun myself away and made everything more beautiful than You could have.
I don’t HAVE to do anything. But here I am, with a beautiful little family and two skills the Creator packed my backpack with: music and writing. Juggling is hard, but maybe it’s not about juggling. I don’t HAVE to do anything. I GET to wake up each morning, with His Spirit ever-present, ever-listening and ready to guide, put on my backpack, pick up my lantern, and continue walking.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Psalm 119:105