An Anchoring Prayer

Whew! October was such a long month! Every year since my girl was prematurely born – in October – October has felt like a month known for being a busy month, like May or December.

There’s just a lot in October, and this year, it all seemed to fall in a ten-day time frame. A work retreat, Homecoming, my girl’s birthday, a charity walk we do every year, and the Fall Festival at church. And because God has a sense of humor, bronchitis.

I’m not blaming God for the bronchitis. If the blame goes to anyone, it’s me. I know I have COPD. I know it. It’s a fact of life. I know I should not expose myself to chemical fumes like bleach for prolonged periods of time. And yet, as most Houstonians know, tile showers don’t get clean down here without bleach. We have a big shower. That means lots of bleach.

And after I have exposed my lungs to fumes like bleach, I know I should not spend time in the great outdoors, blowing the pine needles and dirt off the driveway. But the driveway refuses to clean itself, and the HOA likes to send letters so…

Bronchitis.

Then there was chaos surrounding Fall Festival planning. The bounce houses were coming, and then the bounce houses were not coming, and then we had to find bounce houses from somewhere else. And the band was coming, but then someone got sick, so the band wasn’t coming, but they got someone to fill in, so the band was coming. And no one could do hot dogs but then someone could do hotdogs and then they couldn’t. It’s fine. Everything turned out great because apparently, God loves children and loves to see them dress up in costumes, play games and laugh hysterically over candy.

This week has been a time to slow down, catch up, and reflect. I was reading a devotion this morning and was struck by this quote:

“If you’re going to anchor your soul to something that never changes, then you need to treat God’s Word as a gift.” – Rick Warren

I try to anchor my soul to so many things – my marriage, my kids, my friends, my job… all gifts from God, but not where I need to drop anchor. Those things are growing and changing, and ebbing and flowing, and one should never drop anchor on a moving target.

God has given us His Word for instruction and promise, and it never changes. His Word gives life – reminding me that I am made in His image, He loves me, and I can share His love.

When life is hectic and changing, I don’t know if I’m coming or going, God’s Word is dependable and true. There is no error in it, there is no confusion about who it is for, and it is perfect. I get so caught up in doing all the things, being in all the places, and making all the people happy. I often forget who I am and, more importantly, whose I am.

James 1:17-18 says, “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”

If God sees me as his prized possession and has given me His Word as a gift to constantly show me how much He loves me, I am not sure why I don’t sit down with it more often. I don’t know why I don’t leap from bed every morning, racing to the pages of my Bible, to witness the new offering He has for me that day. Instead, I roll out of bed with a grumpy thud, going straight to the back door to let the dog out, and make a bee-line for the coffee pot. And while I love my dog and I really enjoy hot coffee, neither love me with the unparalleled passion of my Father God.

My prayer, moving into November, for both me and you, is that we would ground ourselves in God’s Word every morning. I pray we would seek His truth and light for our day before the clock starts tick, tick, ticking away and reminding us of our filled calendars and many to-do lists. May we sit in His love and bask in the warmth of His goodness before the world comes at us with its lies, hatred, and betrayal. May we know the gift of being anchored in His Word.