Tuesday, January 10, 2012

PRAY AND ACT!

I'm late posting this WEEKLY MESSAGE, because I had a rare bout of "writer's block." It's surprising it should happen today after last Sunday's amazing Bronco's victory, or a New Hampshire primary going on right now, or a couple of recent shooting tragedies. The new year 2012 is barely under way and I had writer's block. Maybe I just don't know which to write about first. Either that or my mind has become a muddle of confusion.

I've been trying to approach this particular new year more positively than I have some in the past. Years from now 2012 will be remembered for various reasons, most of which we do not know. We do know there will be a presidential election, and a few people are anticipating some kind of cataclysmic event this year. Just exactly what all the major news stories will be this year only the Good Lord knows.

I recall once writing a sermon titled, "What Do You Do When You Don't Know What to Do?" I think I wrote it because I didn't know what to preach for my sermon that Sunday. But I remember the answer I put forward - "Pray and Act!" First, pray for God's guidance, then make a decision and follow through with it.

I once accepted a call to another congregation, and when we got there we wished we had stayed where we were. We got there with all our worldly goods packed in a U-Haul truck, and for four days that truck sat in the church parking lot while we looked for a place to live.

Both my wife and I were torn about our decision. What should we do - go back or stay? Amid all the anxiety and newness, an older pastor there gave me some advice. "You'd better pray, and then either unpack that truck or go back where you came from." We prayed and unpacked the truck. That was thirty years ago.

Pray and Act! Another member once told me, "Make your decision and don't look back. Nine out of ten times you'll have made the right one, and the other time will be a lesson you won't forget." A wise man he was, my friend Roy! He's with the Lord now, probably chuckling at me right now.

Pray and Act! I can't tell you how long to pray, but I can urge you to pray for God to show you plainly what He wants. When you pray for that, He is usually quite obvious with His answer. His prophet once told us, "Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act." (Psalm 37:5)

Today I guess He just wanted me to tell you this - Pray and Act!.

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