August 23

"When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." Genesis 9:16

August 9

     Do you pray before you make decisions? I have discovered when I

do pray before deciding, I make better decisions. A few weeks ago,

I had a choice to make concerning something I was planning on attending.

This event was something I had on my calendar for over 6 months, so I was

very disappointed when I was given information that might interfere with my

participation. I had a difficult decision to make. Should I do what was best for

others or do what I would enjoy doing? I prayed about this situation for days, and

I finally made the decision to do what was best for others. This was not an easy

decision, but I did feel at peace with my decision. As I look back, I can see

how the changes I had to make led me to experiences I would not have had.

Also I interacted with people that influenced me in a positive way. On my own, I

am not sure I would have made that decision.

Dear God, Thank you for answering our prayers for guidance. Amen

Don’t worry about anything: instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need,

and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace,

which is far more wonderful than the human can understand. His peace will guard

your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:6-7

August 3

            My wife and I have some friends who live about one and a half hours drive from us.  We see them with some regularity but certainly not with a casual regularity.  They are busy and so are we so we have to be sure that the time commitment to drive to one home or the other is convenient for all concerned if we want to spend some quality time together.  We had not seen one another for a while and I’d been thinking I must call and see if we could get together.  I’d end up saying to myself, “Tomorrow, I must do that.”  And then tomorrow’s schedule would get hectic, and the call didn’t get made.

            On top of that, my life had been complicated by the necessity of buying a new car.  I hate trading cars, and it always throws me off my stride when I make that costly move. Getting rid of an old car and used to a new one is like losing a favorite pet and getting acquainted with a new one.  I was kind of down about the whole prospect.

            I came home one day to find a call from our friends.  They wanted to come and suggested a time that was just right. I was so excited! It turned out they had been dealing with complications in their lives too, and the petty pace of tomorrow kept creeping in on them as well.  When we met, we both had a most refreshing day.  I not only felt more able to make a clear decision about my car; there were other nagging problems that were easier to face after our visit with one another.  And their experience was the same.  Life turned out to be amazingly brighter just by our being together again.

            When it was all over, I had to thank God for intervening and connecting us with each other at this particular time.  Because, you see, I’m sure that’s what happened. I’d been hard pressed by all those personal issues and just went from one day’s decisions to the next without connecting with our friends.  And for them, it had been the same. God somehow moved us to stop dilly-dallying and to get on with life and friendship.

            How wonderful that God knows us, understands us, loves us, and moves us! I love the paraphrase of Lamentations  3:23 found in an old hymn: “Great is thy faithfulness…morning by morning new mercies I see.” Pray to be open to God.