Taking Back the Controls (12/08/2024)

This morning, my alarm woke me. I wasn’t surprised. While I usually wake up before my alarm, I was pretty tired last night. I figured I must have needed extra sleep. I turned off the alarm, got up, and went about my usual routine, sort of. I went to get my coffee only to find that it was just hot water. I’d forgotten to put the coffee in the basket last night when I prepped. So, I added coffee, poured the water back into the pot, and hit brew again. Finally, with a cup of coffee in hand, I went out for prayer time.

Then I went to my computer, wrote and posted my scriptural reflection for the day. That’s when I glanced at the clock at the bottom right-hand corner of my computer screen. It was 5 a.m. And I realized I had forgotten to reset my alarm which had been set for 4 a.m. so I wouldn’t be late for the Cookie Walk yesterday. “Girl,” I told myself, “your auto-pilot is broken. Time to take back the controls.”

This was going to require more coffee and more prayer. So, I returned to my coffee pot, poured another cup, and returned to my porch for a much needed second visit with the LORD, with I AM, with the perfection of loving presence. And in the LORD’s presence, with the LORD’s guidance, I revisited what had happened because I wasn’t really engaged, I was just coasting in “auto-pilot.” Our LORD, I AM, created us in His image and likeness. We are created to be present, in the moment, to our world, to others, and to the LORD. With the LORD’s help, I am happy to proclaim, “I’m back.”

I think that all of us have had periods in our lives when we’re just trying to get through, when there’s a lot on our plates, and we’re juggling as fast as we can. When that happens to me, I tend to go to auto-pilot, not really thinking things through, not really paying attention, just trying to glide by. I guess we could say that it’s a survival mechanism. But this morning I had the opportunity to recognize in the presence of the LORD that I wasn’t created to survive but to live. And living requires conscious engagement, it requires presence, loving presence.

So, I poured another cup of coffee and here I am. And I wanted to share with you what I’d learned this morning at a very early hour. As we journey in faith, buoyed by hope, and fueled by love, let us always remember to be present to the moment, to others, and to our LORD. Let us recall with all our being that we are created for life in abundance not just getting by or gliding by. Let us insist upon being intentional in our lives. Let us insist upon being who we are created to be – the living and loving children of the Almighty Father and disciples of Christ.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.