Divine Irony

I've been preparing for a couple of weeks now for a sermon I'll be delivering to my home church on July 26. The way I prepare for such an undertaking is the same way I write a term paper or a poem or anything else! I read a lot. I pray a lot. I read and pray some more.

Sometimes I'll sit down, thinking I'm ready to write it all out but can't get that first sentence down. I know . . . all the advice I've ever read tells me to just start writing. But I know that it's fruitless until I have it--in total--ready to "spew out" of me like an uncorked hole in a dam.

I can tell the difference, too, when I don't wait on God. He continues to work in me, to give me insights and ideas and the words will come when He's ready for me to share them. It's a waiting game, of sorts. God takes me to a place and then bids me to wait. Wait . . . wait . . . Go! I wrote a series of blog posts at Crayon Chronicles some time ago about this concept, God's Ready, Set, Go!

Oh! The topic planned for the Sunday I'll be preaching is confession. I have often contended that God has a sense of humor. If you have followed my faith journey for any length of time, you will see the divine irony in my delivering such a message. My pastor told me that after reading my book he felt I would be an ideal person to deliver such a message. That is humbling indeed, as we have numerous seminary students, and candidates for ordination at our church.

So, this evening I may be writing this sermon. I was rarin' to go the other day and just couldn't get a block of time to do it. I believe God wanted to direct me to one more resource for this message. I say this because when I sat at my desk that day, I glanced over at my bookcase and Celebration of Discipline caught my eye. I chuckled to myself at the fact that the bookmark which has been in this book for at least a year was at the 1st page of the chapter on Confession.

How about you? Are you open to God's timing and direction in your life? It's not easy to stay in tune with that 'still small voice.' It can be drowned out by the relentless droning of the television and radio and cd players and traffic and work deadlines and family obligations and . . . . [add your own items to the list here].

God has a great deal to tell us, to reveal to us, to share with us. To hear him clearly and correctly we need to "Get Ready and Get Set." Then we need to "Go!" when He says go!


Blessings on your journey,
Mary