Forgotten

Click here to read Isaiah 17

Have you ever forgotten something?  No, that is not a rhetorical question.  While I have never pulled away from a gas pump with the nozzle still attached to my car, there are plenty of times and places I have forgotten to do, say, or complete something I promised someone I would do.  So, when Isaiah in verse 10 says, "You have forgotten God...Your rock," those words echo across the centuries and I slouch down in my chair.

Honestly, I may not be from Damascus, but there are moments I forget God.  I get wrapped up in my own agenda and I think that God has to keep up with me.  I am reminded of what the Reformer Martin Luther said, "I am so busy now...that if I did not spend three hours in prayer I would never get through the day."

Now, I realize most of us are not going to spend three hours in prayer...an hour would be a HUGE stretch. So how about three minutes?  If you start with three minutes now and add one minute each day, by the end of February you'd be around thirty minutes.  What if I promise to do that along with you?

I know thirty minutes seems like a long time.  So, maybe it does not need to happen overnight or all in what sitting.  Maybe ten minutes in the car without the radio.  Maybe ten minutes could be with your family around the dinner table sharing your highs and lows.  Maybe five at lunch time.  Maybe five minutes on a walk outside... once it gets out of the single digits, mind you!

Give this some thought.  I want to be careful not to make discipleship out to be something WE do.  If you read the sermon post from earlier today, you'll remember that for me discipleship is being radically open to God's serendipitous spirit...in ways that defy logical thought.  My suggestion above could turn into an item on our to do list.  Trying to balance praying when we feel led or feel like we need to listen to God.  Again, listening to Luther's quote, I think the busier we are, the more centering ourselves in prayer can be helpful.

I pray that doing this together might help us to notice the traces of God's grace in our lives...even in the midst of a cold winter day.

Blessings and peace!