Today, what do I say?

I’m wanting to find inspiration, and to be inspirational. I’m looking for words that will be profound, entertaining and motivating.  But I seem to have flat lined.  Nothing appears. Maybe I’m supposed to live today on what I’ve already been given.  But then I’m reminded of manna from heaven that lasted only for the one day it was given when the Israelites roamed the desert.  I suppose that’s a formula that holds true for today, too.

“I suppose so,” pipes in the Lord.  “I suppose so,” he softly repeats.  We smile.  He’s teasing me now. That inspires me to continue without hesitation, without judgment for what I’ve already been given, without imagining what may yet lie ahead.

“Okay. I’ll take the bait,” I say, happy that the Lord loves me enough to engage me so lovingly and deeply. “What’s the word?”

“Push,” he says. “Push harder. Walk further. Speak louder. Think deeper. Your hesitancy is hurting you.  It’s not that you’re not hearing the spirit within you, but you’re dragging your feet – dragging them loud enough to halfway drown out my voice calling to you.  Stop and recalibrate. Set your feet under you, and let’s go.”

“I guess that’s clear enough, eh Lord?  We’ve got places to go, people to see.”  I determine to get on board with the game plan, to stop dragging my feet, and to embrace this road I’m walking.  Woohoo!  It occurs to me how that I do like an adventure. I do like to set off in some direction not knowing where I’ll end up.  I do like walking into the unknown.  Even though the outward persona I’ve developed is one that is seemingly quiet and unsure and wanting stability and little change, I know that’s not my true heart.  That’s not really me. That does not really satisfy me. So I will to turn from that false outer shell dragging her feet and actively be me.  I will push forward.

“I appreciate the shove-off you give me for today, Lord.  Thank you.”

“And I appreciate that you’re willing to listen, willing to move,” he tells me.  “Far too many people get stopped alongside the road and just lay down, content to remain there, never coming into the purpose of the journey. Never coming to know where that road would lead them. You might say the road is littered with half-lived lives.

Too many give up their dream, their calling, way too early.  Some stop before its seed even has time to take root.  Others let it take root but then back away, unsure and not quite remembering what it was they were hearing. And others simply determine it is not worth the effort to keep walking.  Sadly, they don’t even lift their eyes up off the road to see the end of the trail. They decide it is without worth, without even looking at what it is! They sell short their inheritance, their place in the world . . . their joy, their sense of well-being, of relationship, of life.  I call and I call. They sit and they sit, motionless. Fearful and quiet, lest anyone should ask anything of them.”

“I’ve seen that,” I say, “and I won’t do that. I won’t stop short of the goal. I don’t yet know just what lays down this road around the curve, but I know it is something I will love.  It is something worth walking toward. I know I can trust you in it.  Thank you, Lord.”