Listening Day CN | Pressing On (While Still On the Dark Road)

 

Pressing On 

Let us know, 

let us press on to know the LORD;

His appearing is as sure as the dawn;

He will come to us like the showers,

like the spring rains that water the earth.

+ Hosea 6:3 (NRSV)

Simple things are the hardest to do.

Today, lift up those weak hands.

How far you have come already!

I know how hard it is.

You are doing well.

"I want to know You."

And every day you are.

You push to know Me more,

through the world of things that are easily seen,

through the struggles with your enemy,

through the tired difficulties 

of your work and waiting.

You push, you press.

You grow.

You are strengthened.

I give you what you need to finish in power.

I give you what you need to believe.

I who call you am faithful,

like the unfailing sun that warms the globe

or the rainy season that wakens

roots beneath the earth.

Recognize, in the deepest place of your soul,

the knowledge of this truth — 

though life has been hard,

I have strengthened you to overcome it.

I have provided, 

have grounded,

have upheld.

I have brightened the road with joy.

I have planted good things with grace.

I have called up the sprouts of

faith and wisdom.

"I have seen, and I believe. 

Help me press on."

I will.

Now, while you are still on the dark road,

with the harsh wind in your face

and the dust whispering about your feet.

Now and long after 

the dawn of heaven

has brightened the world

into unending day.

"Lord, You are faithful and good.

You know the strain of pursuit,

of drawing near,

of pushing through the difficulties of life.

Help me to know You

right where I am today —

but to also press on in faithfulness

toward the call of Jesus,

that I may know and love You

better every day of my life.

Amen."

I press on toward the goal

for the prize of the heavenly call

of God in Christ Jesus.

+ Philippians 3:14 (NRSV)

+ Paul J. Pastor 

The Listening Day: Meditations on the Way

Here are links to other recent City Notes (CN) books:

Seeds of Hope in the Rain & the Dark; Wrestling with God in Doubt; Baptism as the Way of Life; Being with God; Listening Closely & Paying Attention; Living and Loving Curiously with Wonder; Waiting is the Womb; In the Holy Wild with the Lion Who Offers Us the Stream; Yeshua; An Unexpected Story of Discovering Jesus; Only One Thing Is Needed; No Secrets Are Hidden; Be Still Practice; The Gardener of Hidden Moments; 

Alert Availability; Dawn in the Quiet & the Riot; With Jesus and Our Friend, the Desert

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

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