I Corinthians 12:12-13 MSG; We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!  But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Have you ever felt like your life was a massive fog cloud and you couldn’t see what’s ahead? I have. The fog is so dense that you have to put your hand out in front of you so you don’t walk into a tree. Like trying to navigate through a forest at night before the stars come out. The unseen causes your senses to be heightened, every sound and smell exaggerated. With everything in you, you long for a clearing, a light, anything to draw you back to safety. It’s at that moment I’ve learned to depend on the Spirit of God to lead me and guide me. It’s when I pause, shut out the noise and listen to His voice that I get clear direction. 

“Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

Father, I think I trust you, but perhaps I don’t know what trust is. Maybe I’ve trusted in myself too long, depended on my own abilities to navigate my life. Forgive me. I don’t know the way. It’s as if my GPS is broken, not syncing right. It tells me I’m on the right course but your Spirit tells me differently. Please bring me back on the right path. I want to be blind as a bat, because when your spirit guides me, I’ll never run into anything.

Father, my hope is in your Word. My hope is in knowing that what you’ve promised will come to pass in YOUR time, not mine. I won’t allow my hope to be derailed or deferred to something in this world. I won’t hope in money or mans wisdom, but in you.

Father, let me love extravagantly. I don’t think I do that, not always, not well. I’m sorry for not loving everyone, all the time. I sometimes forget how much you loved me, I’m sure I do, for if I always remembered, I would freely love all those you place in my path and I don’t. I have no right to judge their motives or their lives before I offer them your love. You loved me at my worst, when I hated you for taking my dad when I was young. When I lay angry in my bed, when my boss said what he did, when I raised my voice against accusations. 

Funny thing is, I can’t love like you, without letting go of all that is in my arms so I can embrace you. Father, you ARE love and to find love, I must lay it down and enter you. I must lay down my right to be hurt so that I can heal. I must trust more in your ways and let go of mine. I can say, ‘I love you’, but the words are empty unless I reflect it to the world. I’m letting go, Lord. Clean me so that I reflect the purity of your love in thought, word and deed today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.