Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1

It’s a morning to get the dipstick out and check the level of your faith.

Looking outside through the front windows, it seemed a bit overcast, a bit cloudy and gray, with not much breeze and a little rainy and muggy. It’s not what I had hoped for. Not really what you would want if you were looking for a little pick-me-up to start the day.

Our children and our two Granddaughters are all elsewhere. Not what Lynda and I were looking forward to today, and the reason I’m on a search for a pick-me-up.

On top of that the yard needs some attention, and all the bed linens washed and put back on. And then the more pressing work for the day stands ready to be tackled and completed. Not all things that I had hoped for as the sun came up.

The dipstick is not reading EMPTY, but definitely indicating it’s time to ADD…something.

We’ve all had them. Days that seem to be without the sunshine you had hoped for. You, or someone you know, may be having a bit of one today, no matter whether it’s cloudy outside or not. Where it seems that all they have to hold onto is faith. Where this soulful prayer seems too relevant to their present situation…

“Lord, I’m tired, the burdens that are mine are heavy indeed.

And constant. And depressing.

They may seem small to someone else,

but someone else isn’t carrying them…

Sometimes I get so tangled up in my problems,

I let whole days go by…unnoticed, unenjoyed, unlived.”

Well I suppose we can stay there letting day after day go by, as many do, or we can embrace a faith within that is undergirded by hope. Hope in things yet not seen but which our past experiences with the Living God assure us we can claim.

Things even beyond clean sheets, cleaned up yards, dry cool days and sunshine.

I heard a story many years ago of a ship that had sailed from the Orient, on a long voyage around South America, in an area new to its Captain and crew. They had misjudged their needed water supply and so somewhere off the coast of South America they ran out of fresh water to drink.

So when a passing ship was spotted, the distressed vessel signaled “Can you share your water?” And the response came back: “Dip where you are.” The distressed Captain became irritated and repeated his request, but again the response came back…“Dip where you are.”

So a bucket and rope were lowered, and the Captain dipped into the salty ocean, lifted up the bucket of water, put his finger into it, touched his finger to his tongue, and to his amazement found that the water was sweet, fresh water. What he hadn’t known was that they were in the center of a mile-wide current where the Amazon River was still making its surging in-rush into the sea.

And what I’m suggesting to you this morning is that no matter what condition you find yourself in, no matter how burdened you are, no matter what you’re facing in life, no matter what you’ve just been through, no matter whether the day is cloudy or gray…there is renewing hope bubbling all around you and within you…in the person of the One who is always there. The God which our faith assures us is not only eternally with us, but is leading us into our tomorrows.

The rest of that prayer set out earlier goes something like this…

“But the sun still shines,

the flowers outside my window are incomparably yellow.

In my better moments I know that Thou are with me.

That being so, the burden is not mine alone.

Thank You, Lord. Thank You.”

With that added assurance, check the level again, it’s probably showing— FULL!

In His Name—Scott

Copyright 2015. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.