Today

It’s late…but today deserves a summary if only just to stand as a mark in the sand for my own sake. 

The last few weeks have been hard.  I can’t say much more than that…the sad reality of blogging is you can’t always be as honest as you would like to be.  The truth is while there have been a number of things going on, no one single thing has made my life difficult.  A series of life circumstances and the seemingly unrestrained hand of Satan have combined to make life painful. 

Anyways, this blog is not about that.  This blog is about today.  Today actually started yesterday, believe it or not.  I stood in my office preparing for today but confessing to my wife how totally weak I’ve become over this difficult time.  After I was finished spewing everything in my heart out I made a wise decision to ask my wife her opinion.  She told me to stop working on stuff for tomorrow (today) and instead focus my time and energy on the Lord.  Have I mentioned how wise my wife is lately on this blog?  Oh, and beautiful, too.  Anyways, the time in prayer tweaked a few things in my heart that needed tweaking.  I went to bed, not feeling great, but not feeling horrible.  That was a good start. 

Anyways, today I had a chance to meet with one of my 50,000 coaches.  This one’s name was Ben Pickett.  Now, for those who are reading from a distance, Ben has long been a coach on my little pursuit of the glory of God.  He’s a little shaggier than he used to be but he’s still as powerful as ever.  Ben’s been stuck at home because of some surgery he’s had to endure.  As we’re sitting there talking about things that have been hard for Ben, he asks me how I’ve been.  What follows is me spilling my guts in a 30 second fashion.  I’m really not even sure that Ben got the full gist of what was going on.  I didn’t matter.  In a very Ben-like fashion, he simply reminds me of something he told me six months ago about who I am and what I’m called to do.  And within 4 to 5 minutes we return to discussing Ben’s life and the effects of his surgery.

I know that doesn’t seem all that powerful.  For whatever reason, though, that four minute conversation and the time of prayer the night before combined in my heart to create something I haven’t had in a little while–confidence in God and a vision for the future.  I spent the rest of the afternoon at work wrestling with new found implications of a heart re-aligned in God and a vision for where this thing is going. 

Mostly I’m in awe of God.  I don’t know what tomorrow holds.  There might be more pain and wrestling there.  That’s okay.  We’ll deal with that then.  Today, I’m thankful that He sees and He cares enough to both meet me personally and send others as messengers of His covenant with me. 

Just a thought for you comment on if you’d like–Has God broken into your life in a profoundly simple way?  If so, how?  Also, what’s the last “50,000 coach” spotting you’ve had lately?