Looking for the Next Thing?

Perhaps you, like me, are a creature of habit. My mornings have a definite pattern. I’m up pretty early; turn on my TV friend for motivation to get my body moving; then click on the one cupper for a cup of brew; and settle down for some quiet time with the Lord. I’m not sure the shot of caffeine is necessary, but it’s a part of the routine that somehow seems to sharpen my mind.

I’ve observed that much of my life can be like that. I look for that extra something to generate some inertia. Last year’s filled calendar has been turned to a new year and there are many empty spaces; quiet can be unsettling. Coffee, food, a new experience, a new movie, a new sweater, a new scene, a new project, sign up for a new program or a new study. And, that is where I found myself nearly as soon as the Christmas decorations were put away. I was simply moving on to the next thing, the next upper, without meditating, taking into the core of my being the marvelous reality of Emmanuel, God with us – the very Source of life and love and meaning and purpose – coming to abide with me!

The Psalmist was onto something when He wrote, “… All my springs are in you.”

Like that shot of morning coffee most of my own efforts to jumpstart, not only do not energize, but after a brief bump, leave me flat. However, God Himself has shown us where all the new zest, energy, life, creativity is to be found. Isaiah wrote, For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength’ …” (30:15a)

Before you succumb to all the voices calling for your attention, hawking their wares, let me share with you some scriptures that have settled me and helped me again go to the Source of life for that new spring – something infinitely better than that dose of caffeine: