Say YES to the best

I am confronted with choices every day. Simple things like should I get up early or sleep in? Should I turn on the TV or read my Bible? Should I send a few cards to shut-ins or make phone calls, or just lose myself in the business of the day. So what do I do? Most days I stay in bed as long as my cat will let me, I make coffee and turn on the TV even though there is nothing I want to watch, and I go through the day following my routine habits.

Of the zillion choices we make every day, they feel routine and unimportant, but they could be. What if God was speaking to me in one of those thoughts I pushed away? What if He had a special message for me in the scripture I was to read that day? What if a card could make the difference between feeling forgotten and loved? What if I took the time at the grocery store to reach a box on the top shelf for an elderly lady? What if…

I thought about Zachaeus climbing that sycamore tree. There he was, in his good clothes, shimmying up the rough bark, probably snagging his cloak. He wanted to see Jesus (along with a couple hundred other people) and he was short. I can imagine him jumping up and down trying to see over the heads of everyone else. “Something” told him to climb the tree, something he would never do!! And Jesus saw him and Zacchaeus’ life was changed. How did he know to climb that tree? What if he had said no to the impulsive and irrational thought?

I had a life-altering experience like Zacchaeus. The end of my senior year of high school loomed ahead and I wanted to be an archeologist or a spy. My parents said no. No surprise there. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I prayed for God’s guidance, but He seemed to be ignoring me. A friend was going to school to become a nurse. I had never wanted to be a nurse, but it was ok. Because of this “decision” to do something I had never really considered doing, I met my husband. Looking back, I can see God’s hand in this choice, even though it seemed like an impulsive decision to me.

Listen to those quiet thoughts that run through your head like water over a waterfall, here and then gone. Take a chance and grab on and allow yourself to be swept down-river and see what happens. You may find yourself in a life-altering situation!

Regina