What happens to a person when you leave the comforts of home along with your scheduled busy life and hit the road on motorbike for three weeks for an unstructured, mostly unplanned getaway?! That's what we experienced this summer. We had some ideas about where we would like to go but we are always mindful of the weather systems and how it somewhat dictates our direction when we leave home. Who wants to head into a wild weather system on motorbike or any other vehicle for that matter?!Since we both ride our own bike we spend a lot of our days with our own thoughts. How interesting?! It wouldn't be much of a good time for someone who doesn't like to think their own thoughts. We all know people who do not like silence so they establish ways of being distracted from their thoughts as much as possible. I am not one of those people. It would drive me crazy. I need periods of silence every day.
I usually take books with me and did so this summer as well but for some reason I just couldn't get into them. My husband read one of my books as well as what he brought with him and I just simply never felt like reading. One day as we were browsing in a book store after dinner I picked up a very nice looking boxed book with a leather like cover and I do admit it was the look of it that first caught my eye. I was actually looking for a gift for someone but as I paged through the book I realized it was exactly what I had been looking for since January! I know. A little late in the year especially since this was to be a book I wanted to read in every day this year! LOL! God works in mysterious ways, let's not forget! I love when I feel like I'm on to something really good and this was one of those times. This book was for me for right now! I couldn't wait to get to our hotel room to start reading.
"My Utmost For His Highest" daily devotional journal by Oswald Chambers is the book I bought. The readings start January 1st but of course that's not where I started! I started the day I bought the book! So what's the big deal? So far EVERY DAY has been a reading about the things I was thinking about, struggling with, praying for, searching out during this time on our bike trip! My heart is about ready to leap out of my body with sheer excitement and thankfulness of how this all came about. Was I ready to read this stuff in January? Probably not. However, God knew what I needed now and so He guided my steps to the restaurant, close to the book store which was close to our hotel and made sure I got what I needed! Ironically one of the first readings in the book was something I did not agree with but instead of being discouraged about it or the rest of the book I marked that page with my own thoughts which further cemented what I believe the Bible to say about that topic. I think it was a matter of Chambers trying to say something but not actually speaking the words on a matter that to me was very important to be clear about.
We can take a break from our lives and surroundings but as Christ followers we take God with us wherever we go and He is just never silent. Not even when I'm on my bike! He can get my attention above the roar of the engine and speak absolute peace into my soul! We have an AWESOME God!
3 comments:
I got that book the year I lived at home after Bible College! Most of the people in our little college and career group had it, so when we'd go out for coffee we all talked about what we'd been reading. It was a fantastic book, I should drag it out again.
I've had the book for several years and, yes, have gone through it every year, day by day. However, THIS year is the first year each and every devotional has spoken directly into my heart! Each and every day is a CONFIRMATION of how I think and have been experiencing life. It's been a wonderful encouragement to me that I am indeed on the right path! (Sometimes I really question that and wonder if I'm going batty or "off course").
So read on, my dear friend, read on!
Renita
Jobina...I bought the daily devotional journal so I can make some notes and comments as I read. I like that. We've had the book for a long time but it's in the old English (yawn!) and I didn't care for that. You're right...it IS a fantastic book. Dad and I read it one year as an evening devotional before dinner.
Renita you've sometimes talked about your readings so I knew you had the book as well as some of my other friends. Isn't it amazing how suddenly you are at a place where you are ready to receive what you're learning even though you've read it before or knew it before? There's something to be said for timing,hey? Oh, and NO! you are not going batty!! LOL
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