I Choose

My soul waits for the Lord

more than those who watch for the morning ...

Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Psalm 130: 6

Words escape me sometimes.   Ideas fly away.

My best intentions and plans go awry.

I get down in the dumps.

Don't get me wrong.  I have some non-dumpy days.  In fact, I have some spectacular wonderful awesome days!

But sometimes... 

Sometimes I fall into a pit... usually one of my own making.

And then there are those times when circumstances completely topple me and I tumble into despair that anything will ever go right.

Optimism plays hide and seek with me on occasion.

But I always have a choice.

I get to choose my attitude and I get to choose my actions.

Do I let a circumstance define my character?    Do I let it determine my path?

Or do I look at it as a challenge to grow and overcome?   

As a challenge to exercise my faith?

I took the above photograph several years ago.   

It was the dawn of New Year's Eve.

The end.

But look!

The sun still rose!

The earth still turned!

My hurting heart was still beating!

God was still creating beauty!

We cry tears of joy and tears of pain.   The Father catches each one as an exquisite treasure.

He has taught me that whatever my circumstance, He is there with me.

Even on the very last day of what I thought was the worst year of my life, the sun still rose and He was with me, teaching me about His faithfulness.

What if the sun never rose again?

He would still be faithful.

What if I didn't make it?

He would still be faithful.

What if I fell?   What if I failed?  What if I was broken?

He would still be faithful.

So I have faith in Him.

Even if I'm having a bad day.     Even when life wops me upside the head .  

Because when I look back, I see how He has worked in my life.   

How He has taken every bad day and turned it into something good.

Sometimes He has taken what I thought was a bad day and when I think back about it, I realize  He turned that "bad" day into a life changing, faith building, chain breaking miracle day.

He has taken me down paths I thought I could only imagine.

He has protected me from harm and evil.

He has provided every need.

He has challenged me and set me free to be the person He created me to be and when I fall short, He reminds me of Who He is and of His great expectations for me.

He reminds me of the amazing future He has set before me.

He reminds me that He set the world in motion and that the sun will rise every day because He has plans that will not go awry.   He has things to do, hearts to change, people to bless.

He reminds me that His Word and His ideas are perfect.

Yes, I get to choose my actions.

So, good day or bad, I choose Him. 

I choose to believe His promises and His goodness.

I choose to participate in His plan.

I choose to stand and watch for Him.

I choose to trust in Him and His goodness and mercy more than I trust that the sun will rise in the mornings.

Yes, even more than I trust that the sun will rise in the mornings.