A Devotion

Hide and Go Seek

Read: Matthew 7:7-12 from King James Version and then from The Message.

A common exchange from my childhood:

Me: Mom, I can't find -fill in the blank-.

Mom: Seek and ye shall find, dear. Seek and ye shall find.

My parents utilized a lot of sayings when I was growing up. They ranged anywhere from cute colloquialisms to Bible passages to things that they just made up (or at least I was convinced somehow that they made them up). Actually, this was one that I was sure she had made up until after I was an adult and the pastor preached a sermon on a passage that included these verses from Matthew. When the lectioner got up to read the scripture and got to the "seek and you will find" part, I nearly fell off the pew. All this time I thought it was just a smart Alick comeback from my mother and she was actually quoting scripture to me!!!

Yyesterday when one of my new co-workers was ending a particularly stressful week and ready to leave for her weekend off, my advice to her was to go home, pour a nice hot bath with plenty of bubbles, turn off the lights and light a few candles and just relax - try as hard to forget this place and get ready for a weekend of rest and relaxation. This morning I was fretting over writing my first devotion, even wondering how I would title it, because if I used the date then it would already be out of date when you friends in Australia read it (I know, silly thing to fret over, but I did.) So what did I do? I re-read this scripture in Matthew comfortable that it would hold something dear for my friends. I went in and poured myself a hot bath with scented oil and a few bubbles, said a prayer, and then set myself in the warmth and aroma. I closed my eyes and tried to relax and just let God speak to me, but all I could hear was my mother saying, "seek and ye shall find, dear. Seek and ye shall find."

Now I am convinced that God was telling me that. It is time to take some of my own advice and the advice of other dear friends who have been with me during a very stressful time in my life. It is time to make a decision and move forward - but it is scary. Once I make that decision, then I have to do something!!!! How do I get off dead center and get there? I take my own advice again. When my son was trying to make a decision about whether or not to accept a letter of intent to play college baseball, he came to me the night before the offer expired. We made a list of the pluses and minuses of this particular school and baseball program. No help. The list balanced perfectly when he added importance ratings to each item. I told him that there was only one thing he could do then. He should pray - but equally important, he should listen. Since he was asking God, and trusting God to guide him, he should trust that the answer that came to him was the answer that God wanted him to hear.

Most of you know that I am now at a crossroads again. My residency is almost over and I am at a point where I am waiting on God to lead me to my next place of ministry. I have several options: a chaplain that helps spiritually guide people through medical difficulties in a hospital, or one who helps people pass from this life into the hands of God in a hospice setting, or one who sees the active work of God's people in a missionary setting. It has been a struggle of decernment for the past 6 years since I entered seminary, and now, one year after my last major crossroad here I am again, so what should I do? Take my own advice, of course. I shoudl pray. But equally important, I should listen.

I had you read two different versions of the scripture today because the KJV was the quote my mother used and fit well with my story here. I simply love, however, the no-nonsense way that The Message can often cite a scripture passage, and this one was no different. The way that Eugene Peterson interpreted the Golden Rule (do unto others ...) is destined to become a classic: "Ask yourself what you want others to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. (vs. 12)," but verse 7 where he says, "just ask, this isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in," spoke to me as loud as my mothers KJV. God isn't hiding the path from me. All I have to do is ask, listen, look for the open door and then pass through it.

Most dear and Holy God, grant that all of us can understand your desire to be with us and guide us through both our every day and mundane issues as well as our greatest of challenges. Give each one of us the ability to ask, seek and knock, but also give each of us the ability to listen to your answers, recognize what we have found, and pass through that open door . We ask this all in your Holy name. Amen.