Twenty-eight Hour Days

The other day, I exclaimed, "I may have taken on too much for the fall!"  I then proceeded to watch as my teenage daughter's jaw hit the floor and she responded with, "Mom!  I never thought I'd hear you say that."  True story...

So, I was reading Job again when Eliphaz spit out one of those things that seemed sort of profound.  You may remember that, very recently, I gently reminded you that Job's friends generally give lousy advice, and there are surely better places to look for sound mentoring.  This is still true.  But there is also the, "take something from everyone you meet" thing, and this is what I'm taking from Eliphaz:   

Job 22:27-28, "You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.  What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways" (NIV).

No pressure...  Just... you know... decide what you want to do and do it...

Seriously, though, I was struck by these verses, because I think they speak to one of the most overlooked purposes of prayer.  When we pray to God, God hears us.  God hears us, and then God gives us the power to do something.  It's not magical.  I love mystery, but maybe it's not even mysterious.  Prayer changes the outcome of the world, at least in part, because prayer changes us.  Prayer brings us into close enough communion with God that God imparts grace that allows us to fulfill vows and make good decisions and act on them.  That's powerful stuff!  Redemptive stuff!  The kind of thing that makes a difference.

Sometimes I decide to do too many things.  It's no secret.  But... amazingly... it appears that God has given me the strength to be the kind of person whose life can work out OK like that.  I fully expect that the next semester is going to push my limits beyond what I have experienced before.  Oh my goodness, if you know me that's saying something.  But maybe, just maybe, the light will shine anyway... the light will shine brightly...

May I encourage you to also pray for the grace to fulfill your vows?  For the power to decide and then to follow through?  For the light to blind us all, even at 3:00 in the morning?  Because, friends, it's going to take that long to accomplish everything I've packed into these coming days...

L.