Be Thou My Vision

Be thou my vision, O lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight, Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight. Thou my souls shelter, Thou my high tower. Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my Power

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my Treasure thou art.

Ancient Irish Hymn

Oh how true these words ring. I am fortunate enough to get away for a few days of reflection this weekend...a much needed respite from my cares. I am already missing my family, but thankful for a few moments of uninterrupted thoughts thus far. This morning, as I was sitting, with no distraction, basking in silence...I started mulling over the words of this song. Oh that Jesus would be my vision...my dignity, my delight, my souls shelter, my inheritance, my best thought...if I really lived that way...what a difference that would make in my daily rituals. I know these things in my mind...I have been taught from childhood of the greatness of God, but what would it look like if I were really living as if I knew that these things were true? If Christ was really my vision, how would I respond to people, and situations? If God himself were my dignity, not what I look like or what I possess, my heart would be content. My satisfaction would be in Him. The Irish had it right when these words were penned. Oh that you, my Jesus, would be my vision today, my best thought, my shield. Oh that I would seek you and not the empty praise of men. Be first in my heart, my treasure.

Shhh...and Walk

Last weekend I attended a church in my area for the first time. The speaker was a guest (this seems to be the trend when I visit churches...), and it being my first time, my expectations were not high. The music played, the announcements were made, and then the guest got up to speak. The message was about Joshua and the battle of Jericho...how God commanded the people to be quiet, and walk. That's it...be quiet...and walk. He didn't tell them to try to reason with the people of Jericho, to explain what they were doing...I'm sure they appeared to be crazy fools to those behind the wall, after all what were they doing anyway? Why were they walking in silence around and around? Can you even imagine what was said about them the last day when they circled the city seven times in the blazing heat? I believe the same is true of us. We are faced with "walls" in our own lives, and we have a choice of how we are going to handle things. God asked them to be quiet, and walk. I wonder if He asks the same of us. I'm sure he does. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for words, words that have been prayed about and contemplated...but there is a time for being quiet, praying, listening to the Spirit, and walking. We are called to walk in truth, living the life that our words have professed. Its so easy to talk at people, to point out what areas they need help in in their lives, where they have gone wrong, and how they can fix it. Its a natural reaction to try to immediately correct the issues we may face. I think we tend to be people who want to fix things immediately...to have a quick answer to everything, to broadcast our opinion on every subject, to have the cure to what ails...all with the best intentions of course. There is a time, however, where the best answer is silence. Instead of coming up with a quick retort to crush our opponent...really praying and contemplating words that will build, and not tear down! Of course, in the case of Josh and the big wall (thank you Veggie Tales)...when the Israelites were finally aloud to speak...the wall came crashing down, and God delivered the city into their hands. What would happen if we spent the time figuratively walking around our issues, covering them in prayer, asking the Spirit to guide the words that come from our lips and the exact timing of it all...what kind of victory would there be then?