Ready or Not?

It’s a good thing I don’t have a pool. On a day like today, I would probably get in it and just float around until it’s time to fix dinner. I just can’t seem to get myself going. I have been battling my mind and emotions all day long. I am tired and just don’t feel like doing anything except possibly get in my bed. That seems like a bad plan. I am writing, I must admit, as a last resort. Not sure I have anything grand to say (pretty sure I don’t) , but it’s the only thing I could think of to do that just might give me some relief from, well, myself. Hopefully someone will read this because this is my attempt to get outside of me and possibly encourage you. Even if it is just one of you, it will be worth my time. I really want to curl up like my two cats who are snoring on the couch-oblivious. Don’t get me wrong. I actually think that sometimes that is the best solution. Rest. But today I know it’s a certain type of mood that needs to be worked through, not escaped from.

This morning one of my reading was on “Readiness.” I thought, “Oh I’m ready aright…Ready for a nap. Ready for a break. Ready for school to be out. Ready for a vacation…”. Unfortunately, this kind of readiness was referring the kind of ready that I am not. Ready to be available to God in the small, uneventful, tedious, tasks that God has for me today. I don’t want to return emails or make phone calls or work on my taxes or clean my house or figure out what to cook. Those things are boring and unglamorous. Instead of just saying “here I am Lord, Send me”, I am saying, “Here I am Lord, now send me to California, Vegas, or Florida!” Or if I am really trying to look good I will ask Him to send me to Haiti, Ghana or Cambodia. Somewhere I can REALLY do something significant for Him. But I am not ready to do the “obscure duty. Readiness for God means that we are ready to do the tiniest little thing or the great big thing, it makes no difference. We have no choice in what we want to do, whatever God’s program may be we are there, READY.”(chambers)

What I have found, is that when I respond to God’s plan, whether big or small, public or private, He seems to show up more often. Or maybe I just notice Him more. I love how Chambers puts it, “be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready when God has called!” Even on days like today, when I am a bit blue, a bit lazy and more than a bit tempted to feel sorry for myself, I can still choose to be ready for even the most subtle opportunities that God has arranged for my life today.