Give us THIS day

The other day, I was driving my son from our house to Lynchburg for a friend's birthday party. I knew my three-year-old needed some rest, and the hour long drive with the slow rolling hills was a prime nap opportunity. I kept the music low and after just a little bit, he was sound asleep in the back. Of course, I've been putting in a lot of hours at work lately and I was pretty tired myself. While I wasn't in danger of falling asleep, I was definitely functioning on autopilot. I found myself passing familiar landmarks, but wondering how I had missed the familiar scenery I should have noticed before getting to that point.

Sometimes, I do the same thing with my faith. I get bogged down in day to day living, and I switch on the autopilot. I'm not consciously making wrong choices, but I fear I may be missing a stretching or a blessing from God. I'm sure blessing goes without definition. When I speak of stretching, I'm talking about those nudges from Holy Spirit to do something a little out of my comfort zone.

When the Israelites were hungry in the desert, God provided manna for them each day. When the people tried to save some for the next day, it would spoil. In His model prayer to us, Jesus says, "Give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11). I'm more of a big picture kind of girl. I want God to give me a month's worth, or a year's worth of bread instead of seeking daily. However, when I remember to humble myself daily, to put aside my goals and my priorities and seek the will of the Father for my day, my days have purpose.

This doesn't mean every day that starts with devotion is all sunshine and roses. One day, the scripture I read was Psalm 3:6 "I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side." My first inclination was to crawl back in bed and hide under the covers. However, as I went on about my day and the shots came at me, I found myself laughing a bit and the verse came to mind over and over. If David could stand against an army of thousands, surely I could stand against the annoyances that came at me that day. And because I knew they were coming, my heart was better able to take on the challenge.

Other days I've chosen the extra few minutes of sleep over time with the Lord. I might make it through an entire day without a melt down, but it isn't the same. It's like taking that drive on autopilot. I may have made it, but I missed some things along the way.