I had a meeting this morning -- me, myself, and I. We talked some things over and got nowhere fast. We had some great ideas, but I shot them down pretty quickly because I know myself pretty well and I knew they wouldn't work for me either.
After a while, I conferred with my mother. I liked what she had to say, but knew her ideas would work better for someone like her and not so much for someone like me. As for myself, I'd have to give her suggestions some more thought, but I don't see me having much success with her plans.
Next, I brought my friend into the discussion. She's usually pretty wise and also knows me pretty well, sometimes even better than I know myself. Like my mom, she gave me some good suggestions for solving my dilemma, but I don't know if I can make her ideas work for myself.
In the end, me, myself, and I continued on with our deliberations even after I had excused my mother and my friend from the board room, telling them to simply let me work this one out for myself.
Then, there was an "ahem...." from the back of the room -- a quiet, almost unnoticeable movement from the dark corner of the conference room. Had I invited someone else to the meeting and forgotten to acknowledge them? As for myself, I thought there was no one left in the room except for me.
"Excuse Me," said the quiet and gentle voice from the shadows. "We talked for a few minutes over breakfast this morning. Remember?"
I thought this over and barely remembered that indeed Someone else did have breakfast with me. But that was a breakfast meeting, a sort of friendly social thing, if you will. It was time to conduct the business of the day now. Hadn't He left already?
"If you'll remember, I gave you a Word this morning," the shadow said to me, still gently, but a little more insistent that I listen.
"Well," I responded hesitantly, "I remember You said a lot of things, mostly about Abraham and Sarah and Isaac. And then there was that stuff about Peter and his mom. Not much that had to do with me, as I recall."
"Think harder," the voice responded. "Actually, all that stuff about Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Peter had to do with you, too. But I think I recall you actually perking up and listening about the time I spoke to you from the Proverbs. Do you remember now?"
I thought to myself, trying hard to remember if anything He had said had really resonated with me. Then it came to me.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5,6 - NKJ
And I got.
"God, is that you? Are you still here? I didn't realize You were going to stick around for the whole day. I'm not really used to running everything by anyone besides me, myself, and I. But I guess we could give this new arrangement a shot."
I stood up and walked around the boardroom table, pulled out the chair to the right of mine and patted the leather upholstery. Why don't you come out of the corner of the room and come take this seat beside me. I'd love to hear what you have to say on my little problem.
"Actually," said the One I'd met for breakfast, "I'd like to take your chair if I may. Why don't you sit here and let me conduct the rest of the meeting?" He pulled out the chair, the one I had so graciously offered Him, and waited for me to sit myself down in it.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do,
everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3:5,6 (The Message)
I bet you're waiting to find out what I did next. Instead, why don't you ask yourself, what did you do next?
Labels: Walk Through the Bible
