If I Could Just ...
We moved. By now, most of you know this but thought you might enjoy how the process went and continues to go.
It all began with a prayer. “Lord, where are we supposed to go? Our son and his family are buying the farmhouse, and if I could just have a home to move to, I know I’d feel more peaceful.”
We found a home. My prayers continued. “If we could just make the move before the snow comes.”
We made the move before the snow came. “If I could just have someone come help me clean.”
I hired someone to come clean. Now that those things were off my list, on to the next one I did go. “If I could just get that one room painted before we moved in.”
A friend came over to help paint the room before we moved in. And on it went…“If I could just get the cupboards situated and lay the rug down, it would feel more like home.”
Yet another friend came to help organize the kitchen and the rug fit beautifully making the dark wooden floors pop to perfection. “Lord,” I continued, “If I could just change out that wood fireplace for propane before moving in, it would keep us warm at the flip of a switch.”
The fireplace dealer called and had an opening one week prior to our move in date. In no time flat, we had a fireplace up and running within the home. “Lord, if I could just find a couple of fun chairs so we’d have a place to sit near the fireplace.”
A friend called and the very chairs that were the desire of my heart were now for sale. I said YES to the chairs and knew this would be the final request… or so I thought. “Lord, if I could just find the right couch to match, it would complete the room.”
I found just the right couch at just the right price at just the right place and purchased it. “Lord, if I could just find the right Christmas tree in the corner… it would make for an incredible season.”
A perfect tree was sought and bought but soon, the season was over and there was a space in the corner. “Lord, if I could just order a chair or two I know they’d pocket nicely within that space.”
The chairs are now within our space. As I look around, the next thing on the list speaks, “If I could just…” and then the next and the next and on it goes.
I thank You, God, for Your provisions and “If I Could Just” remind myself that without You, it becomes all about me.
There’s nothing wrong with creating a space in which to gather—a place to come home to, a place which offers refuge and acts as a shelter or fortress of sorts. However, He reminds us that life goes deeper than what we see within the spaces we create.
Psalm 91:1-2, 4-5 says, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” Psalm 71:3 says, “Be my rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.”
If I could just keep this perspective, I know the next thing on my list will be of You, for Your glory and not my own. May it be so. Amen.
