Staying behind the Lord as I walk through life is tricky.
I’m not the only one.
King David, a man after God‘s own heart, often got ahead of his Lord–even with the best of intentions.
At the end of his life, David said to Nathan the high priest, “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Let’s build God a temple.”
Nathan said without hesitation. “Yes. That sounds terrific. Go for it.”
(This is a Michelle paraphrase)
Nathan went home and that night God stopped by.
“Did I ask you guys to build me a temple? What makes you think I’m not perfectly happy living in a tent? You go back and tell David, no, there’s too much blood on his hands. I’ll reserve temple building for his son.”
The two men forgot about staying behind the Lord.
Why not check in to stay behind?
So many times in my life I’ve had a great idea about how to serve God and before checking to make sure that’s what God had in mind for me.
I then run off to put it all into motion.
At some point I realize I didn’t invite God along, much less ask if my idea was in agreement with His.
So, I stop, look back, and ask God to come along and sort of do a “catch up” type of blessing.
Praying for God to direct our day
Lately, my prayer partner and I have been trying to stay behind God rather than in front of him–asking Him to direct the day, rather than assume he’s along for the ride.
It certainly feels much better and leads to other interesting activities . . .
After we prayed that God would direct our day yesterday, I stopped by Starbucks for a mocha to get through a long day after a very short night of not sleeping.
I opened the glass doors, got hit by the strong scent of coffee and thought, “Great, only one person in line ahead of me.”
God whispered, “Buy that man a cup of coffee.”
One of the best things about being a non-descript middle aged woman is you’re completely benign. Anyone under 45 assumes you’re their mother and anyone older than 70 thinks you’re a kid.
This was a mid-thirties Latino guy in work clothes. I stepped up behind him and as he reached for his wallet, I said, “ I’ll be paying for his drink.”
Everyone turned to look at me, no one more astounded than the customer–who of course saw someone who should have been his mother but didn’t look like her. The Starbucks staff beamed.
Were those tears in the man’s eyes?
In those awkward moments while the staff cheerful made our drinks, he told me about his life with seven children out in the country.
I laughed all the way home. So very much fun.
And all because I was staying behind the Lord, rather than in front of him!
I will be turning 50 in January. I have seen how society seems to marginalize women in their 50s, & haven’t looked forward to this milestone birthday. It’s not that I’m afraid of getting older, but I don’t want to be “just another chubby middle-aged woman”.
This post has cheered me up about that. I’m not “just another chubby middle-aged woman”, I’m one of God’s stealth warriors! That’s pretty cool!
God still has a use for me. 🙂
This is a great reminder, Michelle. A young woman I know recently followed the Lord’s leading and ministered to a homeless woman on a bench outside a WalMart. She spent over an hour with her, listening to her troubles. Then, because she had won the woman’s confidence, Katy was able to tell her about the Lord and refer her to a Christian woman’s shelter in the area. There’s nothing like taking your marching orders from the Lord. I need to do more of that. And you’re right–there’s freedom in being older and non-threatening.
Love this! Love being a warrior in disguise, too! It’s amazing what God reveals when we ask Him to lead the way. You’ve reminded me.