The Morning Charge

 

For the four chief gatekeepers who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God.  And they spent the night around the house of God, because the watch was committed to them; and they were in charge of opening it morning by morning.  

                                                                                                          I Chronicles 9:26-27

Morning by morning, the gatekeepers were given the charge to open the house of God.  Every morning.

Today, God's mercies are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23  Every morning I am in charge of whether I open the day to receive the morning mercies that God is ready to give or keep it closed.  

Our heart is the space we are in charge of.  Our mind is the house we dwell in and are given the charge to take every thought captive, to renew our mind; it's the space we are given to watch and then to open it - every morning.

Open it to the possibilities that lie within the broken.

Open to trusting the heart of God.

Open to receiving.

Open to seeing God in ways that I don't expect when life situations are going differently than I anticipated.

Open to forgiveness because of the grace of God to me.

Open to loving and wondering how to live that out in the middle of hard, pain, and hurt, because really, God loves me unconditionally.

Open to letting God heal me.

Open to seeing good.

I am responsible to open my heart and mind to God.  I am in charge of what I choosing to believe, His Words or my own.  And I am in charge, again, today.

I am in charge of opening up the house of God.

Today, you may be blind-sided by grief or maybe mired in the mundane of life or swallowed up in the hard of relationships and the possibilities seem pretty much buried.  And they most likely are.  (Treasures often lie buried.  We go on treasure hunts. People dig for gold. Companies dig for oil.) So, I want to remind you, even there, faith can lie.  Even there, we can open our house of God to receive.  It will look different than those other seasons when life isn't so raw.

Did you open the 'house of God' this morning?  Or did you slam the door shut because it hurts too bad?  Maybe you only left it locked and curtains firmly left drawn, because nothing makes sense.

Will you take charge and reach for Jesus, opening up to the possibilities He may have in store?  (just so you know... I have my own door I need to open to trusting God when so far, the outcome is so different than I am praying for.)  Let's open up our hearts to God, together.  Will you join me?

When I believe God is for me, then trusting can take place.  (To be honest, I am realizing why opening 'my door' is so difficult is because I want an outcome, I am seeing the red flags that's why I'm praying :), you know.  But to believe God cares for me is a deeper realization I need to once again, choose.)  When I believe God for who He is rather than for an expected end, I can trust.

God,

Trusting You isn't what comes naturally at times, especially when we humans get caught up in an outcome so help us.  May we see You and know we are loved, deeply.  Give us the courage to choose Your words of Truth and the strength to believe You when life hurts and loved ones make choices that affect us deeply.  You are Good and You are a God that cares.  You fight for us and are a place of refuge.  You are abundant in power and give us new morning mercies, every day.  As we open our eyes to see You may we find You in ways we never dreamed possible.  Thank you for Your love!

And I choose You, I open up to Your ways to receive Your morning mercies and I love you, deeply.  Your daughter.