I received a copy of this prayer on Monday, during a workshop I’ve begun attending:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
― Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Let me tell you, I could not agree more with  Merton’s words.  The thought……

………I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

It rings so true.

The day before I received the prayer, I attended a church service in which a lovely voiced, operatic soprano, Dr. Jeryl Cunningham Fleming, sang the following:

Stand the storm, it won’t be long you will anchor by and by

Your ship is on the ocean, you will anchor by and by

You’re heading for the Kingdom where you’ll anchor by and by

Stand the storm, it won’t be long, you’ll anchor by and by

Hold on it won’t be long,

You will anchor by and by

Currently in my life, I envision God as an anchor.  An anchor in the storm.

[Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it—a hope] that reaches farther.  

Hebrews 6:19 (AMP)

A while back, a friend mentioned relying on the promises of God.  Kind of one of those throw back moments, you know?  Standing on the promises, and all that.  Well, I began to process and investigate and found there is a website that offers a promise of God per day.  Yes, 365 promises.  I now read this devotional each morning.  While 365 days ago, I would have deemed this site as a bit on the cheesy side, today it’s exactly what I need:

365 Promises

Hope.  It’s there.  Love, from God.  Promises that He will not forsake.  An anchor in the midst of a storm.  People who pray for me.  Who encourage me and want God’s best for me.  Who are willing to give of toss their time.  God, shouting from across the street, “Give it all over to me.  Again and again and again.”  Fear not.  Fear not.  Even when there are legitimate reasons to be fearful.  Questions.  So many questions.  Yet hope.  And love.  And a future  Ten minutes from now.  And ten years from now.