Lead on......

   I am having a hard time writing this morning. Maybe I am a little tired, but not from overwork I know. I slept in a little, then took a short walk in the cooler air of today, then breakfast, then a time to study, pray and write.

   I have the time, I have the inclination, but my body just says, let's go back to sleep. I read the Scripture portions for today, and they just lay there on the page saying, "here we are, there is something you need in here, find it and apply it". I close my eyes to reflect on all of that, and my mind goes racing off in a million different directions. I confess my inability to concentrate, while, deep down, I realize that God is hanging around, waiting for me to grasp the truths that He wants me to have.

   Then I am prompted to read again Psalm 16 where the last verse ways:

                         " You make known to me the path of life;
                            in your presence there is fullness of joy;
                           at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

   But, I say, I don't feel that way. It may be true for the Psalmist, but I can't see beyond my nose, much less the path that stretches before me. I want to see where that path leads and what things lie along it. I want to know the "whats", the "whys", the "wheres" and the "hows". In short, I want to be able to plan my life and get ready for whatever the future is.

   Then I go back and read that verse again. David says that God makes known to him the path of life. Could he have been looking for the path, and God points it out to him. God might say "Take this path, no matter that you can't see where it goes, just take it, and it will be life to you".

   In my mind, I can see that path, but it is so foggy that only the first few feet of it are visible. I want to know more, but then I see what David realizes, that where God is, I need to be. In His presence is where joy is and where life is right, no matter the condition of the path.

   It may be a stretch, but I think of the hymn "Lead on O King Eternal" and I read the first part of verse one:

   "Lead on, O King eternal,

 the day of march has come; 
 henceforth in fields of conquest 
 thy tents shall be our home."

   I want to say "Lead on" and I don't want just to ask God to stay with me in my tent, I want to stay in His. There, there is peace and joy.

   Now I am awake, and I even think I see something...