Safe in the Scenery?

   Sometimes I wake in the morning and sit down in the quiet to pray, read and meditate I find my mind focusing on things in my life. Situations that I woke up with that seem to call out for my attention, become the focal point for my prayer, and I look for guidance for that or those.

   When I sensed my mind going that way this morning, I prayed that God might give me some word from the Scripture reading that, while they might truly be the guidance I needed in those specific areas, would also be what God wanted me to see in these few minutes.

   The first Word from Psalm 69:

"Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel."

   These verses have long been a silent mantra for me. I have lived by them for years, because I have not wanted to be the reason for someone else being turned away from God, or put off from following Christ because of something in my life. There are too many admonitions to not being a stumbling block, but there is a draw back.

   There seems to be an easy way to keep from being this rock in the path and that would be to not do or say anything that might be taken the wrong way. In fact, it might be not to do anything at all. Just play it safe and melt into the landscape.

   Then there are the words of Jesus as recorded in Mark 8:

"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

   There is a time to speak up and a time to act. Not saying anything, or doing anything, can be the very things warned against in the Psalm passage. I can be ashamed of Jesus and not say a word. I can bring dishonor to His Name, by not performing that act that He leads me into. I can be that detriment to another by just sitting and being silent.

   So, I breathe out another prayer, that I will not violate either Scripture, but, with God's guidance, will speak His words and act in accordance to His leading, not just be content to be safely a part of the scenery, no matter how pretty.