“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
This morning my WANT TO collided with my MUST DO.
Shannan and I have been on the road . . . 6700 miles of road. Maryland welcomed us, so did West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, and our home state of Pennsylvania. I also touched down in Texas compliments of American Airlines.
You may be wondering what would drive someone to drive so much? For us it was a combination of family and work. We made quick stops to children in four cities in three states, cared for of some our grands to help mom and dad, delighted in a new granddaughter, participated in two conferences, and caught up with generous friends of LBC.
These days my life has been part Country and Western tune. Like Willie Nelson, we’ve been “On The Road Again,” and with Johnny Cash, I’m singing, “I’ve Been Everywhere.” But there’s another country tune that keeps spinning on the turntable of my mind. It’s Terri Clark’s “I Wanna Do It All.” I’ve resonated with this song since it came out twenty years ago. It’s the cry of unlimited dreams clashing with the reality of limited days.
That was my feeling this morning. I have a truckload of books to read, gleanings to share, books to write, photographs to sort, and videos to produce. All of these are secondary or tertiary in my life, taking a backseat to my role as President of LBC, or more often tucked away in a crate in the trailer of ideas that I tow behind me.
This morning I awoke to the usual: Much to do . . . too much for one day; too much for one life. Happily, I did what I know I should do but sometimes don’t — I opened the Word. My reading for the day took me to Exodus and God’s plans for the Tabernacle as well as to Psalm 90.
God met his people in the Tabernacle, but today he met me in Psalm 90.
Psalm 90 puts life in perspective in just 17 verses. Reflecting on the fact that most of us will get 70 years (maybe 80), Moses cries out:
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Verse fourteen hit home, “Satisfy us,” not with the satisfaction of accomplishment, but with the satisfaction of God’s unfailing love. As God often does, he is redirecting my gaze away from things that are important—but not ultimate—to that which is.
Each month I write a brief note to each of our kids, their spouses, and to their children. Daniel, our oldest child, turned 40 yesterday. He’s a great husband, father (of seven), and a smart and savvy leader where he works. This verse hit home with me so I shared it with him in the words you see below:
Howdy son, it’s 2:46 a.m. & I’ve been up for a bit, these days continually challenged/frustrated by all I “must do” that keeps me from all I want to do, particularly on the creative front. I suspect you experience some variation of this dilemma. Psalm 90 is a good word for me this AM. The Psalmist is too in a quandary of sorts, wrestling with the vicissitudes of life. His solution? Prayer for perspective & wisdom; and re-locating his daily satisfaction not in his accomplishments, but in God’s unfailing love. Its not necessarily the word I want—my mind still chasing my “Want-Tos” — but it’s the word I need. Hope it helps you too! Love you Daniel! Pop
I think we are made to be “on the road again.” And chasing accomplishments is an adventure of God’s making. The key is to start, not with my WANT TO, but with my MUST DO.
So Lord, satisfy me this morning with your unfailing love, that I might sing for joy and be glad this day — and all my days — in You! And with You (and not my accomplishments) as my ultimate joy, please favor me, and establish the work of my hands.