What's Next?

Yesterday I was surprised to see this Sand Hill Crane standing all alone in our Still Waters Pond.

It is very unusual to see one alone. They are usually seen with their mate close by. This one kept looking back toward the shore, as if he was listening and watching for someone to join him.

But the longer he stood there, the more apparent it became that there was no one else coming.

Finally he started moving on across the pond, as if he was in a hurry to go somewhere.

As he reached the other end of the shore, he stopped and stood at attention, again listening and watching and waiting. I wondered if he was listening for a call from his mate, telling him where she was or that she was waiting for him on the other side. I didn't hear any sound...and if there had been any it would have been quite distinct....if you've ever heard their call, you would know what I mean. 

But he stood there listening intently, as if he could hear something that I could not. And then, suddenly (before I could get my camera focused of course), he flapped his mighty wings and lifted himself up and flew away in a hurry.

Today, being another Sunday that we cannot join together in person with our dear church family, my heart and mind is tuned in to worship.  I was thinking about this Sand Hill Crane standing there alone on the shore, waiting and listening for a call from his mate...and I thought about the church...and about myself personally.  It is as if we are all standing and waiting, listening for God's voice to give us directions for our next step.  We've been set apart for a little while, and we are getting anxious to get back into action together as The Body of Christ.

But before we can come back together, my heart tells me we need to be listening for God's voice in our own personal lives.  

We need to be seeking His direction, and preparing our hearts for the "what's next". 

I was reading in Isaiah 6, and the verse that stood out in particular for me this morning is

Isaiah 6:8

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

"Whom shall I send,

and who will go for Us?"

Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." 

Also I was reading in the Gospel of John 20:19-23, when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, and in verse 19 it tells us that "the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, and Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, 

"Peace be with you."

And then in verse 21, Jesus said to them again:

"Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

22. "And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 

"Receive the Holy Spirit."

Jesus gave the disciples a command in Matthew 28:19-20 to:

"Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son 

and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;

and lo, 

I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 

Amen.

We have this commission to go.  We've been resting and waiting and hopefully preparing our hearts for the "what's next".  God has work for us to do when we come back together. The way things are going in this world, we may not have much time left to keep sharing the Gospel freely.

  

This little song came to mind this morning as I was sitting here thinking about these things, and this is the prayer of my heart today.  What about you?  It may help us to figure out the "What's Next?" question as we ponder and pray and LISTEN for God's voice.  

Here I Am, Lord, Is It I, Lord?

Praying you have a blessed and beautiful SONday. Let us not forget Whose day this is.

It is the Lord's Day.

Amen.