Stay Limber

August 27, 2022

I woke up in the middle of the night. I keep my cell phone on my nightstand so I quietly reached over to check the time. It was not nearly time to get up, but I was wide awake.

What do you do when that happens? For me, there is a checklist to run through. Did I drink coffee or a soda with caffeine late in the day? Did I get vigorous exercise, enough to make my legs achy or my metabolism hyped up? I’ve read that the light from a TV screen or computer can keep you from sleeping well if you watch it a lot just before bed. Did I do that in the late evening?

This time none of those were the cause. The next possibility is that God needed me to pray for somebody facing a difficult situation at that very moment. This has happened many times. However, no one came to mind on this night.

The remaining possibility was that God needed to tell me something about a writing project. When I considered that, my next book came to mind, the one I was itching to start. I knew the main and supporting characters and some of the basics of the plot, but I now realized a change was necessary. My idea of who the main character should be was all wrong. As I continued to think about it, lying there in the middle of the night, it became clear that the new hero being pushed forward by God was a far better choice and would open up some intriguing plot lines. The book would be much harder to write, but the end product would be so much better.

I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that not only do you need to listen for God’s guidance, but you also need to be flexible. You are the one that loses if you say, “God, you sent me in this direction, and I’m too far along to change paths now.”

Hebrews 3:15: “Today, if you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart.”