“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
Two weeks from today, my oldest granddaughter turns five. A few days ago, I asked Audrey if she was going to be seven and she said “no papa, I’m going to be five!” I’m happy that she doesn’t want to grow up too fast. Two weeks from today, I am having a tumor removed from my brain. The surgery had been scheduled for March 23 but the pandemic put that on hold and now I can hardly wait to get this procedure completed and prayerfully, some of my life will return to normalcy.
I was listening to some Kenny Rogers music on Alexa last weekend and the song ‘The Gambler’ was on and there are some wonderful words of wisdom there, at least from my vantage point. The song was written by Don Schlitz in August, 1976 when he was 23 years old. I want to share just the words from the chorus. “You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table; there'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.” There so many words of wisdom there that I would like to share with Audrey, but she’s only going to be 5 and not 7. There were so many times when I should have folded them, walked away and even times when it was clear that I should have run away…but didn’t. There are so many lessons learned in our lives and unfortunately, sometimes it takes a couple of hands to learn them.
I have always been haunted by Isaiah 6:8, where the prophet says, “here I am, send me!” He was hearing the Lord calling for workers, and was ready to go, without delay. I’ve known many people who have been called, me included, but the caller wasn’t the Lord. You got to know when to fold them and wait for the real deal.
I read a devotion from CPH today that had some wonderful words of wisdom about getting a call and while it was directed for a high school or college graduate, it could be for my little Audrey Sue or maybe for you. “Son, you do not have just one calling, or one chance to decide once and for all what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. Life is made of many callings, big and small, work and non-work. You may have callings for an individual day, or you may have callings for a lifetime. Roll with it.”
Blessed are all Your saints, O God and King, who have traveled over the tempestuous sea of this mortal life, and have made the harbor of peace and happiness. Watch over us who are still in our dangerous voyage, and remember such as lie exposed to the rough storms of trouble and temptations. Frail is our vessel, and the ocean is wide; but as in Your mercy You have set our course, so steer the vessel of our life toward the everlasting shore of peace. Bring us at length to the quiet haven of our heart’s desire, where You, O our God, are blessed, and live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
May God bless you, Jay