"Come!" -- Pam Mytroen

“Come!” said Jesus to Peter as he straddled the boat and dipped his foot in the cold waves. Peter wasn’t about to sit in the boat when Jesus was having all the fun. If he could walk on water, so could Peter. While the other guys were saying, “You’re fish bait”, Peter was saying, “What a story I’ll have to tell! What an adventure!”

So Peter jumped from the boat with visions of his name on the front page of the Jerusalem Post. All went well until he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. Suddenly he wished he didn’t have an audience. He could hear their guffaws in the background.

He didn’t become an expert at a walk on the lake, but Peter still holds the record for the only mere mortal to ever to walk on the stuff, all because he saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and heard the laughter of the Master, while the other disciples couldn’t hear beyond the wind or see beyond the waves.

What adventures do you long to do? Climb a mountain? Write a book? Travel to an exotic location? Close your ears to the waves of discouragement, the winds of “No, it can’t be done.” Listen close for Jesus’ laughter and you’ll hear Him calling "Come!"

He stands on the impossible, grins, and waits for us to join him. He loves to have fun – why else would He walk on the water? He could have done the front crawl all the way across the Sea and that would have been miraculous enough.

Peter never forgot that evening on the water. While Peter made history and had the time of his life, Jesus taught him to trust, to keep his eyes on Him, and most of all, to recognize the voice of God.

God has treasures for us too that are only received by peeling our white knuckled hands off the edge of the boat and stepping out towards his voice. Moving away from the warm arms of security forces us to grow.

We’ve been rowing long enough. Jesus is laughing. Let’s go.

(Just one thing - take a friend from the boat so she won’t laugh behind your back!)

Obedience -- Janet Sketchley

The NIV is my usual Bible of choice, but every so often I’ll pick up a different translation. Sometimes a phrase in a different version jumps out at me.

When the Apostle Paul made his final trip to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit warned him there was trouble ahead. Paul’s friends begged him not to go, but he said, “You’re looking at this backwards. The issue in Jerusalem is not what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the Master Jesus does through my obedience. Can’t you see that?” (Acts 21:13b, MSG*)

Let’s make this personal to our own lives. Whatever the stress, fear, pain, can we say “The issue isn’t what happens to me, but what the Master Jesus does through my obedience”?

What the Master Jesus does through my obedience. What will He do, if we trust Him with our circumstances, and choose to obey? After all, it’s not about us at all...it’s about Him.

*The Message MSG Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

© Janet Sketchley, 2008
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For devotionals, reviews and conversation, stop by Janet Sketchley's blog, God with Us: Finding Joy.

An Ordered Life - Lorrie Orr

I recently read Elizabeth Goudge’s The City of Bells. One line jumped out at me – “the peace of an ordered life.” I’ve been mulling this over for the past week, thinking about order and disorder, and how order might relate to productivity, creativity and spontaneity. And so, here are a few of my conclusions – nothing earth-shattering. I need to remind myself of these things every so often.

God is a God of order. The natural world he created is orderly and utterly amazing. Order does not have to be boring. Consider zebras with their crazy stripes – or two people putting their lips together to show affection, or turnips. I sometimes wonder what God was thinking when he created such stupendous marvels. Yet all of his creation is orderly.

Order is a choice I make. Of all of God’s creation, only mankind is able to choose order or disorder. And experience the consequences of either. Disorder entered as sin – a rebellion against God’s design.

There are many facets of order I could explore, but when I think of order and disorder in relation to my writing, I realize that an ordered life enables me to write more, think more, produce more. Those weeks when I take the time to sit with the Lord and make a list of what I want to accomplish, are far more productive than if I wait for inspiration to strike.

Although I may not accomplish everything on my list, or instead do other things, the discipline of setting weekly goals provides a structure for my week. And a structure for surprise and spontaneity.

My ordered life needs to extend beyond writing to my physical world. I have to think about meals, housework, family, and other commitments. When those things are in order, functioning well, my mind is free to wander along more creative paths. And I find the freedom for an unexpected visit with a friend, or a trip to the beach, or a craft project.

Those writers whom I admire are writers with discipline. They order their days, they make choices, they are deliberate. And in that order, creativity and productivity flourish.

Summer is here. There will be vacations, work in the garden, strolls with my husband and tea with my daughters. In the midst of summer relaxation, I want to live an ordered life. A well-lived life, or, a well-written life, does not come by chance.

What We Do - Bonnie Way

“I couldn’t do what you do.” The woman is smiling at me as I gather up my papers to leave her office. I just grin back at her, for I’ve heard that comment several times this week. I’m not sure what it is about an editor’s job that makes us seem special. People have commented that they couldn’t sit reading documents for hours on end or wondered how I know grammar so well to be able to correct what I do read. But in most of the cases when people have made the comment to me that they wouldn’t want my job… well, I wouldn’t want their job either.

We all have our own skills and abilities, a unique place that God has given us to serve. And it’s a good thing, too, as the world would be a boring place if we were all editors, or mechanics, or teachers.

I didn’t know, when I was growing up reading voraciously anything that I could get my hands on, that I could turn that into a career. I didn’t know, when my English curriculum was pounding grammar rules into my head year after year after year until I could do them in my sleep, that that also would become my career. I didn’t know, when I signed up to be the editor of a student newspaper because I figured it fit with my writing abilities, what I was getting myself into.

And yet all of those shaped me, developed my skills and talents, and brought me to where I am today. It’s a fascinating journey, this discovering where we fit in, where we can use our passions and abilities. My twin brother took years to begin pursuing his skills as a mechanic, and my other brother is still figuring out where his abilities fit. I’ve watched my husband change his educational plans three times as he figured out what he wants to do. Now I love listening to his stories about student teaching, because he’s so good at it.

I recently met a couple friends for lunch. Two years ago, we all graduated with English degrees and were planning to head on to master’s degrees. Now, one of them is working on cruise ships and doing her education degree while the other is studying for LSATs and applying for law. They laughed that I was the only one who had stuck to the goals we had back at graduation. Yet I applaud them for being willing to change their plans, to reconsider their goals and abilities and what they want to do, and go with the change.

So maybe you couldn’t do what I do… but I probably couldn’t do what you do either. And that’s okay. Because we each fill a need, and however we got to where we are, we’re here now, using the abilities and talents we have in a way that only we can.