It's a rainy, stormy afternoon here at my house. As the wind is blowing and the rain is pounding against the windows, I am thankful to be able to stay inside and write and also make some progress with all that is on my schedule for this busy week. The word for my week is..."preparation."
As I write this, I am leaving day after tomorrow for South Carolina where I will be speaking at a Ladies Conference all day Saturday, and again on Sunday to ladies during the Sunday School hour. So I have been in "preparation mode" for a couple of weeks now. Of course, I began writing and preparing my messages for Saturday a few months ago, as soon as I accepted the invitation to speak. This week I have been putting the final touches on the messages for each of the three general sessions I am speaking at, as well as preparing a lesson for Sunday morning. In addition, I have been preparing ahead for my other "normal" teaching obligations and for covering my responsibilities while I am gone. I needed to prepare for two Ladies Bible Study classes that I taught yesterday, as well as the next class which I teach the morning after I get home.
To further add to the preparations, following my weekend in South Carolina we are headed to Florida to visit our younger son and his family and to meet our NEW GRANDSON for the first time! Part of those preparations has been fun - getting to shop for baby boy things (I'm used to shopping for girl things - we haven't had a grandson born for nearly six years!) and for a present for his big sister. It also means that I have to organize and pack for our time there. My husband will be joining me for the trip to Florida but is flying the first leg of the trip, so I have to prepare and pack for him as well as myself. Because he is flying, everything big that needs to go with us to Florida has to go with me in the car when I leave day after tomorrow....so more preparations. Did I mention that I have lots of lists??
Preparing for a speaking engagement and for an extended time away involves lots of thinking, planning, and work, but there is also another kind of preparation that is even more important. I'm thinking of the need to prepare our hearts. Just as important as having well-prepared outlines and messages for my speaking is the need to prepare my own heart. I have been praying and asking the Lord to make me sensitive to the needs and hearts of the ladies who will be attending the conference so that I might be a blessing to them and that I might depend on Him for everything. I also pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of the ladies so that He might minister to them. I love the verse in Hosea 10:12: "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord..." Just as hard ground has to be prepared for planting, the ground of our hard, stubborn hearts needs to be broken up to receive the seed of the Word of God.
Whenever we come to God's Word, either on our own, or sitting under Biblical teaching we need to come with prepared hearts. One good way of doing that is by praying a Scripture verse like Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." Actually, the whole chapter of Psalm 119 is a great one to read when preparing one's heart. Preparation is also an important element in prayer. Part of preparation involves cleansing, which encompasses confession and repentance. We should learn to view preparation and cleaning not as punishment and something we "have" to do, but as a positive thing - we are preparing our hearts to receive what God has for us.
So my friend, the next time you have to make some preparations - for a trip, for dinner, for an afternoon of shopping or errands, or for teaching a lesson or class - I hope you will be reminded of the truly important preparation of your heart.
Signing off for a couple weeks, but looking forward to being back with you in March!
Kathi
No comments:
Post a Comment