I stepped out of the house this cold, wet, windy, cloudy morning feeling bad that I had to go to work. All I wanted to do was stay curled under my warm, fluffy blanket. But, as someone so aptly said: “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.”

 

I started driving up our crooked street when out of nowhere appeared the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. It was a vividly “lit” full-colored spectrum, rising from the top of a low bushy tree on the right and the arch barely touching the tip of a very tall pine tree on the left. It was awesome! I wanted to stop so I could bask in the warmth and colorful reminder of God’s promises. I wanted to capture the beauty with a camera (where is one when I need it?). For a precious moment there, I felt as if I were in the physical presence of God, with His rainbow of love sheltering me not only from the cold and the rain, but also from the vicissitudes of life. I wanted time to stand still. I didn’t want to leave my “Quiet Place.”

 

All too soon the moment passed. When I turned to drive toward the rainbow, all I saw were dark, gray clouds once again, but I will carry the memory of that precious moment with me for the rest of my life.

 

As I continued driving, I recalled other “precious moments” and couldn’t help praising and thanking God for giving me glimpses of His abiding love. I pray that you, too, experience precious moments with God.

 

 

            When you’ve cried so long and your heart is in anguish. . . God has counted your tears.

 

 

You are my Lord and Master. I am but a lowly servant in Your house. I confess—I am not always a very good servant, as I sometimes fail. My tongue has sometimes been dumb when called to speak Your words. I have not always been astute or faithful enough when trading on my entrusted talents to bring You the profit that was rightfully Yours. My hands have not always been skillful to perform the tasks You have assigned. My feet have sometimes lagged upon Your errands. I have stumbled on the way, not having been as watchful as I might have been.

 

Lord, even when I do my best—even if I may have excelled in some task—I have earned no right to praise or thanks. I have done only what is to be expected of me. But, Master, despite my failings, my allegiance is to You. I know You remember that although I am a creature of the dust, my heart is toward You. I know You call to mind that I am but an earthen vessel, but in that vessel, Master, You have graciously entrusted Your water of life to share with others.

 

I thankfully remind myself that the notion of unprofitableness is really not in Your mind, but in my own. For You never see as nonproductive any servant who ministers for You with their whole heart, mind, and strength, no matter how deficient and faulty they may be, or how little they have apparently accomplished. 

And Master, the day will end.

 

The sometimes weary hours will close, the arduous tasks will be done. And I repent of—and know that in Your kindness and mercy You will forgive and forget—the inadequacies, the mistakes, the failings, and the stumblings: You will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

 

So, with the work being finished and the day being done, You will bid me sit down at Your table, and will gird Yourself and will minister to all of Your servants, among them even me, the least and most inadequate of them all.