I've got (De) Joy, joy, joy, joy. . . .

 Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. –Saint Teresa of Avila

 

As if the pandemic weren’t challenging enough . . . on top of everything else, the United States Postal Service was also adding to the challenges of everyday life. Mailboxes in neighborhoods were removed. Letters and packages were delayed. Local post offices, in some cases, had reduced staffing as some folks retired but weren’t replaced.

Suddenly, mailing a letter might take three days instead of one day. Packages headed for Colorado or Montana suddenly weren’t guaranteed to arrive by the necessary date—even at Christmas!

It’s been frustrating, to say the least. Then I had an epiphany.

Our postal service has become a microcosm of God’s kingdom way when it comes to answering our prayers. Sometimes, we pray earnestly, and it seems as if almost immediately there is an answer. Even some of those strange prayers, ones that we offered in quivering, uncertain voices, seem to be on God’s Express Delivery List.

And other times, no matter how badly we might want an answer, it’s s-l-o-w in coming. If it arrives at all. Sigh. . . .

The moral of that story? Once your words leave your lips, it’s in God’s hands. So feel free to keep checking back. Keep asking. But understand that like the Post Office, God operates on a unique system that is never late, seldom early—and always, always just in time. Amen!

 

Monday Are you a letter writer? Consider buying some nice stationery (if you don’t already have some) and penning a note to someone you care about. Psalm 24:1-4

Tuesday How about writing God a love letter today? You never know how that might turn out or what you might discover. Psalm 24:5-10

Wednesday Words matter. Is there an apology you need to offer? It is never, ever too late to mend a broken relationship. Ever. Amos 7:7-11

Thursday Today in your quiet time, focus away from asking God for things or answers, and instead, simply rest and give thanks. Journal if you like. Psalm 85:8-13

Friday Choose to read some Psalms today (preferably the joyous ones). Let your heart rejoice, as well. Amos 7:12-15

Saturday As you pray for yourself today, consider writing a letter to your younger self. If you had known then, what you know now, how might you have lived differently? Rest in God’s grace. Ephesians 1:3-4

Sunday Worship happens anywhere. Where and how will you worship today? Ephesians 1:5-10

 

Life is God’s novel. Let God write it. –Isaac Bashevis Singer

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