Silence, Goals, and Grace

Returning to my blog tonight feels much like greeting an old friend after a long absence. When I first starting blogging I hoped to pen something twice a week. When daily demands on my time hijacked my goal I lowered my self-imposed standards to once a week.  Today I return to share my thoughts after almost a month of silence.

Goals are good and they help us develop stamina and persistence. Goals often keep us focused and moving forward even when things get tough. But sometimes completing a task and accomplishing a goal can become more important than the job itself. My vision can be so narrowly focused that I forget who I am serving, and I forget that love and loyalty should propel my purposeful efforts.  My sight so easily zooms in on my short-term accomplishments that I have a hard time letting go of my good things – letting go of my good goals – so I can embrace something better.

But today as I traveled and worked I was reminded by a dear old hymn that I am daily indebted to grace and I granted myself a little grace regarding my blog while at the same time praying for wisdom to wisely use each moment for His glory. My life is confined to the constraints of time and I cannot ever seem to find enough to accomplish all that I desire to do. Choosing what is better over what is good is often so difficult and I don’t always know which is better, but I trust that God is sovereign even over my poor choices and mistakes and that He will use my feeble efforts to His glory. And so, while my blog may have been neglected, my ‘pen’ has not been completely silent but simply focused on other things. Are there wasted moments in my life that I could be writing and possibly accomplishing more for the kingdom? I’m sure there are many – probably more than I am even aware of – but today I am singing Come thou Fount and remembering and accepting the grace to which I am a daily debtor.