Facing a busy week with God's blessing! A cry for mercy...

I have a regular Sunday evening ritual - I take some time to look through my appointments (and travels) for the week ahead.

As I look over each day's activity I consider the people that I will meet, the things I believe God would want me to achieve, and I commit both the people and tasks to Christ in prayer. Somehow this allows me to face even the busiest of times with joy, hope, and meaning.

I'll confess that sometimes I do feel a little anxious about what lies ahead! One of the complexities of my life is the frequency with which I travel - those of you who travel will know that the glamor of travel soon wears off! Each trip becomes another occasion to miss one's family and have the demands and work from the office pile up. This week I will be away from home for another two days (I think I have been in Gauteng for the past 5 weeks in a row). I have a few deadlines to meet (these are good pressures, not bad, but they are pressures nonetheless). As I looked over my diary, and considered the points on my 'to do' list I got a little anxious!

Thankfully, God knows what I can cope with and what I need.

This morning before I went to Church I was doing my daily devotions and came across this lovely reading from Henri Nouwen's book 'A Cry for Mercy' -

I call to you, O Lord, from my quiet darkness. Show me your mercy and love. Let me see your face, hear your voice, touch the hem of your cloak. I want to love you, be with you, speak to you and simply stand in your presence. But I cannot make it happen. Pressing my eyes against my hands is not praying, and reading about your presence is not living in it.

But there is that moment in which you will come to me, as you did to your fearful disciples, and say, "Do not be afraid; it is I." Let that moment come soon, O Lord. And if you want to delay it, then make me patient. Amen.

So, I go into the week with joy knowing that next week Sunday I will have done what I can, and that it will be enough!

I suppose one of the things that I have had to learn is to manage expectations and my own boundaries. Even those who care for us and admire us can put unintentional pressure on us. And of course if you are the kind of person who likes to please others (as I am) you can quickly find yourself overcomitted!

The Benediction in my Upper Room devotional book reads as follows:

Live today in Christ's presence, remember He is near and sustains you as you serve in his name. Amen