He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:1-3
He leads us down right paths for His Name's sake, because of Who He is.
May all glory be to Him.
Glory. I ponder this; sometimes my life doesn't seem like it brings glory to God particularly well. What do I do? I change diapers and wipe bottoms and wipe noses and wash dishes and I know it is good work, holy work, but some days I forget. I read and I write and I knit and is it glorifying? Worthy? I cook and we eat and I sweep and tomorrow will be the same. I raise boys and I watch and I delight as I read "just one more book" and then another. I love it but sometimes I don't.
But this quiet life of mine, it is good and glorifying and each little moment can be a moment of worship if I would only remember to make it so.
And so I seek to remember.
I seek to glorify Him as I raise my children, always pointing them to the most accurate view of God my growing, learning, human self can muster. I strive to treat them as my brethren in Christ, precious creations of His that they are, and when I forget, I bend low to apologize.
I seek to glorify Him in my marriage, only half a decade so far and yet it already feels like a well-worn shirt, soft and comfortable and oh-so-far from perfect but home just the same. It just feels like home, this two-become-one life of ours. And I serve and he serves, each of us thinking of the other but sometimes the selfish part wins. We forgive and learn and try again, this everyday (woefully imperfect) picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church.
I seek to glorify Him in my relationships with others, speaking words of love and kindness. I forgive hurt and sometimes I forgive over and over again, heart softening a little more each time. I build community and embrace it in all its messiness and joy.
I seek to glorify Him as I create, bringing together beauty and function, my heart finding joy in the very act of creation just as our Creator God found joy in forming the world and all that is in it. I knit and I sew and I carry life within me, reflecting this creative character, image-bearer that I am, that we all are.
I seek to glorify Him in my work, in this endless cleaning and all the rest, so very many hats, because all is worship when done as worship.
I seek to glorify Him in my rest, rest for body and rest for soul, finding renewal and peace in the stillness. I listen for His voice in the quiet, yes, but in the daily noise and movement and chaos of life too. He is there, too, in the midst of it all.
Lead me, Lord, down right paths, that I may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your name. Amen.
