“God has not promised skies always blue,
flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God has not promised sun without rain,
joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God has promised strength for the day,
rest for the labor, light for the way,
grace for the trials, help from above,
unfailing sympathy, undying love.”
–Annie Johnson Flint

The fact of the matter, I am sorry to admit, is that most days my question is not what I can do for God, but what God can do for me. Selfishness is hard to escape.

Yet, reading these words from Flint reminded me that there are some things I can not do for myself. I want to be self-sufficient. I want to be able to lift myself up all the time. I should know from experience I can not. There are things that God needs to do for me. AND, if I contemplate that even more, those times when I least want other people around…yes, those time when I am sick, or tired, embarrassed, ashamed, or cranky (need I go on?) for whatever reason…God might just be reaching out to me through them. Yes, He might be using those very people I love most. In my narrow-mindedness I’m not sure I always, if ever, make that correlation.

Today, might you let God embrace you, and give you what you need, through the people you encounter. Not just friends and family, but strangers may be God’s instruments of rest, light, and grace.