Guided by the spirit

There will always be something behind us and before us. Time moves on and the world continues to rotate. Will we miss that which exists right before our eyes because they are shut while we are consumed by the past or worried about the future?

When we go about whatever work God has set for us this day, large or small, we cannot get it done if we are looking behind us. Being mindful means to live for the present. It sounds like the simplest thing in the world, but we forget it (I forget it at least once every day). We must be guided by the Spirit.

What I’m talking about here is a radical abandonment of ourselves to God — over, and over, and over again. We cannot put our hand to the plough, while our eyes are looking backward at what is left behind. We cannot turn back if we are to move forward.

When we take up the yoke of stewardship, we will never be able to bear it if we rely on our own strength. When we put our hands to the plough, we will never get the job done if we look backwards at our own track record for inspiration. There is no inspiration there. Let the dead bury their dead.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS