“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:5). of Friday June 23, 2023

A donkey ride in the mountains seems like a fine thing. Until you have to deal with the donkey. Much of the time, he cooperated with us, but when he didn’t—he really didn’t. Even when the excursion was almost over, he’d been released from his equipment and his pen was in sight, the donkey stopped and would not be moved. Why was the creature so stubborn? Didn’t he know that the more he cooperated, the sooner he would be back, as the donkey-farmer had put it, “with his friends”? I wonder if I sometimes seem like that donkey to the God who created me, knows me, and waits in love for me to look to God for deliverance. As I stand still, unable to take that final step to the deepest friendship of all, why am I sometimes so stubborn? Why do I persist in standing still? Lord, I move toward you in trust.