A Prayer

"Lord, I found myself watching folks today in their coming and going at the grocery store.  Maybe seeing is the better word.  Some looked like well manicured lawns outside some upscale suburban house.  The kind that is cared for by a fancy lawn care company.  Others looked worn out.  Their faces were wrinkled with age and scars.  They just looked beat down and weary.  Nothing fancy about how they looked.  Just beat up and thrown away.  They were the kind of folks I figure have been through a lot of hard stuff in their lives and they are still going.  I am not sure about the well groomed folks who walked alongside them.

 

But, it set me to wondering.   What do you see, Lord, when You look at me?  Not talking about how I am dressed or how the mirror shows me.  I am wondering what You see when You look and see my soul.  Does it look like it has never seen a struggle?  Does it look too well kept to have been through the tough times of life?  Or, does it show spiritual scars from battles lost in struggles to do the right thing?  Does it look as old as the rest of me, or does it somehow reflect the ageless Kingdom I talk about seeking?  I guess what I really wonder, Lord, is whether or not it reveals a man who still bears the marks of spiritual immaturity.  Is there any evidence I have moved at least a bit toward spiritual maturity?

 

Just wondering, Lord.  When I looked at those folks, I knew I would rather be seen as one of those who looked worn and beaten because I figure those are the ones who know the most about living.  I want my soul to show it, too, but maybe I have chosen the easy way too many times to really look like one who has learned what it means to endure in the midst of spiritual struggles and keep on going in faithfulness.  Lord, that is who I want to be.  Forgive me for not being there yet.  Amen."