Week Thirty - I Love Endings

Beside the Well

            I love ticking things off my to-do list, looking back over a project, analyzing where it could have improved, and where it all went well. There is nothing like getting to the end of a book and closing the back cover!  The sound of that gentle thud means something has completed.  It is finished.
            Tom and I sat the other day over a nice meal and looked back at our lives. Some things for us are finished. We are done raising kids!  We have watched ministries come and complete.  As we peered into the next chapters of our lives, we realized that just as the Lord had been with us in the past, he will be with us in the future.  We aren’t finished yet!  There is still more to do, but as we look forward, we take heart in the Lord’s promise. “He will perfect that which concerneth me” (Psalm 138:8).
            Later that evening my daughter, Sally, sent me this poem.
Do The Next Thing

From an old English parsonage,
Down by the sea,
There came in the twilight,
A message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend,
Deeply engraven,
Hath, as it seems to me,
Teaching from Heaven.
And on through the hours
The quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration-
DO THE NEXT THING.

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment,
Let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity,
Guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows,
Child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus,
DO THE NEXT THING.

Do it immediately;
Do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence,
Tracing His Hand,
Who placed it before thee with
Earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence,
Safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all resultings,
DO THE NEXT THING.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
(Working or suffering)
Be thy demeanor,
In His dear presence,
The rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance
Be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness,
Praise and sing,
Then, as He beckons thee,
DO THE NEXT THING.

            So I guess I’ll keep ticking things off and doing the next thing until I get to the end!  He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ(Philippians 1:6).

Gail Gritts

Beside the Well
rggritts@gmail.com
ggritts.blogspot.com