Yesterday our small group leader closed the meeting with prayer and ended with, “Give us a great week.”

I’ve been thinking about great weeks and wonderful days and good lives. Does God interpret those phrases differently than we do?

I think so.

My idea of a great week is one in which I get all kinds of things accomplished (my own agenda, of course), things run smoothly with not too much frustration, and there’s only one rainy day. Maybe I’d even win the lottery.

God’s idea of a great week? He is still patiently trying to teach me what great weeks look like in His terms. Wonderful days are days when I get broader glimpses of His grace, His plans, His goodness, and His love. Great weeks are weeks that I pull closer to Him and then step out further in faith and trust. My reaching for a good life is my growing into His purpose for me, into my worship and my mission as His ambassador and representative in this little corner of His world.

And I’m finding that the smooth and easy roads do not take me to these places.

(sigh)

Yet I want God’s great week, not mine. Oh, how I want God’s great week!

***

I’d like to introduce you to the writing of a friend, a child of God who loves the Lord and His Word. She writes poetry reflecting on many of the things she has learned from her Father, and she’s given me permission to share some of it with you. Her verse is always accompanied by Scriptures that have spoken the message.

Here’s one piece that reminds me how much I desire a great week, God’s version.

The Upper Road

I’ve traveled on the lowlands,
Congested, wide and flat;
I need the twisting upper road,
Where strong winds chase my hat.

The rocks are sharp and jagged,
The path cuts to the sky;
My heart reminds me why I came
“You said you want to fly.”

21 Set thine heart toward the highway … (Jeremiah 31)

3 And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, “I bare you on eagles’ wings… (Exodus 19)

31 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles… (Isaiah 40)

13 Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction…14 Narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7)

2 Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. (Micah 4)

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust… (Psalm 91)

6 I called upon the Lord, 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon high places. 36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. (Psalm 18)

9 If I take the wings of the morning, 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139)

— C. Ann Gerber

Have a great week on the Upper Road !!