Editor’s Note: Pastor Scott Peterson is sharing daily devotions written by some of his favorite authors. The author’s biography and any notes by Pastor Scott are listed at the end of the devotion.
God’s Way for Me
The profoundest thing
Gerhard Frost. 1980
one can say of a river
is that it is on its way to the sea.
The deepest thought
one can think of persons
is that they are citizens of eternity.
Moments and years,
years and moments, pass like sea-bent streams.
And I? I’m carried on the current
of an all-possessing love.
I’m on my way, God’s way for me,
so let it be.
As God’s journeying people, we find that sometimes we are driven by changing circumstances, and at other times we are drawn by our own yearnings. There are journeys of the heart. These are concerned with my loves and loyalties. Only God can free me to forsake the trivial and devote myself to the best. Only God can draw me into a deepening relationship and a greater commitment to God’s dream for me. There are journeys of the mind. These are often threatening to me.Great courage is required when I am asked to let go of old prejudices or faulty judgments. It is difficult to change my patterns of thinking and responding. They seem to be a part of my very bone marrow and blood stream.
Finally, there are the journeys of the feet, the geographical journeys in which I must leave the familiar for the unfamiliar. Most painful among them is the moment when I must leave one home for another. Then I may find that God is helping me to discover that place is not as important as person and presence In fact, my real and permanent home is in God! Psalm 90, one of the most ancient of the psalms, movingly affirms this: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or even thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God”
(Frost 1986c).
Gerhard Frost (1909 – 1988) was a Lutheran Pastor, a college and seminary professor, and a poet. A student and friend of his described him this way, “…beloved by all who knew him. He had a Lincolnesque combination of strength and quietness about him.” That is an apt description of Gerhard Frost when I met him in 1978. As a guest speaker, he read his poetry at my internship congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church, in Wadena, MN.
Note: Are you enjoying these Daily Devotions? There has been a decline in readership over the past few weeks. If you want these to continue, please email communications@mlutheran.org. Thank you!