Anticipation of His Attention
Melissa Sharpe
Descending the staircase, I could make out the telltale sounds of heavy rain hitting glass. The windows glistened with long streaks that pooled in the sill. The skies were dark, grey, and heavy with cloud cover. Oh, how I longed for sunshine.
Life circumstances have allowed us to make some new decisions and choices for our family. As we are navigating these twists and turns, the pressures of making the right decisions are ever present. Intrusive thoughts continually pepper my mind throughout the day: “Am I doing the right thing? Am I going to fail? Can I even take on this task? What's best for everyone?” And, on this particularly gloomy morning, it felt like a never-ending barrage of questioning... with myself. The to-do list was exceptionally lengthy and plaguing my spirit.
For those in leadership, the very tasks of the day often come second to the tasks of the mind. Decision making is a key element needed in leading others; to rely upon knowledge and wisdom in our good works is a skill that requires much practice. But when we fail to recognize the mounting pressure, attempting to figure things out on our own, we risk the loss of wisdom and slip into an exhaustion called Decision Fatigue.
And it means exactly how it sounds: when the decisions of the day are too many, your spirit struggles with the tiredness of it all and making even one decision becomes more difficult than making them all.
With a second cup of coffee freshly poured, my daughter and I saddled up to the kitchen table and pulled out the work for the day. As she picked apart nouns and verbs, I opened my devotional needing a little extra Jesus before tackling the aforementioned list.
“Waiting on Me means directing your attention to Me in hopeful anticipation of what I will do...”
How like Jesus it is for Him to capture our attention the moment we seek it. The truth is that God designed us to live each day dependent upon Him and not ourselves. We are encouraged to be aware and conscious of Him in every aspect of our daily lives... including all the wise and sometimes exhausting decisions we are required to make in life. The decisions we make for ourselves and the ones we make for others. And one of the sweetest blessings in it all is the surge of hope in anticipation of His attention. It renews our spirit each and every time.
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. ISAIAH 40:31
