I have a bit of good news......It's not up to you!!! It's not up to you....does that comfort you? This small phrase settles me. Such simplicity; what does it mean, really?? Well, Sir Isaac Newton captured it well in his three laws of planetary motion. As he studied the universe the first law he came up with became quite apparent. It is this: "Every body continues what it is already doing unless compelled by an outside force." This law governs the universe. This is God's universe. This is the way He has ordered it and today, that law brings me much comfort. Something outside of my own will and my own "self" must act on my behalf to bring change. This law reveals to me such a grand scheme.....the Grand Designer has set things in order so we could receive Jesus, an outside force that is needed to make of us something different. Because of this Force, we move in a different direction, see things in a different light. Love pulls me into something bigger and compels me to do something different.

It is this external Force that makes everything possible. Without it, I would not have a choice to cooperate or submit to anything that I would want to cooperate with or submit to. If no outside force ever bumped up against me, I would naively and ignorantly continue to do what I am already doing. But God is making all things new and bringing redemption into every corner of His world. This Force, this commitment to redemption, pulls me, draws me in and I, in turn, cooperate with the tug and submit to the Compass as He leads me to another destination. Trust tells me that the destination He has in mind is good and beautiful. I find that I am most effective as I wait and listen and I am least effective when I choose to decide my own course. If in doubt, wait and listen for His Force to gently and sometimes fiercely interfere with your orbit. Either way, it's not up to you, but up to the external force; an External Force that is deeply in love with you.....