I put my mitts down for a matter of seconds while I was working on the deck. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Simon, my five-month-old dachshund, nip one and take off with it. Oh, well, I thought. I could see the direction that he had gone. I would get it back from him shortly. Wrong.

When I was finished my task, I went in search of my stolen mitt. Simon was there, but the mitt wasn’t. I searched and searched in the area and far beyond in the same direction, all to no avail. The longer I looked, the more aggravated that I became. This was my last pair of winter leather mitts, and I needed them for all my outside work. Having only one mitt wasn’t much good to me.

Finally, I decided to go into the house and calm down. As I warmed up and prayed about the situation, a thought came to me: Go and look in the other direction. Go and look in the other direction? But I saw where Simon was headed. How could the mitt be in the other direction on the far side of the house? Still, I had prayed, and this was the thought that came.

So, off I went to look in the other direction, and of course, as you already know, there was the mitt.

This little episode reminded me of many other times when I was sure that I was headed in the right direction in regard to solving a problem, only to discover that I was getting nowhere with the issue. Why? Because I was sure that I already knew the way that I should be going, and I was not considering any other way. My situation changed only when I stopped and took time to assess the situation in a new light — the light of prayer — prayer that asked God for the right direction that I should be seeking to enable me to find and knock on the door of solution.

How about you? Are you struggling to find a solution to something that you are struggling with in your life and feeling that you are getting nowhere? Perhaps, taking time to stop, to calm down, and to re-access the situation through the light of prayer might turn things around for you and point you in a new direction, for God has said:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)

Prayer: Father God, thank You that we can count on You to hear and answer our prayers. Please open our minds today, that we might be willing to hear and act upon what You are saying to us in regard to any issues that we may bring Your way. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

Lynne Phipps <lynnephippsatlin@gmail.com>
Atlin, British Columbia, Canada