Daily Devotion - Tuesday - December 8

​Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” —Matthew 7:7 
 
Growing up in Syracuse, New York, I heard the phrase “lake effect snow” at a very early age. The condition develops when air moves across large expanses of water (the Great Lakes); picks up moisture from lower, warmer layers of air; and moves it into the colder air above, freezing it and swiftly depositing it on land in large quantities of frozen precipitation. But I never knew this when I was younger, and I really didn’t care for the meteorological explanation. I just knew that it often snowed—a lot. I have countless memories of driving in sudden and complete whiteouts on rapidly disappearing roads that only a few moments earlier had been clear and unobstructed. It took every bit of attention to keep from sliding off the pavement and into the encroaching drifts beside us. You’d often arrive at your destination with your fingers cramped from white-knuckling the wheel the whole way, and perhaps a bit out of breath—but most of the time you made it safely. Turns out that when you’re that invested in a task, you tend to do pretty well. Many years ago as a young youth leader, I was talking with my pastor about the future (one I was overly worried about), and he said, “John, do you know why a bluebird finds worms? Because that’s what it looks for.” He told me that much of what we discover in this life is about the questions we ask, the things we give attention to, and the way we invest our time. He reassured me that the more aware I was of the orientation of my life at any given moment, and the more intentional I was along the way, the more I could rest in knowing I’d eventually end up where I need to be. It’s a truth I’ve held onto ever since: the spiritual journey isn’t always one of seeing in real time, but about paying attention in the present, and the eventual arrival. This helps me when the road gets obscured and the way forward is difficult to spot. Today you may be unsure of the road ahead, feeling fruitless in your efforts, or hopeless in the moment. Keep going. Rest in the knowledge that even in the squalls and whiteouts and places where the path seems unclear, you’ll end up where you need to be. From Low:  An Honest Advent Devotional by John Pavlovitz - printed with permission from the author