Much of page 189 was spent on my weekly prayer walk at Michiana Christian Service Camp.  I began the day by catching up on some things in the office before heading to the camp to pray.  As has been my practice this summer, I pray and photograph as I walk the property while allowing God to use the things I see and hear as prayer prompts.  The photography helps me to share my prayer walk with others, who may not be able to make it to the camp, so they can have some of the visual reminders to pray also.  Today seemed to have more than its share of focus (both in prayer and photo 🙂 ) on small things.  The photo on today’s page is one of those small things.  As I walked, these specks of yellow caught my eye.  They were so small and low to the ground that I didn’t even notice them until I was right on top of them.  If I had walked a few feet one way or the other I would have missed them entirely.  They didn’t seem to be widespread or plentiful, just a few of them in a relatively small area.  

As I stopped to photograph one of these blossoms, I thanked God for bringing me to that specific spot so He could share this beauty with me.  I also prayed for the campers on the property who may be feeling small and unnoticed.  I prayed that God would surround them, not just with the peace of His presence, but with someone who would express to them the great value they have as a creation of the almighty God.  I prayed for the many children, youth, and adults who would come to camp feeling small and insignificant, that God would use their time at the camp to reveal to them a purpose and value beyond imagination.  I prayed that each of us would notice those that society would call “the least of these”.  I prayed that my actions would be commended by Jesus as one who did for Him as I did for those who were least.

As my walk continued, I crossed paths with a snake — and no, I didn’t photograph him.  Once I noticed him I moved on as quickly as possible, not wanting to be in his presence even for the brief time it took to register what it was I was seeing.  I don’t like snakes.  I don’t care if they’re poisonous or not, harmful or harmless, I would just as soon never have to see one or be anywhere near one.  As I kept moving and my heart rate returned to normal, it didn’t take me long to wonder if I have the same aversion to the presence of sin and the evil one.  Do I want as much distance as possible between me and temptation, not even wanting to be anywhere near the seeds of sin?  Or do I play with it, trying to see how close I can get without being drawn in?  For me, if all temptation would come to me being offered by a snake, I would avoid it at all costs.  Yet the great deceiver, the serpent, satan himself is the author of all temptation and because he offers it in much more attractive packages than a snake, I find myself tempted more often than I would like to admit.

I pray that you and I would would continually grow in making prayer a priority in our life.  I pray that we would recognize and value the uniqueness of each person as one created in God’s image.  I pray that we would flee from evil each and every time that it tries to draw us into its grasp.