The First Priority
May 24, 2006 - 2:10 pm
It’s day three of our five day trip in Chicago. Yesterday we had a great time hanging with the rest of the Compass staff. One highlight was after a wonderful dinner at the Cheesecake Factory we went to the top of the Hancock building. From the observatory you could see four states. It sure was an amazing view. Bobby really didn’t like how there were huge spiders outside on the windows and Tyler didn’t like how his ears felt going up 90-something floors in the elevator. But we are having such a good time!
At the evening session of the Moody conference we heard Dr. David Jeremiah. I was convicted when he talked about discouragement and how we often use prayer as a last resort. Some people get to a point, he said, where they say, “I guess all I can do is pray.” When really that’s what they should have done first and all along. I do this so often. When I get in a tough situation, I seem to be much more quick to call someone to tell my troubles to, blame it on someone or even worse give in to that temptation to be anxious or depressed about the situation. Dr. Jeremiah was right–prayer shouldn’t be our last resort, but our first priority.
Tyler has been so cooperative! He even slept through the whole session this morning, so I got to hear the entire message without having to get up to walk him around. I have this handy baby front-pack that I’ve been carrying him around in. It works out well because he can just dose off whenever he gets tired. At night everyone else has gone out for some fun time together, but Bobby and I have just come back to the hotel so Tyler can go to bed and we can rest too. He keeps acting bashful around everyone, but when we come back to our room he comes alive squealing and laughing.
The speaker we heard this morning brought this much needed reminder full circle for me in his teaching from 1 Peter 5.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
so that the proper time He may exalt you,
casting all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you.”
so that the proper time He may exalt you,
casting all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
May 24th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
I love Chicago and the top of the Hancock building has a great view! Glad you are having a great time and learning more about the Lord.
May 25th, 2006 at 11:43 am
How do the spiders living on the 90-something floor of the hancock building get up there? That’s a funny detail that Bobby noticed which, I think, reveals the writer’s eye in him. In fact, I am currently reading the Gay Talese reader and in his first Esquire article called “New York is a city of things unnoticed,” he has a line about the “thousands of ants creeping on top of the Empire State Building. The ants probably were carried up there by wind or birds, but nobody is sure; nobody in New York knows anything about the ants…”
Thanks for sharing your conviction about prayer Christa!
May 27th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Hey Christa! (It’s Rachel from highpoint here). I’m so glad to hear that you all are doing well. And I’m glad you shared some of what Dr. David Jeremiah spoke on. I think I can definitely fit into that category of people who pray as a last resort. I’ve been trying to change that and now I’m a little more encouraged to do so.
Hope to hear from you again soon!
June 5th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
I enjoyed reading your blogs! I found you thru “Showered With Grace”.
I am from the Chicago area, so looking at the photos and reading your experience was neat. Hancock has the BEST view of the city from above!!
Blessings…