Go To Move

What are they? I believe we all have them…wound up in our routines, snarled up in the back of our minds and disguised as something else entirely ~ that is where the go-tos hang out. They are phrases and places, people and mindsets that are so automatic, we don’t even see them for what they truly are. Some are good, great even and some are not so good. The “problem” they all have in common, is that we so very often do not recognize their true nature.

So, what got me to think about all this? Oso, are dear, sweet, lovable Oso. We all came to sit outside on a lovely Sunday afternoon. I lit a small fire in the pit and sat down. Oso ran over, with the other two dogs, saw the fire and turned and ran straight under the deck. ­That is his “go-to”. He is our rescue dog and altho’ he has come a very long way, he still startles easily. Just looking at his sweet face poking out from under the deck made me think, “what is my go-to?” When I’m startled by something, do I react as if God isn’t right there? Do I have routines or things that have become my go-to, my security…instead of The One I should be relying on?

Good thing to know, to ask God to show me when my go-to isn’t Him. John 3:19-21, in the Message version is so very clear as Jesus explains…

“the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.”

John 3:19-21 ~ The Message Version

Our go-tos aren’t interested in pleasing God either, they are our self-preservation moves. (emphasis on self) Phrases that deflect and dismiss others in order to keep them at arm’s length ~ things we do, people we’re around all need to be brought before the Lord, so He can let us know if we’re really just hiding under the deck. That could very well explain a “darkness” we’re in, because we are not standing in His Light, fully open to His will in our circumstance.

I am just like Oso, I am a rescue, too. Jesus came so that we don’t have to live under the deck in darkness, if He is our go-to…To live in God’s Light, fully loved and fully alive.

We’re in no hurry, God.

We’re content to linger in the path sign-posted with Your decisions.

Isaiah 26:8 ~ The Message Version