Do you ever have one of those times when you can't figure out what you really want to do with your life? You think about how life could be better if you could make more money or have a better job or maybe you sit there with this not so bright look on your face as you ponder what direction your life should take. You begin to wonder why you are going in the direction you are going and whether or not there is any real meaning to what you are doing.

Life is about experiences, not what you are viewing in your present location. You are looking at a computer screen and reading this sermon, hoping for some kind of enlightenment without really knowing that maybe a look to the right or the left may cause you to see a glimpse into another world.

Not another planet of course, but another world. I mean think about. Step outside yourself for a moment and look around you. Sometimes wondering about your place in the world can be augmented by what you see around you. Look around. Look outside. Look at a spot on a tree outside. See a leaf. See a flower. Look around. Don't just limit yourself to your present position in life, but see the world as if fresh and new and alive.

James 3:9-12, 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (NIV)

It is interesting how they talk about the question, "Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" What does this mean for us?

Sometimes we want some new idea to flow through us, but yet we often think about the same thoughts over and over again. But yet we want some new idea to hit us on the head, so to speak, or enlighten us. But if we are always fixated on one way of thinking, how can we expect a new thought to spring from our consciousness?

If salt water is constantly on our minds, how can we get fresh water? How can we produce new seeds of thought that will get us going in a new direction?

When we turn on the cold faucet, we expect cold water. We cannot expect that cold water will come from turning the hot faucet on, unless we change the piping in some way to make that happen. In other words for us to really change, we sometimes have to make an unexpected change.

Not just a small change, but some radical change that would make us start thinking in other ways. But how does this radical change in thought happen?

You guessed it, by prayer. You see we can keep going in the same direction. We can be like the fly that keeps hitting the glass over and over again, or we can find another way out.

But how do we keep from becoming the fly, ever to repeat the same stupid sequence of events that we often become a victim of? We do it by challenging ourselves and asking God for help.

We get advice all the time. We wonder what road to take. We see all the choices on a new restaurant menu and we wonder what the best item on the menu is.

It all makes life seem like a constantly changing experiment with new factors and theories and postulates and of course, let's not forget all the misunderstandings. It makes you wonder if the sequence of decisions you have made in your life ultimately point you in a direction that you are supposed to go, but you may be resistant to the one true direction you need to go in.

Deuteronomy 28:7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. (NIV)

So the enemies flee in a lot of different directions. So out of fear, they may not go in the direction that they might have originally gone in. Out of fear we flee in other directions. In other words fear causes confusion. But yet out of fear we find new directions.

So the point I am trying to make here is that when we are afraid we find new directions in life to go in. So in trying to conquer our fears we essentially learn more about ourselves than at other times. So if you want to find a new direction in life, trying conquering a fear and new doors may open.

But most of all remember God is there for you every day to help you overcome your obstacles and is willing to give you a fresh new perspective on life.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for giving me the chance to see myself in a whole new light. Help me and guide me this week to seek you often and to face the challenges that life gives me. I thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.

© 2005 Bryan Hill