Dink, dink: the unmistakable sound of emptiness at the bottom of the consumed pot as the ladle is pressed down for one more drought.  Oh, if only I knew how to spell the scraping sound of hope as that same ladle is willed to produce something by its owner.  Tilt, roll, swish and whirl, even the best manipulators cannot produce what is simply not there.

Our cultural preoccupation with looking backward and forward across the plains of time so often misses the importance of thoughtfully considering the present.  The past is only helpful if it educates and informs the “today” and the future is promising only if we submit the contemporary to the Lordship of the One to whom the future belongs.

Yes, it will soon be a New Year and we will pretend like the worries, challenges, needs and obstacles of the year prior will somehow be mitigated by the ticking of the timepiece.  Just like so many other fables by which we comfort ourselves, this one will also prove to be ultimately ineffectual.  The best amongst us will be able to shed our “Christmas weight” and remaining majority will deal with the frustration of good intentions unrealized.

Yet hope renews year to year,  “Surely the days in the storehouse of the future will be better than the days in the garage of the past.”

What joy!  An unfriendly and impersonal world cannot offer such encouragement.  If all humans possessed were the deductions of the Science of Self, then what hope?  Even though we reject the rule of the Creator God, we Westerners depend on His idea of sustaining grace, of renewed strength, of regenerated mercies, and an end far better than the beginning.  Without His idea then we would be relegated to being a day older, susceptible to the dangers of the present and frightened of the uncertain realities to come.

So, how shall we get to the end of 2011 (God willing) with something left in the pot?

Wait on the Lord. Begin each day in God’s word.  Allow enough time in the busyness of preparing for work or school to listen to what God will say through his word.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. ” (Lamentations 3:25, ESV)

Converse with God throughout the day. I am so amazed I can express my frustrations, exult over my victories, plead for assistance, anytime and anywhere, tax and toll-free.

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” (Luke 18:1, NLT)

Be obedient.  The greatest life-drains of my “pot” come when I do what seems best to me as opposed to what God ordained.  My way always leaves me empty.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NLT)