Following The Leader

a devotional for summer

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

Thank you for joining us!

Before we begin our devotional, I wanted to share a Comment Highlight from last week:

On last week’s discussion—about what needs to be dismantled in us for real thriving to occur—

Megan Meyer

wrote:

Growing up as an introverted highly sensitive, I always believed both were “wrong”... that I shouldn’t be either. It took until my 30s to realize how much I was trying to be someone I’m not, someone God didn’t create me to be. I had to let go of societal pressure (and the voices of teachers, family, and other authority-figures telling me to be louder) to embrace my true nature in order to thrive. 🌿

So beautiful and relatable, Megan, and I’m sure so many of us can resonate! Megan writes a newsletter here on Substack called Holy HSP, where she talks with wisdom and openness about seeking God both in and through being a highly-sensitive person. I highly recommend it!

If you want a chance to be featured in next week’s Comment Highlight, all you have to do is post a comment on any of this week’s posts or threads. That’s it!

Now, on with this week’s devotional…

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clumsy, brand-new,
they follow along behind her, 

singing merrily to themselves
about nothing-in-particular
or perhaps

they are lifting their voices
to let her know
that they are still there,

trusting faithfully
that she knows where she's going;

along the roadside
the driveway
the lawn
the city block,

they believe with their tiny hearts
that a good place
lies beyond

and that she knows
where to find it.

It’s the season for watching wild ducklings, one of my personal favorites. I don’t care who you are; no one is immune to the paragon of cuteness that is a young duckling. They are just peeping balls of browny, downy fluff, and watching them toddle along behind their mothers in a perfect, squeaking line is nothing short of adorable. 

It’s also a season of caution. Our dog still hasn’t quite sorted out what is good to chase (squirrels, chipmunks, mice, the occasional rabbit) and what I’d rather he didn’t, like baby things. Especially ducklings, minding their own business. He is a potential hazard to their peaceful journeys.

Even so, I love to sit on the patio or in our sunroom and catch a glimpse of a mother duck shepherding her gaggle across our lawn, down our gravel driveway, and toward the marshy pond behind the shop. They place so much trust in her, because they know next to nothing yet, and they trust that she knows where she’s going. 

And we’ve all seen it, either in real life or in online videos, that these forays aren’t always safe. Mama ducks cross traffic to get to greener pastures, or walk along highways, or scramble up tricky inclines and curbs. There are predators about, and foolish (or cruel) humans, and dangers galore. To be a wild duck, especially a young one, is to be very, very vulnerable.

But, to be a duckling is also to put perfect faith in Mama that she’s got a plan, that she’s going somewhere good, and safe. That she’s been there before. That she has handled and avoided danger. That she knows better.  

And truly, in so many ways, I am also a know-nothing, toddling ball of fluff, singing my way along. We all are, really. 

All that our mothering God asks of us is to place our trust in Him that He knows where He’s going. That something good lies beyond this hill, this hot pavement, this strange landscape, these hidden hazards. He will not lose sight of us. We are safe in His presence.

All that is required of us is to take one tiny step after the other, trusting that He is heading in the right direction, if we just keep following after.

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