Ducks In A Row

I took this picture the other night and thought of the phrase "Having all your ducks in a row" and then I started laughing because, at first glance this picture certainly looks pretty organized, the ducks are in a row, they've got everything together, just like they should have.

And I just felt like writing a short little something about the expectation to have everything together and have a plan. Yes, it's good to be organized and to plan things, but God is ultimately the one with the plan for us, the master blueprint.

A lot of people, younger people especially, feel the pressure to have it all figured out or have a totally reliable 'plan' for life like "At this age I should be at this stage doing this or that..."  And if  this or that thing hasn't happened, we compare ourselves to others around us. When we have this plan not working out how we want it to we ask the question 'why?' a lot...because those are hard things to wrestle with. I just want to encourage anyone who may be thinking along these lines a lot lately to trust God with the blueprint, with the ultimate plan, and then to keep trusting Him.

Because really, when you take a second look at this picture, you'll notice that none of the ducks are looking the same direction and the forth one isn't even facing the same way, it looks all perfectly lined up... but you know, a minute later those ducks swam off and most certainly were not in a row.

Desperate

A lot of people have a hard time asking for help, let alone asking for help while drawing attention to yourself.
 It would be highly unusual to see somebody running down the street or crawling or shouting after somebody, let alone one particular person... 'Help me! Please!'
It would be seen as weakness, pathetic, embarrassing and...desperate. Nobody wants to appear truly desperate, our pride won't let us.

And I wonder how deeply this affects our spiritual lives as well...
How often do we *desperately* come to Jesus? I know for myself it's when there is a major crisis and I'm sure many would probably say the same (whether they'd like to admit it or not)

There has not been any crisis or emergency in my life recently - for which I'm thankful, but as I was reading through the gospels the other night, I saw example after of example of all people coming to Jesus, desperately seeking Him out, desperately asking for help or healing with their situations,  breaking societal politeness, embarrassing themselves in front of crowds of people and I thought, "Wow those people must have *REALLY* needed Jesus", (As if I don't).

Now I'm not saying I'm going to be making a spectacle of myself in public, but this mini realization has challenged me to be more desperate in seeking Him and His will, in praying, in trusting, obeying and enjoying Jesus and break down this mentality that God will find it embarrassing if I'm grieving over situations in mine or other's lives, that I might be 'annoying' if I keep asking Him about this, or for this or that. Because God is not me, or any other person, He won't get annoyed, or think I or anyone else is pathetic.
This 'weakness', this desperateness in coming after Him will be made into strength, as long as we remain unashamed before Him.