“I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy (I) will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:1-4

A B C D…. L M N Ohhhhhh! The lesson is elementary. My Katie is a preschool teacher whose job it is to teach children the basics… like the alphabet! It’s harder than imaginable because, once memorized, it becomes basic common sense. But initial learning is tough! 1 letter off or out of place… and oops! Like last week when ‘I AM’ became IAN! 1 letter off… and we’re blown to hell!

I THOUGHT I’d memorized the basics, until Category 5 Hurricane Ian visited. The long hard lessons of following God for decades found me giving… not taking. As a pastor, selfishness had learned to shift to give way to Service. When calls of inquiry turned into “I need,” my focus began to moving by a ‘1 letter off’ shift in priority. From I AM to IAN! Looking back 1 letter, I see I must return to the basics.

Writing a letter to God after being so exhausted this last week, I started with, “Help Lord!” then stopped. Funny and presumptuous, those 2 words. Because why should He? After all I was created BY Him for the purpose of HIS Glory and HIS ability to live and reign in me for the purpose of showing the Devil… WHAT? DO I really need or deserve to know? Is it my place or right to demand or expect equal rights with God? How dare I!

In living in a worldly hell of people fighting to have their way, do I follow their lead to add my 2 cents? How foolish! Yet in my search and climb to fall into the Maker’s lap, I can see how glorious He is, then slip back to! But then it is easy to slip, turn my head around and see and judge the greedy sin of others! A place I had just left! My focus has shifted 1 position to look at them instead of Him!

I AM… YOU ARE! Joining with Isaiah, the writer of this Scripture, I cry out, “I love you Lord, and I long for you! I wish us to be us again. Not because I deserve or add anything to your equation. But because ‘I’VE’e tasted your ‘L’ove and LIVE for another. Be exalted, Oh God, in, by and through me. For I need and want only you! My JOY only comes from I AM. Ian deserves NONE of my attention.

What is it you think YOU need or want?