A Lesson Understood and Doing What God Requires

Maya Angelou wrote a book called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is a personal memoir of her life experiences, but it echoes of my life journey in finding reasons to sing when satan would like for me to believe I have no reasons to do so. I praise Jesus for the desire to sing.

In his Epistle to the church, James makes an interesting statement. Clearly he understood the propensity of we humans to desire knowledge for knowledge sake, without any intention of applying the knowledge to our lives. James 1: 23-24 says… “For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself,
goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” I don't know about you, but I have been doing a self-examination of my reflection. For a while there I was lost. I couldn't tell you who I was without worrying what effect my actions or reactions would cause someone else, and, thereby, change what I wanted out of fear of causing some sort of conflict. I know everyone else struggles on some level with this, but to me I am going to lay this out in the open and just be honest with who I am and where God has led me.

My story is about finding my voice, seeing my reflection, knowing who I am, and singing because I know why the caged bird sings. She sings because God has placed within her a grateful heart that just wants to sing His praises. She sings because God is good. She sings because she has cleared a pathway to Him, and she chooses to no longer to live in darkness but in the light of His love.

I'm not looking back but am going to put my best foot forward and keep on movin' on. Praise be to Jesus for answered prayers, thankful hearts, reasons to sing and live, and peace inside of my heart.