Entwine Me. Free Me. Offer Me.

Entwine Me. Free Me. Offer Me.

In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.

Psalm 118:5

My friend Loring and her family are missionaries to Uganda. A hair colorist by trade, Loring wasn’t someone I pictured living in a small concrete house with sketchy electricity (at best) and washing her laundry by hand. I never imagined her living in the slums and serving the poorest of the poor. Yet it’s amazing what we can do—who we can embrace—when we follow God’s call.

Loring isn’t Amish, but she has chosen to simplify her life in order to follow Christ. One of Loring’s favorite books is a collection of Puritan prayers called The Valley of Vision.

Here is a passage from a prayer titled “Humility in Service.”

O give me repentance unto life;

Cement my oneness with my blessed Lord,

that faith may adhere to him more immovably,

that love may entwine itself round him more tightly,

that his Spirit may pervade every fibre of my being.

Then send me out to make him known to my fellow-men.

As my friend Loring knows, when it comes to simplifying our lives, sometimes we need God to set us free from a troubling situation. Sometimes we need to be set free from financial burdens or life worries. Sometimes we need to be set free from the desire to live the great American dream and bask in a life of prosperity and ease. When we focus on what we can acquire or gain, our gaze is inward. But when we focus on our Lord, an amazing thing happens: our vision expands to our neighborhood, our community, and the world.

Amish parents direct their children toward this outward thinking by placing the knowledge of God in the center of their lives. They set their vision on God. They focus on humility and serving others. And by giving themselves away, they discover peace.

Some of us have to move out of our comfort zones to where God will expand our vision. It is there that we can find peace too.

Dear heavenly Father, too often I focus on what I can get rather than on what I can give. May my love entwine itself more tightly around You, and then, Lord, expand my vision to care for those You care about.