I find it quite interesting that I am in my mid 40’s and I continue to learn new and profound lessons.  I know you have been doing a work in me to make me aware of some areas of my life that still need some adjusting, perhaps at times a major overhaul. Okay, that last part may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but I do know that I am not yet where I need to be. Like the apostle Paul in Romans 7, I find myself doing exactly what I do not want to do. It is a raging war inside of me. I long to always do what is right, and going where you lead; but more times than I can count I fail. Thank you that your mercies are new each morning.

I come to your feet this morning and as most days I pray that you change me. Shine your light into my dark places. Reveal to me the areas where I need to be rebuked and challenged. Align my thoughts and actions to be pleasing to you. All that is good within me is because of you Lord, and I want to please you by showing your righteousness to others. Use me; I long to be your humble servant. Give me your eyes to see, and may I gain understanding and wisdom through the Holy Spirit leading me while I meditate on your word. You have proven yourself to me by being trustworthy and a promise keeper. You never leave me, and you will never abandon me. You always welcome me back with open arms, separating me from my sins as far as the east is from the west.

For the last couple of days if not weeks, the word malleable keeps appearing in my prayer journal. As a science teacher, this was a vocabulary word I was familiar with and I was praying for God to “shape me.” Today, I decided to dig deep with actual definitions from the dictionary and here is what I found.

The second definition showed the word “tractable” that I was not familiar with so I looked it up to and here is its definition:

TRACTABLE 1) easily managed or controlled; docile; yielding: a tractable child; a tractable disposition. 2)easily worked, shaped, or otherwise handled; malleable.

This is one of those moments for me where I am actively resting and letting God lead. It was like a special gift waiting for me when I read these definitions.  It is confirmation that I am on the right track. I am requesting to be able to allow the disappointments, hardships, and pain in life to extend me and shape me under that pressure; knowing I will not break. At times, I do find that life’s circumstances squeeze me like pressure from rollers. I know I am not alone in this, but I have always seemed to be the kind of person that has to learn things the hard way. In my stubbornness, God has had to hammer me because I wasn’t responding to his still small voice. I welcome the hammer, especially when it is from the righteous judge who wants nothing but the best for me. Tractable is a new word for me and I love it. I pray that I yield my will to His. May I be an easily managed child of God with a willing spirit to be obedient.