“I arise today
with God’s strength to pilot my course,
with God’s power to uphold me,
with God’s wisdom to guide me,
with God’s eye to give me seeing,
with God’s ear for my hearing,
with God’s word for me to speak,
with God’s hand to guard me,
with God’s path to become my road..."
When you begin to take a close look at the life of Patrick, you quickly see that he traveled quite a lot.
- Taken captive in England and enslaved in Ireland
- Escapes Ireland and travels who-knows-where
- Is taken captive again for 2 months
- Escapes once again and eventually finds his way back to his family in England
- Finally makes his way back to Ireland, where he is constantly on the move
At the end of his life, Patrick writes this in his confession:
"And I went about among you, and everywhere for your sake, in danger, and as far as the outermost regions beyond which no one lived, and where no one had ever penetrated before, to baptize or to ordain clergy or to confirm people. Conscientiously and gladly I did all this work by God's gift for your salvation."
In our own lives, whether in physical travels or simply life's journey, the best path to follow is God's. How is it that we know the way of God?
We first depend upon His power, strength and wisdom for direction and guidance. We rely upon his vision and urgings to find our way. We trust His hand to guard us.
Finally, we rest on His Word to light the way.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path." (Ps. 119:105)
Patrick has left us a great legacy. Would that any one of us could accomplish half what he did in his lifetime. And he didn't even start his ministry in Ireland until he was in his mid-40's!
Arise today - and walk with God.
Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Pádraig
1 comment:
I just wanted to say thank you for your posts. You never know how God is going to use your words and your lives to touch others, and this is an example of how He has used you to touch me.
I am a fellow Christian who is also looking at moving to Ireland to work in the mission field. I've got an opportunity to be part of a team that is planning to move to Dublin next summer, and I have struggled greatly with this decision about whether or not to join. I very much appreciated this series of posts about St. Patrick, and I will be meditating on them further.
I would love to get in contact with you by email and discuss how things are going in your preparations for Ireland and if you have any thoughts and suggestions as I also contemplate this decision and perhaps will very shortly be living in Ireland. God bless you all!
Laura
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