I Found God In "Good Morning"

Someone sent me this little acrostic... I thought it was cute...! :)


When I say "Good Morning" I mean to say

G - God
O - offers us His
O - outstanding
D - devotion to

M - make us
O - obedient &
R - ready for a
N - new day with Him.
I - inspire others please, and
N - never forget
G - God loves you!

Today as I was driving home from dropping Luke off at preschool, I passed a local business. With the anti-smoking laws in place in our area, workers can no longer smoke in or even on the property of their place of employment. Therefore, at this particular large insurance company, the workers have to cross the street to a drainage ditch to smoke. At any given time of day, you can find workers huddled in the cold on the edge of the street - teetering between swiftly moving cars on the road and the soggy ditch below them.

Admittedly, I've been very judgemental when I've driven by in the past - rolling my eyes at the rediculousness of these people - clinging to their smoking habit by the side of the road. In winter, you cannot tell the difference between the smoke drifting out of their mouths and the cold vapors of regular exhaling. It just seems sad.

Today, as I drove home, there was one solitary man on his smoke break. One older guy bundled up tightly in the 30 degree wind. With his ear-flap hat, the only bits of exposed skin included his eyes, nose, and mouth - complete with the cigarette dangling from his lips. But today as I stopped at the light in front of his ditch, I prayed. I prayed for this man - that God would give him the strength and determination to quit. He cannot possibly be happy out there... ruled by an addiction that drags his body out into the freezing temperatures to smoke. He certainly didn't look happy. But instead of sitting on my soap box with my judgemental frown, I took action... a small action, albeit, but action, nonetheless. I said a prayer for this man.

What soapboxes do you stand upon? What frowns do you cast at other people just trying to do the best they can? It is so easy to say that "my sin isn't as bad as that person's sin." I know - I've found myself qualifying sin more than once... But God doesn't qualify sin.

There is an interesting passage in 1 John 5:16-17...

The Message:
For instance, if we see a Christian believer sinning (clearly I'm not talking about those who make a practice of sin in a way that is "fatal," leading to eternal death), we ask for God's help and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. There is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I'm not urging you to pray about that. Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal.

The NIV:
If you see a Christian brother or sister[a] sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. 17 All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.


Here it says that we should pray for others we see sinning (unless their sin has led to their death - which, at that point, it's too late, I guess). I'm not saying that "smoking" is "sinning" - but it is hurting one's body... a creation of God. I imagine when we do anything that hurts ourselves or another of His creations, He's not too thrilled. And, standing on my soapbox with my judgemental frown is not helpful to this person at all. A better avenue is for me to DO something to help - and given that I don't know this man, praying for him seemed a better option than stopping my car, rolling down the window, and telling him he should stop...! :)


Take a look at your day - your everyday, ordinary routine and see if there is someone you can pray for. The poem at the top of this post says to "inspire others" - You never know how much of a difference your prayers might make to another person... :)