Gen 29:35     This time I will praise the Lord ...

A few weeks ago my husband Bill and I took a deep breath and invested in a new computer. His old desktop was a 386-speed, and my laptop had only 8 megs of memory. Using the new computer was like going from the Wright brothers� flyer to the 747 jumbo jet.

I soon found that there were several ways to get to the specific program I wanted to use. The "shortcut key" quickly became my favorite method. This key is actually a small picture at the bottom of my screen. All I have to do is put my mouse arrow on that picture, click once and up comes the program, ready to go. Other procedures work, but this is by far the fastest one.

A few days ago I found myself worrying over something I couldn�t do anything about. I quickly became frustrated. From years of experience, I know sooner or later, I will break away from the fear and fight through into the peace of the Lord. I also know that there are several ways to get there: confession, reason, Scripture, prayer - all will eventually work. This time I was impatient with the process. " Lord, I need a �shortcut key� to get from worry to peace!" I prayed. Almost instantly, one word popped into my head: Praise!

I began to thank God for all the little things I could think of: the hummingbird on the window feeder; the green of the woods behind the house; something wonderful that had happened in my son�s life that week. Then I thanked God for the ways He had always delivered me from worry and fear before.

In a very few moments, the worry was gone. The shortcut key of praise had opened me up to God�s presence and peace. I was on my way again.

Lord, thank You that sometimes You have a 'shortcut key' that will help me soar over the details and get to Your heart.
ROBERTA ROGERS