God's Protection

      My friend shares the story about a time when he and his wife were away from their small farm and arrived back to their home after dark.  Knowing they had an expectant cow in the pasture, went to check on her.  They discovered she had delivered her little calf before they arrived out in the field.  

PROTECTED!

What was significant was how their llamas and livestock guardian dog were protecting her and her new born.  Even as they moved the momma and calf to the barn for safety, the llamas and dog came along to make sure everything was done properly!

The protection the llamas and dog gave the cow and calf are an interesting parallel to how God watches over us. Sometimes it is due to a physical peril, but also emotional and even spiritual protection!

SATAN IS ON THE PROWL

Satan and his minions are all around us, creating havoc in so many different ways.  He whispers to us about our fears of the unknown, so that we become afraid to even move forward.  His tactics leave us feeling vulnerable, exposed and unprotected; and even turns the heat up on loneliness!  

His spiritual attacks create doubt, temptations and even discouragement to the point of giving up, as he tries to convince us we are in this current trial alone.  He presses the buttons of ‘I need an answer now’, so we become impatient and struggle to trust God’s timing.  And in all these ways cause us to forget God’s promises!

INTO THE FIERY FURNACE

I love the story of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego.  I can’t imagine how much strength it took for the three of them to allow themselves to be thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to the king.  They even said (paraphrase) they may die or they may be protected by the God they served, and either way it would be fine.  What a witness!  And they came out of that fire without even smelling like smoke, and not an inkling of singe anywhere!

There are many things we, as humans, try to do on our own.  But we are incapable.  We don’t have super powers and we can’t see the future.  Neither do we   have the ability to work out stuff for other people the way we think things should be and often our minds don’t even have the capacity to work things out the way we want for ourselves!

WE CAN'T DO IT OURSELVES

Even when we realize something can’t happen by us storming in frustration, worry and brainstorming, we often just over stress and make ourselves and everyone around us miserable.  We become afraid, make bad choices, get angry, and shift blame.  We forget we have an alternative!

When unexpected challenges pour down on us, the best thing we can do is take it to a God who can! God’s protection can hold us steady when things seem murky and the the waves are battering us.  He is greater than any enemy we could ever encounter; greater than the fiery furnace; the lion’s den filled with lions, the wind and waves, even death!

REMEMBER GOD'S PROMISES

God promises to never leave us or forsake us; and his timing is always perfect!  It’s hard to be patient and allow God to work things out—even when we know it’ll be for our good.  We live in a ‘now’ culture, but that’s not God! 

When we remember —and believe in faith—that God is always with us, regardless of what we are going through, we can believe His strength will pull us through.  He will provide the calm, peace and reassurance we need, if we allow ourselves to ‘Be still and know that HE is an all powerful God’!

Photo Credit: Newborn Calf/?pagi=8

Unexpected Moments of Joy

  My friend tells the story of how after a week of dreary cool weather, she was finally able to get out and take a walk.  The variety of colors which she stumbled onto during her walk startled her.  What had been weeks of dark, drabness was the ‘prettiest blooms’ she’d ever seen in that area!  

Along with the vibrant colors was the deep green grass and the splashing of turtles and fish in the small pond she was walking near.  This landscape was not planned or purposely prepared, but was manifested in the imagination of God’s handiwork!   This thought process accentuated the already overwhelming feeling of joy my friend experienced.

ENJOYING THE DETOUR

I admit, one of my favorite things is having to take a detour while traveling or even on a regular trip to the grocery store.  We get so accustomed to what we see while driving by, we rarely notice the landscape.  But when we are venturing into a place we’ve not been before, we tend to take notice and it isn’t unusual to be totally wowed, by our new surroundings!

Our lives are sometimes predictable and that brings a level of ‘autopilot’.  We function in the framework of our daily routines and that often brings with it our ‘daily worries’.  This mindset can steal the joy out of any day!  It’s good when we are forced to ‘stop’, breathe and take in the ordinary moments, that are often little glimmers of hope, a notice of blessings and certainly a feeling of joy!

STEALING OUR JOY

Other times we focus only on the ‘big stuff.’  We are desperately trying to make ends meet, or working on a promotion, fighting a health concern, or devastated over a relationship crumble.  Because of this, the little moments or small packages of joy, like a pure moment of peace, a kind word, even a new opportunity are all missed.  We can’t see it for the clouds wrapped around us.

We need to recognize our day may be filled with a spiritual pothole, or bumpy and muddy roads.  The drama, muck and mire of our world can be overwhelming and make our world a very negative place.  When we are in this darkness, the color that comes with the light, is dimmed because our hearts are not accepting the nudging from Christ.  He doesn’t want us to remain in this place.  His desire is that we look to him for his Light that will wake up our senses to what is beautiful regardless of the negativity and darkness we are walking through.

SEE THE BEAUTY AROUND US

As we accept God’s goodness which allows us to see the beauty and experience unexpected moments of joy, it’s also necessary that we be the giver of small surprises.  A smile from a stranger, giggle from a child, a note from a friend or the peace that comes from conversation with our Lord are often sprinkled in our day.  When we miss these gentle surprises we’ve missed great blessings.  What’s more is when we don’t share these with others we’re missing opportunities to share Jesus. 

Photo Credit:  Joy

Be God's People

  A friend shares the story of how after losing her husband five years earlier, her community of believers whom she’d known nearly all her life, seemed to completely forget her.  When they saw her in person, they were quick to ask how she was, and as quickly say ‘Call me if you need me.’ and walk away. She felt lost and all alone. 

Her grown children while here for a while, lived in other states miles away.  They went back to their lives, even though they called often, they couldn’t spend ‘time’ with her.  The last thing, she explained, that she wanted to do was call someone when she was broken, sad or feeling lost.  She said, “I just cried.”

While it’s true no one can ‘know’ just when a person needs something, a random call, a text message, even a simple thinking of you card, in the mail is always appreciated.  We forget that sometimes, when we get so wrapped up in our own lives.  

We’re all busy.  There are domestic duties to take care of, sports events to attend, TV shows that we can’t miss and yard work or a hundred other unique things we all choose to do, which seem to run our lives.  But what of our neighbor who is going through a bad time?  Are we being ‘God’s people’ when we choose to not reach out?

Part of the mission God gave us is to take care of each other.  We are asked to encourage and bear with one another; offering fellowship, to take care of widows and others who have needs.  When we forget our role in this manner, aren’t we also forgetting our identity in Christ?  We claim to be believers; someone who mirrors Christ, who reflects His Character.  But would Christ forget and seemingly recall someone’s need only when he saw them?  

As God’s people we are not meant to remain hidden.  We are supposed to be out there embracing others in our homes, our workplaces and in our communities.  Instead of doing these things, are we compromising our values and beliefs by making sure our own interests are in the forefront of our lives?  Is the culture in which we live dictating what has priority in all we do?

Make no mistake, certainly we do need to take care of our own families, but as a believer it becomes more than that!  Our lives are a witness to what we believe.  Are our actions declaring God’s goodness to others?  Are others seeing that we are choosing unity or are our decisions ultimately dividing ‘the family’ out of hurt and pain?

Peter called believers a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation”.  (See 1 Peter 2:9) His description is our identity in Christ.  It’s who we are.  But our identity initiates activity.  Are we being who God says we are, or are we chasing other things in which the world labels important?

So I wonder, is there someone you know who could use a visit, perhaps a meal or a dessert, or just some time spent one on one over a cup of coffee or tea?  Would a phone call take more than a few minutes of your time?  

      Sometimes it’s not even about a loss of a loved one, like my friend.  It might just be they are going through a difficult time, they may or may not want to talk about and feel alone and in need of some conversation.  They might not need anything visible…just in need of fellowship with another believer who wants to encourage, build up and bring a smile to their day!  Might that be you?

Photo Credit: Being A Friend

Our Spiritual Growth

  I love to walk through beautiful, lush gardens.  One of my sons always seems to have this knack of having one that thrives and produces abundantly every year.  It seems anything he plants, he can grow! In fact, even others call him the ‘garden guru’!  

I’ve attempted to mirror his results.  Carefully planting what he suggested, I had hoped to see the same outcome.  But, of course, life would get in the way and I’d not make it back out to the garden for over a week, and I’d find weeds had invaded my space.  After pulling out as many as I could, I’d walk away and plan to come back and finish.  

Then the rains came, or some other reason, to be delayed.  By the time I got back out there, the weeds I’d missed before, weren’t only taller, but all the spaces I’d pulled before had brand new ones, completely strangling the tiny plants which I’d either planted or, the seedlings that had sprouted!

My son, however, wasn’t distracted like I tend to be. He began by making sure the soil was fertilized properly, and then as important, he would ‘tend’ his garden daily.  He’d check his plants for bugs and other issues, make sure it was watered regularly, and pull weeds as he found them!  This made the process incredibly easier.  Even knowing his methods; I still struggle!

OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE IS LIKE THE GARDEN

Sadly, our spiritual life can be just like this.  First we may even compare ourselves with others, like I did with my son’s garden.  Then we have good intentions, create a plan of action and we think we’ve got 'it’ under control.  We sit down with pure determination to strengthen our walk with God, because we recognize we aren’t where we need to be.  The world has closed in on us, and we want to make things right.

It works for a few days.  We hope we’re making progress, yet we aren’t seeing/feeling any of the results. The following week, we’re running a little short on time, so we skim through the reading in God’s Word and breathe a quick prayer telling God how sorry we are and that we plan to get back to ‘Him’ real soon.

Another day passes, and we squeaked in a few more minutes than the day before, but it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to sit down and just spend time with God.  So we begin to neglect some of the basics.  We’ll read the Bible and then run out the door or busy ourselves with some other pressing project, figuring we’ll be in church on Sunday and we’ll get ‘straight’ then.  

NOT EVEN TAKING CARE OF THE BASICS

Before long, it seems we haven’t even kept up with the basics.  No time for Bible reading and even less time to have a heart to heart talk with The Lord!  We notice begrudgingly, that God might be trying to tell/show us something, but life is just to complicated to even stop for a moment and try to figure it out.  Besides, if God’s pruning something or disciplining then who want’s that anyway?  We’ll get back to walking with Him when things get straightened out!

After a time, we realize we are farther away now than when we first sat down with him several months ago. Life’s been hard, things are all mixed up, people seem disconnected, work isn’t going like it’s supposed to, the family seems all at odds, and even church has become a place where we’re not sure it’s where we want to be.

THERE'S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY

Still, that small voice that niggles at our ears, —-and hearts— makes us realize it’s time to do something about all these things that seem so upset!  So we dig in again and this time realize it really is about 'the time we spend with The Father'.  Instant results just aren’t going to happen.  It's much like getting our new teeth following our baby ones.  There’s new growth; the old ones come out and now it’s time to ‘chew’ with our big girl-big boy teeth.

Growth isn’t instantaneous; and sometimes it’s downright painful.  But when we lean into Jesus, who saved, us, we can welcome his role in our transformation—-in our spiritual growth.  It’s a process—-a journey, of being rooted, growing and thriving, which takes time; daily effort and determination; -- and the belief that it’s not about us. It’s about Him!

Photo Credit: Vegetable Garden 

In Wonder Of God's Creation

Today was one of those rare days when the weather was picture perfect.  It wasn’t cold, nor hot; just the right temperature to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful, mountainous views. I love both the sunrises and sunsets, the hummingbirds which greet each mimosa tree with glee or the occasional deer that passes through or even the bear whose space I’m crowding.  I am blessed to live in such a place.

Yet I know, there are those who would choose the ocean waters crashing onto the beach, over the grandeur of the majestic mountains and others who love the dry desert, or even the snow covered peaks of our neighbors way up north!  

Our world is filled with God’s loving hand painted environment, in which we choose to live.  Each area has beauty which rises to honor the creator of the Universe.  The sounds and scents, with the colors celebrating Fall, along with the unique wildlife, fill each space with a distinctive feeling of perfectness for where it is on the map.

While this is true, when was the last time you S T O P P E D and honestly just enjoyed God’s creation?  There is so much we can learn about God’s character when we do this.  His limitless power, orderliness yet complexity, along with his creative intelligence and provision for life can give us a compass to live by! 

That God could create such vastness of the galaxies yet microscopic ecosystems and functionings of the human body is mind boggling!  Still, his predictive laws of nature also shows God has an orderly and structured nature, as well, and can leave us in wonder!

In all of creation we can see God’s love for profound beauty and the passion to see it thrive as he provides for the sun’s warmth, rain for watering, and even autumn for coloring and winter for rest.

We often will say God is Sovereign and reflect on our lives in this way.  Yet, it’s not just for our personal lives, but also for his creation which extends well beyond we ‘mere humans’.  He tends the birds, and clothes the flowers in color and design, sets boundaries for the ocean waters and places stars in the sky.  He totally has ultimate authority over all he has created.

In awe, we realize He created us in His image.  As the creation from the heavens to all the universe reflect His glory, so do we.  Our value isn’t about our achievement and success.  It’s about how we reflect Him. He provides for our needs, often even when we fail to realize it.  Just as he waters the earth, and causes the sun to be the perfect distance away from Earth, so we are neither too hot nor too cold, he also provides natural herbs, plants, and animals to sustain our bodies.  He’s given us intelligence and reason to use what he’s given us to grow a world of greatness; perhaps on some levels, too great.

All these attributes of God are reflected in each of us as we are caretakers of this planet.  But it’s also about relationships.  Not only through nature but through each other.  It’s about fellowship; being personal with Him!

As you slow down this week and reflect on our outdoor sanctuary, remember to rest and give thanks to the God of the universe.  Wait on His presence and feel the wonder of his creation in the environment around you, right down into your soul.  

We Are Created For Hope

        It’s interesting to watch a flock of birds line up on a telephone wire.  They usually line up right next to each other until the line is full.  After witnessing this recently, a friend commented that another little bird came in late.  All the spaces were taken.  Not franticly, but with positive persistence, the little one kept flying back and forth until the birds shifted and created a space for him to rest.

I can’t help but think about the events of my last year.  It seemed there were so many things lined up for me to take care of, tackle, wade through, manage, and wrestle.  Many days I wilted, to the point of ‘melt down’ just trying to stay afloat.  I felt like that little bird who didn’t know where to rest; where to wiggle in or believe that I’d ever get through all the pages before me.

When we struggle like this, sometimes we also end up struggling with our faith; especially when we don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere.  But like the tiny bird, eventually we get to rest.  It doesn’t mean the battle is over.  It just means for the moment we can collect our thoughts, renew our spirit and start over with new hope and faith!

In a world where disappointments seem to thrive, many have lost any vision of hope.  It could be a financial crisis, relationship plight, health scare, loss of a loved one, or a hundred other things that upend us.  Our hope and faith is tested to a point we falter.

But God has other plans.  He doesn’t leave us.  He is the Anchor in the storm even when the storm doesn’t seem to shift.  And he sees the bigger picture. Our expectations can be shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, but God has the ability to put those tiny pieces back together again in a brand new way! His purposes always include hope.  

God is always with us even when we are fearful.  His hope and presence give courage when we want to crumple under the strain and stress of all the mess that seems to be around us.  As fragile as we feel, God can raise us above what we are going through, making us feel strong again and renewed as we grow and develop in the new direction he is calling us.

Hope gives us the ability to continue to wait with a different kind of expectation.  The world’s offerings of success, dreams coming true, instant answers, material gain, or fame and fortune, is all temporary.  God’s hope is eternal.  It never fails, because He never fails! And all those struggles we are facing God can use, as we grow to trust in him and deepen our faith —because he is a ‘God Who Can’, so unlike the world.

It’s hard to maintain when life is uncertain, we are weary and overwhelmed with whatever we are facing, but when we look to the Creator of the Universe who knows just what we need when we need it, we can find a place to rest.   We need to be still and let God be God, even when we feel we can’t go a step further.  When we are unable to walk he will carry us, allowing us to grow in our faith, even when we feel lost and forgotten, because He loves and cares for us.  He is the Perfect Hope!

 Photo Credit: Finding A Place To Rest

God Is A Good Book Keeper

  As I reflect on my last year, I am glad God is leading me through this unexpected ‘season’ of life.  I know death is part of living, but it doesn’t change the fact that ‘living’ can be hard, when navigating life alone after 51 years of togetherness!

There’s an old truth, ‘prayer changes things’, which some people question.  But I can say, with certainty, that prayer does affect how we believe, how we live and can have an impact on others!  I know over the past months people have prayed for me.  God has placed more than once, the right person at the right moment for me in some way, to keep me moving forward.  

WHEN PRAYERS AREN'T ANSWERED

But it seems there are prayers that just aren’t answered.  And while that seems unexplainable, ‘unanswered prayers’ sometimes are the answer.  God knows what is going on and the beginning from the end.  In the middle of all the uncertainty, God also keeps track of our tears and stores them in a bottle. (Psalm 56:8) He knows how many tears you or I have ever shed!

Life in general changes nearly every day, in some way.  Sometimes the change is so subtle you miss it.  But it’s comforting to know that even in these small ways, God is still in control.

Admittedly I am still searching for clarity for my next steps.  It’s important to ‘be still and know that HE is still God’ and He knows all the right strategies to get me where I need to be.  It’s hard to be patient, even while recognizing His power and eternal qualities.  

While I wait, it’s important to also to remember to be obedient, even in the small things.  Interestingly, this morning, I was asking God, “What are you preparing me for?”  I’ve been doing a good bit of research for another project which I still don’t have a clue how or where it will be used.  Yet I feel compelled to keep working on it, which prompted my question in prayer.

God has plans which I don’t know, but I do know obedience is absolutely mandatory!  While my ‘harvest’ isn’t yet seen, I must believe that God will reward my obedience, even though it seems such a small thing.  God isn’t only interested in the ‘big stuff’.  He watches and cares about the ‘little stuff’ too!  

        He even tells us that he cares about the small sparrow, (Matthew 10:29) and we are much more valuable than a little bird.  If God can know when a tiny bird falls and how many tears we've shed, then He also can know how many times we have or have not been obedient!

Every act of kindness, moment of restraint, moment of follow through, or whispered prayer, matters to Him.  He sees us!  He knows what we’re going through.  When we can be obedient, even on those days we feel hidden from sight, God knows it!

He also knows those moments when we share our faith with others.  As the ‘end draws nearer’, it’s urgent that we pray and share our faith.  If we hold back and allow those who take risks with their eternity, are we held responsible?  Again, God knows everything we do, those we interact with, and every word spoken.

It all matters to him and there is a reason for everything.  Nothing is random with God.  As we navigate our ‘unknowns’ we can know for certain God is getting us ‘ready for something’ or maybe protecting us from something we thought we wanted but wasn’t right for us.  His reasoning can be counted on as being the very best for us, even if we can’t see immediate answers or any immediate harvest.

Photo Credit: Change