Waving at Me!

For those of you who do not believe that God wants to communicate with us, for those who don’t believe God is whimsical and fun-loving, let me tell you a little story.

 If you visit my house during the months of frosty weather (my favorite) when plants have to be protected, you had best bring a machete and a pith helmet. Because, my friend, you are walking into a jungle. I bring all my house plants, palms and ferns into the warm – they’re like snow birds heading for Florida.

 I nurse them through the winter sweeping up fronds and other sheddings and wait to usher them back into the warmth of spring. I try to keep just a very few in the house during the summer months so that it will seem homey.

My Chinese fan palm was one of those. (Fan palms are beautiful plants with hand-like palms at the end of long stems.) And apparently the others gave her the word during the winter because she has been pining away this summer in the house while the others are out throwing parties under the live oak. In fact I found some pictures of beautiful, lush fan palms, but the one you see in this picture is more like my own.

So I finally gave in to her and let her join the others at the back of the garden under the oak.

Yesterday while I was having my quiet time with God, I happened to look up and there was a giant hand waving madly back and forth at me. I fell out laughing! And God and I had a moment. I thanked Him and we laughed together. And after a minute or so, the hand stopped waving. Today I looked for it and it wasn’t there. I was afraid the plant had blown over with last night’s wind; but I went out to look and there it stood, blended in with all the other plants.

 Listen for His voice. But also keep your eyes open! God longs to reach out and touch you.

Captive? No, Captivated

Think of the best speaker or teacher you know. Would you be willing to sit in the middle of a crowd of 4,000 to listen to them? Probably, right? Would you be willing to sit on the ground in the middle of a crowd to listen? On the ground? Yeah, without stadium seats. Okay, if they were really good, possibly. How about for three days? What? Without food.  Um, no!  I thought so.

I’m talking about Mark 8:1-10, when Jesus fed a hungry crowd, a crowd who hadn’t eaten for three days. A crowd so hungry that He was afraid to send them home (some of them lived a distance) for fear that they would faint along the way. We don’t know the particulars. He may have just taught; or He may have performed signs and miracles. Some may have believed He was the Son of God; some may have thought he was a prophet or a really good teacher. Some may have just been curious to see what He would do. One thing we do know is that He had developed a reputation at this point.

Even so, we can assume He didn’t teach all night. Can you just imagine the conversations?

“James, are we going to stay? All night without food?”
"Well He’s pretty good. And we have cloaks for pallets. I had a big meal before we came. I think I’m good to go for tomorrow, for a while at least. Maybe we’ll leave at noon, beat the traffic.”

And then the next night, “Wow, He was good. What He says is pretty revolutionary. I’m not sure I can do the things He asks. But I can’t stop listening.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I guess when I stop and think about it, yeah. But who cares? I’m staying another night.”

 I read these scenes of Jesus in the Gospels and it’s so easy to just skim right over the details. To forget that these were real times and real people. Jesus is easier for me to imagine because I think about Him a lot. But I don’t often stop to put myself in the field with the crowd. I so love the details Mark includes; because there are lessons here:

 • What Jesus has to offer is so intriguing, so compelling that sometimes the world, the physical, the stuff just doesn’t matter. Matthew 4:4, “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

• Jesus had compassion; no one asked. With only 7 loaves and a few fish, He fed a multitude. He can also take what very little we have to offer and multiply it and use it to feed His Kingdom. 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

• Jesus fills our needs lavishly, abundantly. The 7 baskets that were left over after the crowd was fed were not the same kind of baskets described earlier in Mark when Jesus fed another multitude. These were rope or mat baskets and some were big enough to carry a man (Acts 9:25).

More than we ask for; more than we need. More than we have to offer; more than we can ask or imagine.

The Voice

I think we have established in previous posts that I have cardinal issues. No I’m not saying my issues are more important than yours; nor am I saying that I have a problem with blushing. I simply adore redbirds.

Cardinals point me to God. When I first began to notice them in Virginia, it was their color and their unique heads that caught my eye. But I began to see them every day during my prayer time. More than once, not only there but in South Carolina as well, I’ve been deep in a painful or pleading prayer and opened my eyes or turned my head to see one sitting only a few feet away looking at me. I’ll be honest; it’s a little unnerving.

Once I established my little prayer corner on the back porch, I began to watch more than just birds. Rabbits and squirrels came to visit and hang out with the mourning doves munching on seeds. I became acquainted with a cardinal couple and their three little ones this spring. I have come to believe that this couple has been with us since we moved here over two years ago. (If you know different, don’t tell me.) They have become so accustomed to us that, if they are feeding and we open the shade or the door, they just look up and then continue eating. The female sometimes sits on my shepherd’s hook just outside the window and I talk to her very softly. She sits and listens.

Their unique one-note chirp has become so familiar to me that I will always stop what I’m doing and look around until I see them. Today I opened the back door and I heard one of them. They were not on the feeder, the ground below or in the live oak that I could see. But the voice was distinct. I watched the holly tree for several minutes and finally I saw the male jump on an outside branch from deep in the tree.

How many times have I desperately searched for signs of God in a decision I needed to make or a path I was about to walk? How often have I stalled, wanting to see a sign of God’s presence to make me more comfortable?

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah’s faith failed him and he fled from Jezebel’s threats. He left his servant at Beersheba and went a days journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed to die. A gracious God sent an angel to take care of him. Then he traveled 40 days and nights to Horeb. There God told him to wait for Him on the mountain. In verses 11-12, “…behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” And God was in the still small voice.

I need to remember that, while it’s great to see God in the big things, to see a path laid clear and straight and to know that it’s the way I’m supposed to walk, sometimes I need to just listen for the voice – the voice that assures me that I’m not alone, that I will be taken care of and shown the way when the time is right.

Not a Pebble After All

My backyard birds are gluttons. That’s the only explanation I can come up with. Well, that and those pesky squirrels. Our bird feeder stays empty because I can’t keep up with them.

This morning I started out with a fresh bag of seed and nuts and the various tools I needed to do some other morning garden work. One mental eye watched the clock because my goal was to be back in the house before the thermometer hit 125 degrees.

As I worked quickly as possible, I noticed a little something under my foot on my flip flops. But I was in a hurry and didn’t want to stop and deal with it. I can hear you; and once again, I have to ask you to make allowances for me. I know it was just a flip flop but I had a lot to do in little time.

I found that if I limped a bit it wasn’t quite so bothersome. Then I started to wince because my foot was beginning to hurt. Finally I stopped to do what I should have done all along – deal with a small situation when it happened. What I thought was a pebble was only a tiny leaf with a stiff stem. It would have taken no trouble to brush it away when I started. At this point it was wet and hard to get off and my foot was tender.

Hard to believe, huh? But entirely true and so indicative of the way I often approach those little things that take up way too much space in my mind. Someone says something that doesn’t sit quite right with me. And rather than figure out why I’m reacting to the remark or forgiving the person if it was truly hurtful, I shove it into my mind and say, “Doesn’t matter.” Later I find myself limping through my day with a dark cloud overhead and the nagging suspicion there is something terribly wrong. When I stop to figure out what it is, I realize it’s that little something that bothered me earlier. I have let an entire day be ruined by nothing!

A small chore that needs doing can mentally cripple my day. I will spend hours brooding over something that will take me ten minutes to complete.

If Jesus promises me peace, I have two choices. I can believe He is faithful and address the little nuisances in my life as they occur. Or I can take them in, give them real estate in my mind, and let them ruin my day. Either way, what He offers doesn’t change. How I accept it will make the difference between a joyful day and a cloudy one.

Matthew 6:34; Romans 8:6
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own…The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace….