Why Walk?

As I studied at my dining table this morning, I saw a crow land and spend a little time in my front yard.  A few seconds later, he caught my attention as he walked through the yard, across the street, and on down toward the end of the block.  I chuckled for a minute; but then it occurred to me.  Why on earth would you walk if you have wings?

How many times do I puzzle over something for a couple of hours and finally think to pray?    Usually God gives me a solution or at least a peace about whatever the issue is.  How often do we worry and fret over problems we couldn’t possibly solve?  Or other things that work themselves out and we look back and shake our heads over all that wasted energy?  We know the Bible tells us, Jesus tells us, over and over again not to worry.

But let’s look at the flip side, the positive piece.  If you remove something, another thing must take its place.  Pour a glass of water out and the glass will be filled with air.  Ever try digging a hole in very light and dry sand?  It just keeps refilling itself.  

If we make a decision not to worry, to trust God, we had best have something to back that up or the concern will just creep right back in.  I choose to live in the power that God provides through His Spirit and His Word.  Why would I walk on legs that tire when I can soar on wings like eagles?

1 Chronicles 29:11-13; Nehemiah 8:10; Isaiah 40:29-31
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.  Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name…Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength…He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Relative Advice

This morning it’s about in-laws and parents...and advice.  Moses’ father-in-law to be more precise.  In Exodus 18.  Jethro, his father-in-law, had heard of everything that God had done for Moses and the Israelites.  He, along with Moses’ wife Zipporah and his two sons, came to visit Moses and Moses related everything that God had done for them, including all the hardship from which God had delivered them.

Jethro rejoiced and blessed God, offering sacrifices and eating with Moses, Aaron and all the elders of Israel.  On the next day Moses sat from morning until night judging the people and settling issues, making them aware of God’s laws.

Here’s where the story gets sticky.  Verse 17 is the one that brought me to a dead stop.  

“So Moses-father-in-law said to him, ‘The thing that you do is not good.’”  

Though this situation has a great ending, I’m not sure I would have gotten that far.  Because if anyone, particularly a close relative, were to come to me and say that, I’m afraid, while I might have a frozen smile on my face and the appearance of listening, my brain would be on the fast track.  I would be thinking of snide responses and then berating myself for not having the courage of delivery.  

Not only does God expect us to honor our parents, He did not put us on this earth to live in solitude, never accepting help or counsel.  Just before, in chapter 17, Joshua and his men defeated Amalek because Moses held the staff of God up.  When he let his arms drop, they began to lose.  Ever try to hold anything – hand weights, two cans of beans, two bags of ice, anything – in your raised hands for long?  But Aaron and Hur held Moses arms up for him.  We all need support from others and humility to react well to guidance.

Moses did listen to Jethro.  And he followed his very good advice and taught able men the laws and commands of God.  He made them rulers over small and large groups and he settled only the hard cases.  And his life was much easier for it.

If you have advice for me, bring it on!  I will try very hard to listen and give you a genuine smile of thanks.

Toadstools and Spanish Moss

August just lies down and stretches itself out over South Carolina.  Hot, always hot.  But sometimes very wet as well, as it was last week.  As a pluviofile (my new favorite word…means a lover of rain, someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days), I have been joyful indeed.

 

The hot, wet weather changes our landscape, making it greener and adding embellishments.  As I was leaving to go into town, I saw great fields and rings of toadstools filling the lawns of our community.  I call them toadstools; you can call them fairy seats if that makes them more appealing to you.  

 

And that’s the point.  When I have found them on my lawn in the past, I have gone after them with a vengeance and a shovel.  I would have called them nasty things.

 

 

But as I was driving out that morning, it struck me that they are quite beautiful.  Everything we see, smell, taste, touch, and hear is open to perception and interpretation.  And nowhere is that more obvious than in God’s creation.  Just ask one or two people how they feel about spiders or snakes.

 

When I was about seven, my daddy had to go to Ft. Polk, Louisiana for his work with the National Guard.  Hot, dusty Ft. Polk.  This was the fifties and I’m fairly sure our car had no air conditioning.  We found a park for our picnic on the way down.  It had lots of trees and looked cool and refreshing.  We unpacked our lunch.  

 

With a sandwich midway to my mouth, I looked around and up and noticed Spanish moss for the first time.  I finished my sandwich and drink in minutes.  I wanted out of there!  It looked spooky, eerie, and ghostly to me.  I had no affection for it whatsoever.  Here in South Carolina many years later, I will stop and pick it up off the road to take home and throw into my live oak.  Now I see it as silky, charming, and southern.  

 

How I perceive my world depends on how I feel about its Creator.  When I walk, I marvel at God’s good and perfect gifts.  And I thank my Creator God, Elohim.  Aside from Abba Father, I favor this name for God above the others.  The word in Hebrew has a masculine, plural ending and represents the Three in One.  All three persons of the Trinity – God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit – were present (and worked!) at the creation of the heavens and the earth.

 

My God made a world for me that reflects the facets of His nature…beautiful, breath-taking, creative, majestic, powerful, and whimsical.  When I value Him, I love my surroundings because He never tires of giving me gifts from nature.

 

Psalm 148:2-13

Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD  from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail,  snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

Red Vines and Cropsies

Farm Heroes Saga stole my joy.  My morning had started the way my best mornings start.  When I take the time to spend some serious time with the Lord in the morning, in His Word and communicating with Him, my day is wrapped in peace and a layer of joy.  Small irritations and frustrations may diminish it a bit, but the underlying contentment stays pretty much intact.

 

The other day Steve was home and I had finished my quiet time.  I sat down to do dueling laptops with him.  I love that we can be in the same room and both pursue our own paths.  Mine on this particular day was Farm Heroes Saga.  I was literally killing time, vast quantities of it.  Those of you who know me well are familiar with my inclination toward online game addiction.  

 

I am playing one, Pearl’s Peril, a hidden objects game that tests my memory and only allows a few minutes of game play.  This works for me.  However, some games like Farm Heroes and Candy Crush let you play as long as you proceed to the next level.  I enjoy them so much I will go back and play old levels to try to improve my score.  All of this is fine!  Within reason. 

My friends also know my love for licorice…all kinds.  Give me Red Vines for strawberry, Switzer or Australian for black, and Twizzlers cherry peel-aparts.  I even like those garish neon fruit ones and the filled ones!  But once again, I tend to avoid them because I go overboard.  If you give me a bag of licorice, you will probably see me inhale half the bag before I put it down!  

 

It doesn’t matter whether I’ve wasted hours playing an online game or eaten half a bag of candy, the end result is pretty much the same.  I feel lousy!  My time (and my health!) should mean more than that.  

 

When I’ve padded my diet with more and more fast food and sugar, healthy food loses its charm.  And when my senses are dulled by hours of gaming that doesn’t even pretend to work my brain, my desire for reading, writing, or Bible study is gone.  And, pretty much, so is my joy.

Playing the What If Game

The details encourage me!  Occasionally, when I am digging in God’s Word, I discover a little nugget of gold, a clause or phrase that I have read so many times.  But then I will see it and remember that “the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)  It works for me, in this moment, at this place, every day!

 

Today the gold was hiding in the story of Joseph and his brothers when they were reunited in Egypt.  If you haven’t read it for a while, you can find it in Genesis 42-47.  After keeping the faith for years, coming to a position of great power, forgiving his brothers and acknowledging God’s place and control in everything that happened to him, Joseph reveals himself and his forgiveness to his brothers.  A happy reunion, many tears, and great feasting result. 

 

Joseph then sends his brothers back to Canaan to bring their father Jacob and their families and belongings again to Egypt to settle in the best of the land by Pharaoh’s orders, to be nourished and taken care of during the remaining five years of famine that will still come.

 

Joseph has very carefully explained to his brothers that God brought him to Egypt and that he has forgiven them completely.  He has prepared great material comfort for their trip home and the return and they are on their way.  But the payout comes in Genesis 45:24: “So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, ‘See that you do not become troubled along the way.’”  

 

I love this!  He was telling them not to get on the road and start overanalyzing and playing the what if game.  What if he has trapped us?  What if he plans to get us all to Egypt just to enslave us?  What if he didn’t really forgive us at all?

 

Do you ever do that?  How many times have I left Walmart and thought, “Why did that lady look at me that way?  Did I hurt her feelings?”  Or on the way home from church, “What did she mean by that?  Maybe she is mad at me.”  The list goes on and on… food to nourish dislike, jealousy, insecurity. 

 

Over analysis after the fact…the “what if game.”  Nobody wins and I am going to take it off my list of activities!

Sharks and My Martha Complex

It all began with a six-foot inflatable shark.  I can’t remember where I saw it – Facebook, Pinterest, some ad pop-up – but I was excited by the possibilities.  The thing flies!  Remote control!  And I imagined excited children shrieking and running through fellowship hall.  All right, there may have been some crying little ones but once their moms explained that it was harmless, they would join in the fun.

I started to consider the best time to launch this.  Unfortunately Vacation Bible School didn’t have an “Under the Sea” theme this year.  No baby showers coming up with an aquarium theme. And the price tag, about $27, was a bit steep for a one-time fun surprise; but it would be worth it.  Then there was the helium requirement…about $30 for a tank because I couldn’t see waltzing into Walmart and asking them to inflate my 72-inch shark, although it would’ve been great to see the reactions as I left the store.

 

 Somewhere between the discovery and my checkbook, my common sense kicked in.  And I realized that this was not really about the kids at all.  This was about my being seen as cool, as having been the one to make this great find and present it to everyone else.

 

My thoughts wandered.  How many times have I slaved over a fancy dessert, feverishly cleaned my house, or worked to get a presentation just right?  Why did I do it?  I’d like to believe I wanted to give enjoyment, make people feel at home in my house, whatever noble reason I came up with at the time.  Truth is I wanted to look good, to be perceived as smart or talented.  If I had been truly “loving my neighbor as myself”, I wouldn’t have had nearly the stress associated with the work!

 

Martha stood preparing (and most likely fuming) in the kitchen while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, listening, learning.  Finally she worked herself up enough steam to charge in and ask Jesus why he had not sent Mary in to help her.  True, she was concerned with feeding Jesus and the disciples; but Jesus could have pointed out to her that some of her hard work was no doubt rooted in pride.  He chose, however, to emphasize the positive instead (although an unfavorable comparison to her sister probably did not feel much like it to Martha).  

 

“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’  ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’  (Luke 10:40-42)

 

When I do for others, caring more about their comfort and enjoyment than their perception of me, I realize that they are easier to please than some ideal that I try to achieve.  I relax and they are at ease.  So don’t expect to be amazed by a floating six-foot shark moving through the fellowship hall any time soon.  However, if you’d like to surprise me with one, I’ll gladly send you the information!

When I Keep Silent

Why is it that I equate praying with talking to God?  Why do I feel like it is my responsibility to not only “keep up my end of the conversation” but also to not give Him a chance to talk at all?  And yet, there are times when I do feel the need to talk and I do not have the words.

Yes, He longs to communicate with us and that’s why prayer is best done with the Word open.  Consistent, planned personal Bible study is the way that He says the most to us.  And He does use other believers to encourage us and to remind us of those passages that He wants us to remember.  And He does speak to us through His creation.  When we give Him the time…

But sometimes I feel the real need to do the talking and I cannot.  Often I have a real concern for a friend and I don’t even know why!  Or my family is heavy on my heart.  And my words either won’t come or don’t feel sufficient.  I know that the Holy Spirit is there speaking for me – “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  (Romans 8:26)

Earlier this week, I was feeling so loved and so overwhelmed with God’s gracious goodness.  And I sat looking out my porch window trying to figure out how to express my deep thanks.  And nothing came!  I read Psalms, but even those verses did not seem to express what I wanted to say.  Then as I sat quietly, I heard the song of one bird.  As my ears adjusted and strained to hear, more bird songs joined the first one.  And I smiled as I realized that they were praising God.  So on that morning I listened and let them express for me what I so wanted God to know.

Psalm 69:34; 148:7-13
Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them…Praise the LORD  from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens