Sitting in the shade....

Today the air had a bit of change in it.  The temperature was not as high, the air was not quite as heavy.   I enjoyed just sitting on the patio in the shade.  Many times I have sat and lifted my face to the suns warmth, or sat close to a fire built in the patio chiminea.  I have sat wrapped in a blanket.  Today, I sat with my Hawaiian Breeze fan blowing.

God certainly knew what He was doing when He gave us changing seasons.  When we are bitter cold, we welcome the heat.  When we are sweating in the sweltering heat, we welcome the cool.  God is good.   All the time.

It is easy and comforting to think of God’s love.  His grace and mercy are soothing, reassuring.  But we are foolish to enjoy cool breezes and warm fuzzies without recognizing God’s judgment and wrath.  He is God.  He will have His way.

“See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.  His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.”(Isa. 30:27-28 NIV)


I admit, it is difficult for me to think about God’s wrath, about His judgment.  But those facets of His nature are as real as His love, grace, and mercy.  Our brother Peter explained it well.

 “God isn't late with his promise….. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change.  But when the Day of God's Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief.…..Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life?   Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arriva…..So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace.   Interpret our Master's patient restraint for what it is: salvation.……Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers.  Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever!”(2 Peter 3:9-18 The Message)

It is right to bask in the warmth of His love, it is right to enjoy the cool breezes He sends, those that bring refreshment to our weary souls.

But never without recognizing His sovereignty.
He is God.
And we are not.

Wake up....

I am very sensitive to medications.  A simple Tylenol makes me sleepy.  After a medical procedure where anesthesia is involved, it seems to take days and days for me to really wake up and stay alert.  Oh, I wake up in the recovery room, but I stay groggy.  I can’t fathom why anyone likes a drugged and numb feeling.

I’ve read the advice of the Wisdom Writer in Proverbs often.

 “Those who spend too much time with wine. Or those who like to taste wine that is mixed with spices.  Don't look at wine when it is red. Don't look at it when it bubbles in the cup. And don't look at it when it goes down smoothly.   In the end it bites like a snake. It bites like a poisonous serpent.  Your eyes will see strange sights. Your mind will imagine weird things.   You will feel like someone sleeping on the ocean. You will think you are lying among the ropes in a boat.   "They hit me," you will say. "But I'm not hurt! They beat me. But I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?" (Proverbs 23:30-35 NIrV)

Medications and anesthesia are a blessing and necessary.  I am especially  thankful for them when I have to have a surgical procedure, but I want as little of it as possible.  I want to be awake and alert. Being groggy and grouchy about it, I wonder in what other ways I might not be fully awake and alert.  Scripture also speaks to us about that very thing.

“But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.   The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed.   We can't afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight.  Get out of bed and get dressed! Don't loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”(Romans 13:11-14 The Message)

Am I awake?  Or am I sedated, lulled into passivity, unaware of the precious moments passing by?  I fear I have dozed off and wasted some precious time.  Rest is needed.  Physical and spiritual.  But there is a time when we need to wake up and get up.  There are things to do and people to see.

 I purpose to heed the words spoken to the church  of Sardis in the Revelation,.

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die……..I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.  Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says…” (Revelation 3:2-6 NIV)

Raise my own arm...

I dropped a favorite Pyrex measuring bowl because I forgot to use my left arm.  I can barely lift my right arm high enough to reach the middle shelf in my kitchen cabinets.  I can’t reach the products in my supply cabinet at work without tiptoeing or using my left hand.

Using the physical therapy pulley over my door at home helps me raise it up, but I have not been able to raise it under my own power.  I need and want to raise my own arm.

My man and my salon staff have helped in my difficulty.  They have reached the things I can not.

Once a few years ago, I was stretched in a different way.  I had a business to run, a full appointment book, and had been given the opportunity to lead a discussion group in a Bible Study group every week.  I was discussing it with a friend and every time I voiced an excuse, she countered with the reason I could and should.  She offered to be in the background doing anything she could do in my stead.  And she did.  I still often call her my Aaron.  She stood under my arm and raised it when I couldn’t stretch it far enough.

It is hard for me to accept help, even harder to ask, but  I have learned that it is necessary. It is not always just for me.  Sometimes others are blessed in the helping.  Often, we may miss our blessing because we neglect an opportunity to be the one to hold up another child of God, supporting the very work that God is doing.

Moses accepted help from Aaron and Hur.  His arms failed him.  He didn’t have the stregth to raise them so his companions stepped in.   They saw victory that day.

  “… Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.  As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.  When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset.  So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” (Exodus 17:10-13 NIV)

I hope to soon be able to raise my own arm without even thinking about it.  But if God allows my arm to stay bound, I will just expect the Aarons and Hurs to continue to be sent by the God Who has always been faithful to provide.

And I purpose to be the Aaron or Hur that He sends to others.  Lord, don't let me be blind to those opportunities.  I don't want to miss my blessing..

Clogged up....

Indoor plumbing is something I have always had.  My great grandmother didn’t have it, and when I spent the night with her it was a bit traumatic to walk down the path to the outhouse or pull out the chamber pot out from under the bed.  And the smell….ewww.

Our house is 30+ years old.  We have never had many plumbing problems.  Never had any problems with our shower.  When it all got stripped away to remodel,  the drain was not exactly clear.  I wonder how long it might have taken for there to have been a real problem arise.  I am thankful that drain didn't refuse to do its job and push the water out into the bathroom floor instead!!

It is a reminder to me that none of us knows what lies just beyond what we see.  We have no idea what the next moment holds.  A cancer cell beginning to multiply, a driver texting and crossing the line, a blood vessel blowing up, or a heart giving up.  We have no guarantee of a next breath.


“ Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."   Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15 NIV)


It is good to plan and prepare, but we are wise to hold our plans loosely.  Our plans may fail. Someone else’s poor choice could interfere.

And certainly, our plans do not trump the plan of our Father.

Stripped down....

We are having our bathroom remodeled.  Today, I came home to find all the old shower and cabinet gone.  There wasn’t a trace of it left.  It had been torn out and carried away, leaving the space stripped down to the stud walls.

I am relieved that I did not witness the demolition.  I am so glad all traces of it were gone before I got home.  Seeing it being ripped and torn would have been unpleasant for me.  I don’t think I could have ever done it myself even if I were able.

But it was necessary.  The old fixtures have served us well but our needs are changed, and they may change a lot more in the coming years.

There are often times in life when some things need to be stripped away or torn down.  Bad relationships,  wrong behavior,  lifestyles that are out of control.  There are times when drastic measures have to be taken.  

“There is a time to tear down. And there's a time to build up.  There is a time to cry. And there's a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad. And there's a time to dance.  There is a time to scatter stones. And there's a time to gather them. There is a time to hug. And there's a time not to hug.   There is a time to search. And there's a time to stop searching. There is a time to keep. And there's a time to throw away.  There is a time to tear. And there's a time to mend. There is a time to be silent. And there's a time to speak.” (Ecc. 3:3b-7 NiRV)

Things don’t always stay the same.  There are things we want changed, but often we have to wait for the change to come.  Sometimes a very long time.  Waiting is not easy nor is it fun.

The stripping down of my bathroom walls was a mainly a matter of finance.  I have wanted it done for several years but the need was not great.  As the years pile up on us, the need begins to be greater.  Those handrails will be nice.

I have learned that timing is important.  I have learned that living in God’s timing is the best.  Resisting, doubting, and resenting God’s perfect time brings no joy.  Operating outside of His leading or permission seldom brings satisfaction and reward.  Even when the wait is very long, it is worth the wait.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecc. 3:11 NIV)



Hallelujah.

Spot showers....

It is hot. And dry.  Really dry.
Never mind that just a few weeks ago there were floodwaters everywhere around here, today, it is D.R.Y.

I was turning the lights off in our store this evening, getting ready to close down for the day, and I heard what I thought was the air conditioner running.  I had just turned that one off.  It wasn’t the air conditioner at all, it was rain pounding on the metal roof of the building.

Rain?  I had no idea there was a cloud anywhere near much less rain!

It rained hard for several minutes, the parking lot got a good washing off.  I drove home to find out that not a drop fell on our parched yard.

No fair.  Why did it not rain on my yard?!?  Why pour down water on yards where folks don’t even pick up their trash much less manicure their lawns.  Why not rain on my grass and let their trashy yard stay dusty, they wouldn’t even notice much less care!

“This is what God does. He gives his best--the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.  If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that.   If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”   (Matthew 5:45b-48 The Message)

God didn’t withhold the rain from my yard to show His disfavor, nor did He send the rain on that trashy yard to show some special favor.   But even if He did, it’s His perogative.  He blesses as He chooses, whether I understand, approve, or whether I do not.

 “…… for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45 KJV)

Doing without it makes me realize what a blessing it is.  Maybe I will appreciate it when it does come.

Lord, forgive this wilderness traveler for grumbling, help me appreciate the blessings of today, and not resent the spot showers that do not fall on me.  I have blessing that reaches far beyond just a spot…..

Unclean house...

We have lived in this little house for over 30 years.  I recently decided it was time to make some changes in order for it to serve us as well in our last years as it has served us as we raised our family here.  I am preparing for the work to begin so I had to empty out some cabinets where a bigger shower will be built, one that will accommodate a wheelchair should the need ever arise.

This bathroom cabinet was full of course.  I have cleaned it out several times over the years and discarded old medicines and half empty bottles.  But I have never completely emptied it.  What a mess.  Where does the dirt come from and how does it get behind the closed cabinet doors?

What makes it unclean creeps in.   It didn’t happen quickly.  The dust settled slowly, the spiders crept in unnoticed and spun their webs.  So it is with our lives.

I remembered some of the Levitical laws about an unclean house.

“… to purify the house by taking two birds, some cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop.He will slaughter one bird over fresh water in a clay pot.  Then he will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet thread, and the living bird, dip them in the blood of the killed bird and the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times, cleansing the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet thread. Last of all, he will let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field. He has made atonement for the house; the house is clean. “ (Leviticus 14:49-53 NIV)

Mercy!  I sure am glad I am not required to do all that.  Ick.

My house is getting some remodeling.  I’m cleaning out and throwing away.  I’ve found some saved treasures and  found a lot of  trash. When Jesus taught about cleaning house, He warned that just throwing out what makes it dirty doesn’t guarantee cleanliness.

 "What happens when an evil spirit comes out of a man? It goes through dry areas looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'  When it arrives there, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.  Then the evil spirit goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there. That man is worse off than before." (Luke 11:24-26 NIrV)

Space will be filled with something, even if it’s just dust.  My cabinet was full of a few really necessary items and a lot of rubbish and dirt.  When this remodel is over, I must fill the space only with what is good and useful.

This remodel will be an event.  Keeping my house clean and clear afterwards will be a continued process.

Salvation is an event.  Being made holy is a process.  “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14 NIV)

I will never arrive at a time where maintenance is not necessary.  Never, this side of eternity, will I be able to just do nothing, if I want a clean house and a clean heart.

Keep hydrated...

A few short weeks ago, water covered much of the land just a few miles from our home.  Roads were closed, bridges washed out, homes destroyed, lives lost…all because of rainwater.

Today, I drove thru that same area.  The land is no longer standing in water.  The fields are plowed but they look different somehow.

We had water standing around our house those days ago, but there’s no water now.  No moisture at all in fact.  The grass is parched, we have dust instead of mud.  The grass is still a shade of green but it too, looks different somehow.

Living in the fallen world, we are reminded over and over that it is no longer a paradise.  Our garden days ended with the eating of the forbidden fruit, the knowledge of evil was chosen, and the rest is the history we are living out.

Rain is a blessing, but can be a curse.  We need water to survive, but water can kill.  Oh for a perfect balance!

My spiritual life is often a bit like this weather scenario.  There are times when my cup runs over with His filling Presence.  Other times, my spirit is dry and thirsty.

Tonight, I feel very thirsty.   Like David, “ On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.”   (Psalm 63:6 TNIV)

Like a strong willed child, I have to learn the hard way so often.  “I got this” seems to be my mantra.  Until failure comes that is.

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.   I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.” (Psalm 63:1,2 TNIV)

Tonight, I purpose to seek Him.   FIRST.  I purpose to pour out all else that fills me, inviting and expecting Him to fill me up to overflowing.  I ask to be so filled that His blessing splashes over to bless someone else.

In my sleepless night, I count the times of His faithfulness.  I praise Him for His provision.  I have experienced His Presence and power.  The reason my spirit is parched is not because of any lacking on His part, my spirit is thirsty because I do not come and drink.

Tonight, I feast.  No more parched ground,  “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. “ (Psalm 63:5 NIV)

Hallelujah.