Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Oh, MY!

Driving through the woods last year, on a vacation with my daughter and her husband, I sat in the back seat enjoying the beauty of God's world all around me. Looking out the window lazily, I was startled to see a huge black mass of fur strolling through the trees, sure enough, as if he owned the place! Right in front of me was a living, breathing, black bear, on whose land I believe we were trespassing! 

I had seen wood carvings in all of the tourist shops in the area that proudly announced to the tourists, "You are in BEAR territory!" As a city girl, I found it mildly amusing, didn't take it too seriously. I had heard many a bear story, but, to me they were little more than myth. Until I looked one right in the eye. I held my breath as he stopped the traffic while he sauntered across the road. Crossing directly in front of our car, he turned and looked in the front window, as if sizing us up as tourists not worth eating today (thank the Lord!). I believe he was more interested in going fishing in the twinkling waters of the stream that wound itself around the trees and rocks that were strewn like so much confetti all along the side of the road. This was God's creation, A world of extravagant beauty splashing and shouting its abandon all around us. 

That's me in the back seat!

I treasure the memory of that sweet interlude in my life, provided by God through the hands and generosity of my daughter and her husband. I delighted in the beauty of the world they had given me an opportunity to see. The gorgeous beauty of the trees, changing their clothes to fit the season - sometimes, ruby red, sometimes glittering gold, sometimes fading green, or popsicle orange, on their way to the forest floor to sleep before the winter snows blanketed the world. 

There were only about 3 or 4 of us in the church as one of the ladies visiting, like us,
sat down at the old, rickety piano, and sang Amazing Grace with the voice of an angel.
I remember thinking of all of the believers who had worshipped and died and were buried in the back of the church, who were now in heaven witnessing that their church is still being used for God's praises, hundreds of years later.  Amazing, indeed...

I remember with great affection the loveliness of that sweet vacation. The beautiful little church from the 19th century where I was one of a tiny gathering of spectators to a choir of one who sat down at the old church piano and filled the hills with her beautiful voice, singing Amazing Grace. I treasure the memory of the evening my son-in-law drove high up into the hills on a night that showcased the stars like diamonds freely thrown about against a blackened sky. Simply breathtaking is the beauty of the world God has created!

"The heavens declare the glory of God
and the firmament displays His handiwork..."
Psalm 1:1

There are countless memories I have from that time with my children. But of all the memories and wonders I treasure, the one that warms me like a fire on a cold and snowy night, is the memory of the love so freely and joyfully bestowed on me with such abandon. Loving each other extravagantly, and letting their love splash all over me, was really the greatest gift I received from these two co-conspirators in love and generosity toward me.  

Many are the wonders of God's creation.  From the breathtaking beauty of the world He created and freely gave to us, to the beautiful voices raised to sing His praise, to the majesty of the wildlife, fish jumping in the sparkling spring waters, black furry bears strolling on their way to somewhere, yes, of all of these wonders, there is one even more captivating to me. The wonder of love that bursts out of our hearts for another.  The sweet, life changing gift of love, from the One who says He is Love itself.

What a joy to have sat down at the banquet table of the Lord with my daughter and her husband, who served me up heaping portions of His love, and never left a tab.  Yes, I enjoyed everything I saw. But, mostly, I loved watching you. Sharing with you.  Being loved by you.  Did you know you are, to me, a reflection of the best there is in this world?  Did you know, I was basking in your love?  If not, I'm telling you now...

Amen... :)

Whatever is Pure...

“Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true,

whatever is noble,

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

think about such things.” 

Phillipians 4:8  NIV

“Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep… “   Remembering that sweet, child’s prayer, I am laying down the burdens of the day along with my weary bones, seeking from the Lord a good night’s rest.  This day has been long and my mind is full of pictures I would rather erase.  Written in red permanent marker on my heart, I find it hard to escape the visual replay and the tape recorded messages running through my mind.  In a fit of rage that knows no boundaries and bows to no god but self, we fling our stony words about as if they are landing on steel poles that have no feelings and bear no scars.

The problem is, we are flesh and blood persons, with hearts that break and bleed and carry the scars for a lifetime.  What are we doing when we disregard the boundaries of kindness with our words and throw them to the wind, not caring where they land or how they wound?  We were made in the image of our God, tenderhearted and pure, seeking always the best in each of us and not willing to tolerate evil.  We were never made to hear or speak the vile, often, cruel verbal attacks that erupt all around us in today's world.  I wonder, if unkind words can wound us so deeply, what do they do to the heart of God, who is the very essence of Love?

We live in a time when anything goes, and that includes what we speak.  Verbal abuse is rampant.  It is laughed at on T.V. programs, as if degrading another person, made in the image of God, is an entertaining sport.  And yet, there is something so deeply ingrained in our spirit that, I believe, hiding beneath the false façade of toughness to the point of brutality, we long for something better.  We are instinctively drawn to the loving kindness of the Lord.  He keeps seeking us, drawing us, reminding us, that we are made for something better.  We are made for Him.

As I seek His face at the end of a difficult day, I pray this simple prayer.  “Lord, tell me something good, tell me something true, tell me something pure, tell me something lovely, tell me something worthy of praise… Tell me that You love me.  Tell me that You understand.  Tell me about Jesus…”

 

 

With Lovingkindness Have I Drawn You...

"The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying,
Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love;
Therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn you..."
Jeremiah 31: 3

If God is Good is the title of a new book by Randy Alcorn. I am wading my way through this challenging book and hope to bring to this blog some of the issues he discusses regarding the very human questions we ask when we encounter evil. 

If God is Good, the skeptic will say, how can there be evil in the world? If He is all powerful, why doesn't He intervene? If He loves us, how can He allow us to suffer? We can avoid the questions and throw scriptures at the dissenter to silence them, but, when suffering hits us directly, when pain overwhelms our senses, when unimagined evil invades our own lives, we struggle to find an answer that calms our fears and satisfies our trembling heart.

For anyone who has suffered from pain and suffering without understanding why; for those who have suffered the severing of a relationship that was more precious than life; for those who have never experienced the joy of human love that was their birthright; for those who cannot even imagine a God who loves them, I hope to bring to this blog the reality of God's unspeakable love for you, no matter what.

I do not speak to you from “above the fray.” I speak to you as one who has been there myself. I have had my own struggles, my own fears, my own doubts. I have wondered, especially regarding children, how could a loving God allow a child to be born to abusive parents? If God is love, where is He when an innocent child is trashed and beaten by the very parents that were supposed to protect him? Where is God? He knew before hand that this would happen in this child's life. Why did He allow it? Would it not have been better for the child to never have been born? Pro-abortion proponents have used this as an argument to end the life of the child. Even Job, in the depths of his suffering, cried out that he should never have been born. (Job 3:1)

As I was wrestling with my own doubts recently, I asked God that very question, He shocked me with His answer. “I looked beyond the pain and saw a child I would call My own...” That's what He told me. He so deeply wanted a love relationship with the child that He gave him the opportunity to breath – to live – to find God along the way and fall head over heals in love with Him. To have a love relationship with the Father that transcends any evil that he/she would ever experience in this life. To live with Him, in the shelter of His love forever, no matter what happens this side of heaven.

Does God see us when we are abused, rejected, treated with cruelty by those we thought would love us? Does He care? Or, is He the author of the abuse? I believe He sees us and He loves us more than we can even begin to understand. He is with us in it all. He is irrevocably on our side. He is praying for us. He is drawing us closer and closer to Himself. Sometimes, it is exactly because of the pain that we begin to turn to Him for comfort in our agony.

This is not a fairy tale. This is Truth speaking to us over the Lie. This is the triumph of good over evil. Of love over hate. Of hope over despair. This is the God who loves you...