The Laundry

       There it was, my defenseless clothing being pulled under by that bully in the white tub of my basement, you know, the one with the really aggressive sounding name.  Ah, that’s right, it’s called the agitator.  Its sole purpose in life is to agitate the dirty laundry so as to help promote their cleaning.  (Whoever thought that something with such negative connotations could work out something so beneficial?)

       You ever try to avoid a little lesson the Lord’s trying to whisper in your ear?  This was one of them…  Okay, okay, so a little agitation in my life might bring out some good in me; knock a few chips off my shoulders, jiggle some of the dirt out of my fabric…  Just remember Lord, if I were constantly in the agitator I would become threadbare; it would wear me out!  I get the point though.

       When I was young I was pretty judgmental.  It was the ‘agitator’ of infertility that knocked some of that off and helped me to learn compassion for others who are all struggling in their own trials of life.  Big- necessary lesson!!!  Waiting so many years for children helped me learn a lot about myself, my own weaknesses, and my lack of true faith in which I had previously thought myself so strong.  It also assisted me in understanding our sovereign Lord.  Every trial I have been through has agitated more and more ‘dirt’ out of my life, thereby becoming a beneficial factor in my journey.

       I do not find it enjoyable or a thrill when facing trials and tribulation, and I often still try to convince the Lord to ‘snap His fingers’ and get me out of it, but eventually (usually after the fact) I realize it has caused me to grow and change by shaking more dirt out of me.  The end result of walking through the mess with or without the Lord is change.  I just think that with the Lord there is more opportunity for positive growth.  He will use the bad for good* and help us become the people He wants us to be**.  Hence my lessons in laundry are welcomed.

Lord, help me to remain in Your peace when I face adversity in my journey….

and to remember You walk with me as I face all the agitators- whether things or people- that work more of the grime out of my life.

*Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  KJV

**Rom 5:2b-5  …we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be.  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials for we know that they are good for us- they help us learn to be patient.  And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.  Then when that happens, we are able to hold out heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us…

Value

{A little preamble here.  This is an older piece writing that I'd like to share from my heart to yours.

It is my thoughts based on the line "There's no way to measure what You're worth" from the song

Above All by Michael W. Smith.}

       What we give the most time, thought, and effort towards is usually that which is of most value to us.  Our first car, our first house, our friends, our family, our spouse, and our children tend to be the things we highly value.  These are the things that consume our lives.  How far would we go to protect our car, our house, and further still to protect those that we love?

       Our first car will break down, our first house will constantly demand maintenance, and our loved ones will fail us in unthinkable ways.  Yet still, these are what we highly value.  Over the years, the value of these things has faded to me.  Even food, water, and the basic necessities of life no longer seem important.  The air I breathe only serves one purpose for even it is sustained by my Lover’s hand.  My heart beats for Him, and my flesh lives another day for Him.  I am here today because of Him.  He has given me a life with Him that I never even dreamed of.

       When I consider what I would do for Him, I imagine that I could stand up for Him, I think I would fight for Him, and I even guess that I would die for Him.  These things seem a paltry sum to give back to Him for all He has done for me.  You see, life holds little value when your greatest desire is to be forever face to face with the Lord.  For me, the greatest challenge is to live the life that He desires me to live; to wake up again, knowing it is just another day I’ll not see Him face to face.  To wake up and realize once more that I won’t be in His literal arms, and that I cannot kiss His sweet lips, and still I must do what He has called me to do.

       How do you put a value on something so priceless, and how do you measure infinity.  There is no way, for He is worth more to me than even I can imagine.

Creativity

       Creativity was there at the beginning of time.  Gen. 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created…”  That very sentence shows God as the Creator* who sets into motion the universe and mankind.  Now, I’ve heard many people say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body”, but I don’t believe that for a minute.  If God is creative as our Creator, and we are made in His image**, then it is only logical that we- each man and woman- are creative as well.  Perhaps the problem lies within our perceptions of what creativity is.

       A condensed definition of creativity is the ability to make or bring into existence something new through imaginative skill or to improve a thing, and while there is ‘no new thing under the sun’ (Eccl. 1:9) this likeness shows up in us in a variety of ways.  For some it is visually artistic such as painting, crafting, cooking, dancing, sculpting, decorating, music, writing, movie making, photography and many more ways most people accept creativity.  I believe every one of us has some form of creativity.  Here’s a list of creativity we don’t usually consider:

Unique car in Windsor.  It works- I saw it drive away!



-Mathematicians who can put formulas together to accomplish tasks I can’t imagine.

-Farmers who figure out when to plant, harvest, and how to do it for the best yields.

-‘Homemakers’ with ability to organize an entire family and/or save money.

-Planners of:  buildings, weddings, companies, moulds, electrical/plumbing, etc.

-Custodians/housekeepers who clean and keep things running properly within time limits.

-Beauty professional who can help someone improve their looks.

-Drainage experts who figure out the best way to ensure proper flow for all concerned.

-Workers who figure out efficient production, or how to improve conditions/products. -Hospitality shown in meeting the needs of one’s guests.
-Friends who connect to others in exceptional ways.

       Decorating and cooking may not be my artistic outlet, but I express my creativity in ways unique to me.  We all do, and that is what is so great about life.  God created each of us to be distinctive and we all serve diverse purposes in this world.  How wonderfully creative of Him!



*Is. 40:28  … that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth…

**Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Six Days of What?

       It was 1989 and we had just received the crushing news that we would never be able to become parents naturally.  At first it was not too bad.  After all, I had a God who was more than capable of any miracle needed, and He loved me ‘cause I’m His little girl’.  Month after month I believed He would do a miraculous healing and we would conceive, and month after month the evidence proved otherwise and a few days of depression would ensue.  After a year my faith failed and I shut out my Lord.  Why didn’t He heal?  Why didn’t He hear my cry?  I had so many whys.

       For my husband and myself, it was a very long wait to have children, well over six years from when we wanted to start and it certainly didn’t arrive the way we expected.  It took a homestudy, exposing our pasts and present, a few thousand dollars, and A LOT of waiting to finally have a daughter bless our lives.  We did not enjoy the wait; nobody I know loves to wait, but at some point of our lives we all have to do it. 

       So, I’m reading this morning in Exodus about Moses.  He and a bunch of people went up into the mountain, they saw God, and they ate.  (Ex. 24:9-11)  God commanded Moses to come to Him and so Moses and Joshua went up. (v. 13)  One question of many I have for this part of scripture is this:  it says, “And the glory of the Lord rested upon Mt. Sinai and the cloud covered it six days; the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud.” (v. 16 TLB)  So… God calls Moses up, and then what...  He makes Moses wait. 

(It totally blows away the ‘and God rested on the seventh day’ thing!)

       What did Moses do for those six days?  He’d just seen God, ate in front of Him, gets called up and goes to Him just to wait around for the next- oh, um, 6 days or 144 hours.  Did he pray and fast?  Did he rest and relax?  Did he shoot the fat with Joshua and build campfires?  Did he sit there wondering what God was waiting for?  Was he impatient at waiting, or was he calm and cool?  I guess I won’t know until I meet him, but I do know it was worth the wait.  Moses was in the presence of God forty days and nights while God gave him direction.  Who wouldn’t love that?

       I hope someday to trust my Lord so completely that I can wait patiently whenever He wants me to wait.

Is. 40:31- But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.  KJV

Certainty

       When we are young children we believe our parents are right about everything they say; they seem to be the smartest people in the world.  As we increase our knowledge from outside sources we realize that sometimes there are others who know more than Mom or Dad.  Then as teenagers we often think our parents don’t know anything at all and so surely they couldn’t possibly understand anything we are going through.  Eventually we go out into the world on our own and we realize that Mom and Dad knew more than we gave them credit for.

       All through this cycle we thought we knew the truth, but it was based on our perceptions, our parents’ beliefs, or facts that we were taught through the educational system whether true or false.  Though science is a good thing, I have heard these two things stated.  Science is based around the current best explanation of an event given current facts observed.  That means basically scientific truths are always changing.  (seems unreliable to me)  Also, science isn't truth and it isn't certainty.  So if this is true, how can we trust what we currently hear or read?

       Now I will make a bold statement knowing that I have lived only a breath of time and with limited knowledge at that.  I say the Word of God (Jesus and the Bible*) is the Truth and we can be certain that eventually over time it will all (past, present, or future) be proven true.  In my brief existence it is proven more accurate yearly.  The disciple Luke wrote his book so that “you may know the certainty concerning the words which you were taught.”

The definition of certainty states:  Something that is 1a- fixed or settled, 1b- proved to be true 2- particular, 3- dependable, reliable, 4a- inevitable, 4b- incapable of failing, 5- assured in mind or action on the basis of objective evidence.  (Webster’s 9^th Dictionary)

       I really like the definition of certainty.  In which other person than Jesus can we rely?  In which other book can we find such certainty?  Not our history books which are biased based on our perceptions, nor our science books based on current theories, but the Word of God** which hasn’t changed in over 2000 years.  Another world ‘wise’ saying is: the only thing certain is uncertainty.  Well I surely don’t want to live life with such ambiguity!  My trust can only be given to that which is trustworthy.

I don’t want to base my life on a lie or misperception.  I want to base it on certain Truth.

That means Jesus… and the Word.

*John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

**1 Thes. 2:13  …when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God…

2 Tim. 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. KJV



In His Presence

In Your presence, in Your presence

There is peace

In Your presence, in Your presence

There is joy

I will linger, I will stay

In Your presence day by day

Till Your likeness can be seen in me

       This is an old song I haven’t been able to get out of my head since yesterday- you know how that happens.  I tried to find out who wrote it, but the internet pages I checked out gave no answer other than anonymous.  It must have been someone who loved the Lord and wanted to spend time with Him, but also realized that His presence changes us*.  It should change us.

       When I look in my mirror, it’s not Jesus I see.  My face doesn’t glow like Moses or even some Christians I know.  The face that stares back at me has dark circles around the eyes, thinning hair and pores that should have improved by my age but haven’t (can you say acne!).  None of that physical stuff bugs me because it is just my shell and I expect it to age.  In fact, I take pride in the few gray hairs I have as they show I have survived this long! 

       What concerns me is my eyes.  Some days I see such sadness in them, and I know that it comes from the trials I have endured that have changed my life, mostly for the better but there are things that linger…  Other days I see weariness and I wonder how I will ever get through the next stage of this journey.  Then there are days when joy shines through and I think, “I need more days like this…”  But no matter what I see in the mirror, it is still not Jesus.  (Well, maybe there’s some similarity of facial hair. lol)

       I guess in the long run it doesn’t matter what I see, I mean, do we really see ourselves impartially anyway?  It doesn’t matter how others see us although we are to live our lives as best we can so as not to cause others to reject Christ because of our poor behaviour.  What really matters is how God sees us, and I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think He cares if our face glows.  He does care what’s in our hearts**. 

       Moreover shouldn’t we want to have His likeness be seen in us?  How else will the world find Him in such dark times?  We do want them to be saved, don’t we?  Then we have to be willing to put in some effort, even if that effort is finding time to spend in God’s presence- not always easy but soooo worth it!  It not only refocuses our eyes on Him instead of all the worldly cares around us***, but also changes our inner man.

Lord, help us all spend time in Your presence, and while we are there, change us to be like You.

*2Cor 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. NIV Rom 8:29,  Gal. 4:19

**Heb. 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. NLT

1 Chr. 28:9 …for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. NKJV

***Rom. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJV