Insignificance

       It was a warm, dark night and I was lying outside on a blanket in the quiet countryside underneath the starry sky.  Though the only two constellations I recognize are the big and little dipper, it is still beautiful to behold God’s wondrous creation.  After a while, the stars began to mesmerize me and it felt like I was drifting higher and higher into the stars; it was like I could see the universe so immense, like I’d never seen it before.  It was amazing.  All of a sudden I understood just how small I was.

 

        I am hundreds of thousands of times smaller than the earth, which itself is thousands of times smaller than our sun, which is only a small part of our solar system, and we’ve never even seen all the galaxies in the universe yet.  (It would be interesting to ask a mathematician to guesstimate just how small man is…)  I imagine standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon might have the same effect as what happened with the stars- a realization of man’s smallness.

       One could almost feel man’s insignificance looking out into vast spaces in our universe considering how diminutive man is, but there is a God in heaven who doesn’t think we are unimportant.  In fact, this same (and only living God- Jer. 10:10) created the universe with words (Gen. 1) from His mouth… that’s how powerful He is.  This same God took the time to form (yatsar- meaning to mould or squeeze into shape and implies using His hands) man out of the earth (Gen. 2:7) and plant him a garden (Gen. 2:8) to live in.  And that’s the same God who wants to come and live with us*.  Who me? Yes, you, and me, and anyone else who will invite Him in (Rev. 3:20).

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure (purpose, inclination) they are and were created.  Rev. 4:11

*…for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 2 Cor. 6:16 ASV

       You are significant, important, and valuable to the God who created the universe, so no matter how small your stature in all of creation, be at peace.  Look at the immensity of the universe, consider how small you are, but remember there is a God in heaven (Dan. 2:28) who has created you for a purpose (Rev. 4:11) and top of the list of your purpose is to walk with and dwell with Him.  How awesome is that?

Insignificant in the universe, but significant to Almighty God!

          Thank You Father!

Who’s Worried?

       In the first hour:  “Where was hubby?  Oh, maybe he’s late because he was talking to someone and then he stopped at the store.”  The second hour:  “Hmmm... I wonder if something went wrong with the van.  Maybe he’s stuck at work or at a store and can’t call home for some reason.”  The third hour:  “Okay, where is he?  He’s never this late, especially after the midnight shift.  Did he have any health problems after all he’s diabetic and had a heart attack in 2010?  What if something really bad happened?  I just wish I knew what was going on.”  Not long after, hubby walked through the door and had a very logical reason for having stayed out later than usual.

       1998ish- It’d been about a week, and my mom and I were on a driving vacation in Texas.  The scenery was great and I was enjoying myself, although constantly concerned over what could go wrong- especially with an old vehicle- AND my mother.  Would the van hold up or experience a break down?

       Unfortunately, my mom is not good with unplanned circumstances, or problems that occur in unfamiliar territory.  Driving down a long and hot country road I heard a bang, and the car pulled to the right.  Getting off on the shoulder I checked the vehicle and found a blown out tire.  We emptied the trunk (a necessity), changed the tire, and continued on our journey… to the nearest tire store.

       In both cases I was a little concerned, troubled, anxious, or worried, whichever word you would use.  In the first case, all my worrying did nothing but contribute to disturbing my peace and joy, while keeping my mind on things opposite to Php. 4:8 (true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue, praise) of which we are to think on.  Basically, it was all for nothing in the first case, because my hubby was safe and sound and all was fine.  Actually, it was all for nothing in the second case as well.  Worrying didn’t change the fact that something DID go wrong and needed to be dealt with.

So never worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Mt. 6:34 ISV

       Worrying about tomorrow serves no useful purpose other than to worsen our day today- for no reason.  What’s gonna happen is gonna happen, worry or not.  So how do we stop ourselves from worrying?  Basically, worry is a lack of trust- in God.  If we fully trust God to take care of us and our families (1Pt. 5:7), if we truly believe He is out for our good (Ps. 73:1), and if we trust (Pr. 3:5) no matter what happens, He will help us through and be with us in it (Is. 43:2,3), then we will not worry most of the time, and those times we do, we will remember to give it to Him.

Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you. 1Pt. 5:7 ISV

In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Php 4:6,7 ASV

Thank You Lord that You never leave us alone in the troubles of this life, but You walk with us through them day by day.  Help us all to trust You more!

Promises, Promises

       There were two things I tried to do when my children were growing up: never intentionally lie to them and never make a promise I couldn’t keep, which usually meant saying I would do the best I could.  Despite my best efforts, I still managed to not do some of the things I said I would, things were forgotten, and often out of my control.  Yes, I said I would be there in time, but the car wouldn’t start…  I failed in the way all humans fail- we can’t know everything that is going to happen.

       As I was listening to a speaker today, I was imagining God Almighty in front of a long measuring ruler; on one end is the beginning of the earth and humanity, and the other is eternal life in heaven, and in between are all the days of humanity.  There He is looking at the entire thing, start to finish, and He sees it all while I am just seeing a few days of it- barely a millimeter’s worth!  This is why God is the one person in the universe who can keep all His promises… (2Cor. 1:20)   without fail… (Dt. 31:6)  

ever!         

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true…  Rev. 22:1-6

       Almighty God has prepared a beautiful place for us, full of life and light.  There is scrumptious fruit, and healing there with no more curse on the earth or in our bodies.  No longer will we wonder what He looks like, for we will finally see His face, and bear His name on our foreheads.  Revelation 21 and 22 record many wonderful things in store for us, His children.  How do we know?  Because God sees them already; in His eyes they are already accomplished.  His promises to us, especially of our future which He has prepared, will not fail.

And he said unto me,

These sayings are faithful and true!

      (Rev. 22:6)

Who’s Will

       When they were younger, my kids eventually learned an important lesson- never ask mom anything that started with the word ‘can’ otherwise she’d usually answer “I don’t know.  Are you able to ____?”  So it was on occasion that the word ‘may’ became a frustrating word.  “I’m hungry, may I have candy? (No) May I have ice cream? (No) May I have a freezee? (No) May I have chips, or cheesies? (No)…”  Now, of course they had all these foods occasionally, but every time they asked would have done harm to their young bodies.  You and I know that nutritiously deficient foods are to be eaten sparingly if you want your children to remain healthy through their lives.

       But we all have that little kid inside of us wanting the good things in life just because they taste, feel, look, smell, and sound good or because they make us look or feel good.  God, on the other hand, is like the parent who is out for His child’s best interest- whether they want it or not.  You see, He cares very much about our health- all of it, but I’d guess our spiritual health more than the rest.  He is fully aware that the health of our spirit is what will determine our eternal future.  Our bodies can be hurting, and our minds failing, but if our spirit is new in Him, then our future is a healthy one.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 1Jh. 5:14,15

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:  Is. 46:10

       Does this mean that when I asked God to give us a miracle so we could conceive that it was not in His will and that Him not doing it was in my best interest?  It sure does.  For whatever reason, God did not want me to conceive and I can come up with many possible reasons, but the truth is I probably won’t know until I get to heaven.  Yet, we were blessed to adopt, and there are many couples who don’t have that prayer answered the way they wanted.  I think the two most difficult things to understand is when God doesn’t heal someone we love and most especially when that person is our spouse or child.  How could that not be God’s will- after all He loves us and we need this prayer answered the way we want.

       The truth is we don’t know all the past, present and future, but God does; He sees it all (Job 28:24).  We don’t know why He saves one life but allows another to leave this existence.  What we do know is He is fully trustworthy (Ps. 71:5) and cares about us enough to send Jesus to die for us paying our penalty for our sin so that we can be reconciled to Him (Rom. 5:8-11).  We do know He allows things in our lives for our good (Rom. 8:28).  (Tough one to swallow sometimes…)

       So, what do we do about the prayers we say?  There are many things the Bible speaks on that we can pray for knowing they are God’s will for us.  Sometimes He tells us what His will is- for us to pray about it.  Other times when we don’t know, we should just pray for what we want.  No matter how we pray, we should consider adding in ‘if it be your will’, and then actually try to be okay with whatever He decides.  Being in His will, though sometimes painful, is still the most blessed place to be.  I know from experience, and I type here today in a place of peace and joy despite all the prayers in my life that were never answered the way I wanted.

God is good (Ps. 100:5).  We just need to trust in that.

I need to trust in that more!

Going Out With a Bang

       It was 1995 and I was working in a factory on steady midnights.  I had given my two weeks notice as our shift work was not working out for my hubby and I to get any rest with our new baby and we were worn out; so we decided that since he had the better job, I would quit my job to stay home and take care of her.  With two weeks left, I was working just as hard as ever.  The very last day at work, I was rolling a plastic injection mould on a cart over to the maintenance area to be repaired, and this automatic rolling up door caught on the bottom of the cart, flipped it up, and “SLAM” the heavy mould hit the concrete floor.

       The sound was horrendous, and the repercussions of the issue would not be good, but my favorite part (facetiously written) was- what a blessing it was to have people from both sides of the factory watch my embarrassment!  Looking back I guess a lesson in humility is good for a person now and then, but as one who prided herself on work excellence, this was not the way I wanted to increase such an attribute.  Anyway, I guess you could say I went out with a bang!

       Many lessons or things that help us grow in Christian maturity do not come to us the easy way, or at least that’s my experience.  It sometimes takes me a few times banging my head before I realize that I’m not getting any results, and then I just have a headache!  But I’m finding as I get older, that I learn somewhat faster, and the pain of the lesson is relieved much sooner.  Many of the characters we ‘meet’ in the Bible also had opportunities for growth in their journeys.

       Peter learned humility and the untrustworthiness of man after he denied the Lord the night before his execution (Mr. 14) and was overcome with sadness.  Stephen grew in conviction and endurance (Acts 7) and in the end displayed great forgiveness.  Job grew in patience, longsuffering (with his ‘friends’ help) and endurance.  Moses also grew in patience, learned boldness, trust in God, and fortitude and judgment for sin.  Jacob learned the effects of deception (Gen. 29) the difficulties in maintaining family relationships, and endurance through sorrow and loss (Gen. 44:27-29). 

       David grew in knowledge of the evil of man’s heart, man’s penchant for sin (2Sm. 12:1) and how sin causes repercussions (several times) even to the loss of a child.  Solomon grew in understanding of the world’s pleasures and wealth being vanity and of no value in the end (Eccl.).  Nebuchadnezzar grew in humility and understanding of the supremeness of Jehovah God (Dan. 4).  Elijah grew in trust for the Lord despite fearing a wicked sovereign and was chastised/ humbled by God when he whined about being the only one serving God (1Kn. 19:14).

       Chastisements and lessons learned the hard way are never what we want, but they serve a vital purpose in our lives, they help us grow, and fruit to abound (2Pt. 1:8).  The Lord chastises those He loves, so if you want Him to love you at all times then you must accept He will chastise you (Heb. 12:6; Pr. 3:12; Rev. 3:19) some of those times as every good parent does.  What’s the worst that could happen anyway…

       Bang!