It appears spring is right around the corner, knocking on the door, skipping up the walk, coming in for a landing, you get the picture. It's just about here! No one, anywhere on the face of the planet could possibly be more ready for it's arrival than I am. Winter has finally broke my yuckometer! The calendar may say spring doesn't officially start till March 20th, but I've got flowers blooming all over the place. Since it's my first spring in the new house I am just now discovering what my yard contains. I have to admit, I had no idea what some of those flowers were. I decided, I didn't have to know their names in order to enjoy them.
Spring brings my thought to other things as well, things such as baseball! I dearly love my baseball. It doesn't matter if it's the majors, college, high school, little league, or simply a thrown together game among friends. There's just nothing like it for me. It's a source of distress for me that, since moving from Atlanta last summer, I can no longer watch the Braves play. One of the boys was a great ball player. I so enjoyed watching him play. I loved the sights and sounds, the smell of the field, the dust, the bad concession stand food, just about everything! Mumbles didn't start out a star player, in fact, when he started at age 10 he really kind of stunk at it! (don't dare tell him I said that!) He stuck with it, he persevered and, eventually, after a lot of hard work, the natural athletic ability God gifted him with won out. He just needed time to develop it.
I was talking with a young person last night, trying to explain something to him with an allegory, and I was, once again, drawn back to the ball field. I realized, as we talked about spiritual giftings and talents, something amazing. Mumbles always had everything he needed to be a great ball player inside him, but he had to access it, he had to develop it, he had to apply himself, put in the work, then he saw the results. It's a common saying that everything about the giant oak is contained within the acorn. This is a little like that premise. I believe we are born with gifts and talents. They can lie dormant for years, or forever, or we can seek them out, discover them and set our hearts to develop them. They are there, trust me on that.
In Judges 6 we find the story of Gideon. Some would say he was not the brightest candle on the cake, yet he still shined before the Lord. He was the one hiding in the winepress threshing wheat. (what was up with that?!?) The angel of the Lord appear to him and called him a mighty man of valor. What?!? Did God realized this "mighty man of valor" was the one hiding from the bad guys? He wasn't working his land bravely, daring the Midianites to mess with him. Nope, he was the one screwing up the winepress with the mess of threshing wheat so he could have a little bread without anyone knowing. (what was he going to do when it was time to use the winepress again and it was filled with the tiny, nasty bits of chaff left by the wheat?? but that's another story for another time) If you read the rest of his story you will see he did, indeed, go on to lead the Israelites to an amazing victory over their enemies, but it would be hard to believe by the way it started. In verse 6 Gideon is given a direction from the angel. The angel tells him to "go in the strength you have". I have heard this taught that we step out in what we have and God will supply the rest, and that is so correct, but I believe there is something more, as well.
As sons and daughters of God we have each been endowed with certain strengths and abilities and callings. Many people never develop those gifts and some never even know they are there. That doesn't change the fact they are. If Mumbles had chosen to never play baseball, to never develop that athletic gift he has been given, it wouldn't change the fact the seed of that ability was in him. It would have laid dormant his entire life.
We have, within us, the seed, of whatever is needed, to fulfill the destiny God has for us. God told Gideon to go in the strength he had. God saw what He had put within Gideon, that seed of strength, of faith, of obedience, he would need in order to follow through with God's plan for his life. It was already there in seed form, Gideon just didn't know it yet, but God never doubted it. God didn't expect Gideon to drop the bunches of wheat and march right out and slay the bad guys all by himself. It was a process. He had to walk step by step with God while that strength, that calling, was developed. In the end, Gideon became what he always was, a mighty man of valor. The only difference was, when it was all over, God was not the only one who could see it.
What seed are you hiding or hiding from? I don't think Gideon was day dreaming of delivering his nation from their evil oppressors as he hid in the winepress trying to come up with a biscuit for his gravy. I think he was trying to survive, but life is about more than simply surviving. Life is about growing, learning, developing what is within us already in order to fulfill our God given destiny and impact the world for the kingdom of Light.
Today I will ask God to give me His eyes, in only for a moment, to see myself as He sees me. What seeds has he planted inside? What destiny does he have for me? What gifts have I left lying dormant? I'm gonna do a little spiritual gardening, if you will. So come on by. I'll be here with trowel in hand! I just hope I don't run into too many bugs, but that's tomorrow's post!
Soaked in His blessings,
Spokenfor
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Dismount, the horse is dead!!!
Hello Monday. I haven't seen you in a week or so and I must say our time apart has been pleasant for me. No offense, it just seems you always have more on your schedule for me to do than is humanly possible. I don't mean to be rude, but it may be time for us to see other people. I'm just saying......
What a busy weekend it was! I'm sure this has contributed to my dislike of today. I didn't get to sleep in Saturday and my Sunday afternoon nap was less than stellar. Add to both of those the fact that I didn't bed down last night till sometime this morning and you have a recipe for a very grouchy mom. On the up side, I was up so late last night because I was reading a book I simply couldn't put down. You may have heard of it. "The Shack". I only have one thing to say.... AMAZING! If you haven't read it, get up from your computer, get in your car, drive to your closest store and buy it! You won't be disappointed.
How did it get to be Tuesday already?? I was just resting my eyes and, BAM! It's Tuesday! This week is not progressing the way I had intended it to. I am without a vehicle, carless, non-transportation endowed, walking, hoofing it, on foot, sans carriage, you get the picture. I can't go nowhere! WAHHH! It seems J's beloved truck has serious issues. They told us at the shop it would take way more to fix it than it's worth. Undaunted, J found someone else to take a look at it in the hopes they can work a miracle. I. Am. So. Over. It. Buy a new one, already! I am trying to be patient, but I must admit, I do not understand men and their attachment to their vehicles. After 11 years, you would think he would have had enough of it. I say it's time to give it a proper burial and go looking for a new mistress, uhhh, I mean truck.
How many times have we held on to something we loved refusing to let God give us something better? Just like that old truck, I have things in my life that have been there for years, not so nice things, things that don't work too well for me, things that aren't all that pretty to look at. Yet, I am comfortable with them, they are known to me. I know how they handle on the curves and how much gas they use, they are simply a part of the fabric of my life. However true all this may be, if I will trust God, he has something infinitely better. My goal will be to re-examine my life to see what else I have been holding on to while God has been holding something else, so much better, out to me. Am I driving around in a spiritual rattle-trap when I could be buzzing through life in a sweet little ride? Am I holding on to something that simply guzzles fuel and costs me an arm and a leg to work with simply because I am familiar with it? Things once useful sometimes reach the end of that usefulness and it's time to let go. Are you still serving on that committee just because you have always done it? Are you still teaching that class, singing in the choir, being a part of that ministry team simply because you are comfortable with it? Once again my message is move on! Step out! Try something new! You might just be surprised what God has for you. It's hard to receive something when your hands are full of something else already. So, empty your hands. Then wait and see what God gives you back.
Don't be afraid of change, sometimes it's hard, but, when it comes from our heavenly Father, it's always good. Meanwhile, I'll be here. Of course I'll be here, I can't go anywhere else till J brings my car back! So if you see me walking down the street, have pity and pick me up. I'm too old to be hoofing it!
Soaked in His blessings,
Spokenfor
What a busy weekend it was! I'm sure this has contributed to my dislike of today. I didn't get to sleep in Saturday and my Sunday afternoon nap was less than stellar. Add to both of those the fact that I didn't bed down last night till sometime this morning and you have a recipe for a very grouchy mom. On the up side, I was up so late last night because I was reading a book I simply couldn't put down. You may have heard of it. "The Shack". I only have one thing to say.... AMAZING! If you haven't read it, get up from your computer, get in your car, drive to your closest store and buy it! You won't be disappointed.
How did it get to be Tuesday already?? I was just resting my eyes and, BAM! It's Tuesday! This week is not progressing the way I had intended it to. I am without a vehicle, carless, non-transportation endowed, walking, hoofing it, on foot, sans carriage, you get the picture. I can't go nowhere! WAHHH! It seems J's beloved truck has serious issues. They told us at the shop it would take way more to fix it than it's worth. Undaunted, J found someone else to take a look at it in the hopes they can work a miracle. I. Am. So. Over. It. Buy a new one, already! I am trying to be patient, but I must admit, I do not understand men and their attachment to their vehicles. After 11 years, you would think he would have had enough of it. I say it's time to give it a proper burial and go looking for a new mistress, uhhh, I mean truck.
How many times have we held on to something we loved refusing to let God give us something better? Just like that old truck, I have things in my life that have been there for years, not so nice things, things that don't work too well for me, things that aren't all that pretty to look at. Yet, I am comfortable with them, they are known to me. I know how they handle on the curves and how much gas they use, they are simply a part of the fabric of my life. However true all this may be, if I will trust God, he has something infinitely better. My goal will be to re-examine my life to see what else I have been holding on to while God has been holding something else, so much better, out to me. Am I driving around in a spiritual rattle-trap when I could be buzzing through life in a sweet little ride? Am I holding on to something that simply guzzles fuel and costs me an arm and a leg to work with simply because I am familiar with it? Things once useful sometimes reach the end of that usefulness and it's time to let go. Are you still serving on that committee just because you have always done it? Are you still teaching that class, singing in the choir, being a part of that ministry team simply because you are comfortable with it? Once again my message is move on! Step out! Try something new! You might just be surprised what God has for you. It's hard to receive something when your hands are full of something else already. So, empty your hands. Then wait and see what God gives you back.
Don't be afraid of change, sometimes it's hard, but, when it comes from our heavenly Father, it's always good. Meanwhile, I'll be here. Of course I'll be here, I can't go anywhere else till J brings my car back! So if you see me walking down the street, have pity and pick me up. I'm too old to be hoofing it!
Soaked in His blessings,
Spokenfor
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