Blessed are....

 

As with most people, I have a tendency to try to make my world fit neatly into little boxes, or categories, which help me make sense of things. This is true with my understanding of spiritual concepts as well.  Case in point:  I have always read the section in Matthew, known as the Beatitudes, as a list of different categories of people who would receive special blessings from God.  I have always wondered which of these fit me, and which of God’s blessings he is reserving for me.  Then one day, I had an amazing thought:  these are not a list of types of personalities; they are traits that we should all strive to develop within ourselves, or better yet, to allow God to develop within us. And the blessings belong to all who seek to follow God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

 

Here is my rendition of the beatitudes: When we are poor in spirit, recognizing our need for God’s love and cleansing, He reminds us that we are being prepared for life in heaven.  When we are sad and mourning over our losses, He wants us to know that He is our comfort.  When we are feeling unworthy, or meek, He wants us to remember that we do not belong to this world, we are His children, the heirs of everything that he owns, and we have a great inheritance awaiting us.  When we seek Him out and hunger for Godliness in our lives, He guarantees that we will find Him and He will meet our deepest needs.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.

 

When we are forgiving and merciful toward others, regardless of the cost to ourselves, we are guaranteed that God is more than willing to return the same mercy toward us, and even more so.  When we act out of a pure conscience and stand up for the truth, keeping our integrity, and having only right motives for our actions, God will not be ashamed of us, and we will get our reward in actually seeing him, face to face, throughout eternity. When we act toward peace with our families, our coworkers, our neighbors, and even other countries and cultures, We are blessed by being God’s ambassadors, acting as His children would, as we are made like Him.  When everything goes wrong around us, and we are treated unfairly and persecuted for our belief and our actions in following God, He blesses us in the knowledge that we are not citizens of this world, but His countrymen, citizens of Heaven, where things will finally be put right and we shall see glory beyond belief.  Our reward will be more than our wildest dreams can imagine. 

 

So, I see now that God is not stingy with his blessings, saving certain ones for his favorite people and giving the rest of us what is left over.  I am so thankful that God is working in each of us, day by day, one step at a time, and instead of seeking to punish our every misstep, He is cheering us on and showering us with every good blessing.  God is always giving, so that we will have everything we need to be victorious.

 

“And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”  Ephesians 3: 17 – 19, NewLiving Translation.

Blessings

Daily blessings

 

            I have a patient who suffers from dementia.  She has days when she is barely responsive, and others when she is alert and conversant.  Her husband, a very devoted man, comes into the facility every day before breakfast, to sit with his wife and to make sure she gets the best possible start to each day.  He then helps her with her meals and stays with her all day, pushing her around the facility in her wheelchair, talking with her, pointing out the events that are happening around her, and helping her in every way that he can.  He then goes home to rest a bit before starting the whole routine over again the next day.  Oh, how he longs to have her whole again, to take her back home, and to share his love with her the way he used to.  But life has dealt them a difficult hand.  He waits desperately for a miracle.

            Now, when this dear lady first came to us, she was completely closed-in. She did not talk or interact with her environment.  She required total care in all areas.  She often didn’t even seem to be aware of her surroundings.  But, after a few medication changes, nutritional support, and, I believe, much prayer on the part of her husband and the staff at our facility, she has slowly begun to awaken.  She is now talking more, attempting at times to hold a cup or a spoon, and even to stand and take some steps with help. 

            We first noticed the change beginning to take place when some visitors brought in a Chihuahua to show the patients.  Pets do wonders in a nursing home.  They seem to bring out joy in even the grumpiest old codger.  I love to see the older folks interact with their soft, fluffy companions.  Often, after interacting with the animal, they will share stories of their own pets, and it will always bring a smile to their faces. 

            Well, as the visitors placed this tiny dog in the lady’s lap, she smiled and began to speak.  She said that she liked the dog.  It was the first time in a very long time that she had spoken a full sentence.  Her husband was amazed, and took this as a sign that his wife would be healed.  He told her, “If you get well, Honey, I will buy you a dog.”

            This just about broke my heart. I truly believe that God was listening to his prayers and was giving him and his wife nothing short of a miracle, in her ability to recognize and interact with her husband and her environment.  She wasn’t able to do that before.  But she was not completely restored to full health, so he could not see the miracle before him.  He wanted more.

            Isn’t that how we all tend to be?  We ask God for His blessings, and when He gives us what we need, in a package that appears different from what we expect, we are disappointed.  We want God’s blessings in the manner that we desire them, not waiting for Him to work out His will in His way.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could leave our problems in His capable hands and simply thank Him for the blessings He gives, however they come? 

            Take some time this week to note the generous blessings that God has showered down on you.  And then thank him.

 

The Paradox

 

How can we feel so rushed and hurried,

On every matter vexed and worried,

When time can confine us for but a season?

Tomorrow promises eternity and joys beyond reason!

 

How can we sit perplexed and confused

Over changing values and opposing views,

When Your word is truth, and the way is clear?

Your wisdom is sound, for anyone that will hear.

 

How can we rely on our own strength and might

To control our own lives without seeking your light,

When only You know the end from the beginning,

And your plan is the one that ends with us winning?

 

How can we spend our hard-earned wages

On possessions and toys that become like cages,

Entrapping our souls on a quest for more gain,

When we could save for heaven, our work not in vain?

 

How can we give our enemy the power

To distract and confuse us hour by hour,

When we know your love and the joys we’ll share

In heaven, once we join You there?

 

How can we be so slow to understand,

To see the touch of our Creator’s hand,

When all around us the evidence is clear?

You are ever close, so very near.

I wonder what it will be like, when

From beyond, we look back again.

When everything will be crystal clear,

And we finally see we had nothing to fear.

 

How crazy this will all seem then!

All our doubts and concerns that we thought wouldn’t end.

How could we be so foolish and blind,

With so much ahead and nothing behind?

 

Lord, open my eyes to your plan made for me,

I don’t understand; I can’t hear or see

Past the illusions and traps set by my foe

To keep me from heaven, ensnared here below.

 

Fix my eyes on the goal, help me follow the clues

Let me always remember and trust the good news.

Give me wisdom to see past the smokescreen

And strength to believe what is now unseen.

Trust

            I have two dogs, Kendra, and Kiesha.   They are very big dogs, weighing about 85 lbs each.  When they bark, they are really loud, and sometimes they can be scary.  You wouldn’t think these big, strong dogs would be afraid of anything, but they are.

            Not too long ago, the dogs were lying on the back porch.  It had been a clear, sunny day.  As it got closer to evening, the clouds started moving in.  Soon, it became quite dark outside, and we began to hear a rumbling sound.

            We saw lightning flashing in the hills around our house, and the thunder banged so loudly that the house shook.  We were having a summer lightning storm.  There was no rain, and it was warm outside, but it was a storm just the same.

            Our family was inside the house, but the dogs were out on the porch.  (They don’t get to come inside, because they get so excited that they knock over the furniture when they come in).  While we were listening to the sound of the thunder, we also heard something else:  there was a whimpering, whining sound coming from our back porch.  It started to get louder, and then we recognized that it was Kendra howling!  The dogs were afraid of the storm!

            We opened up the back door, so the dogs could see and hear us through the screen.  We told them it was only thunder and that they were safe.  We sat down to watch some television, when all of a sudden Kendra was standing in the living room!  She had pushed her giant head right through the screen, ripping it apart!  We tried to push her back out the door onto the porch, but she wouldn’t budge.  She just shook her head, “No” as we pushed and pointed.  The only way she was going to feel safe was to be in the house with her family.

            That reminds me that we, too, have a place where we can always feel safe.  It is with our Father, God.  We don’t have to go anywhere to look for Him, because He is always right with us, no matter where we are or what is happening.  If we are afraid of the storms in our lives, we can say a prayer to God, and we can be sure that He hears us and is right there with us, keeping us safe.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1). 

The Depths of the Sea

            The majority of the water covering our planet is divided into four major areas:  the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans.  The largest of these is the Pacific Ocean.  About one third of the earth’s surface is found in the Pacific Ocean, which covers an area of 64 million square miles.  This is more area than the entire land surface on earth, and this is just one of the oceans!  The Pacific Ocean is 9,630 miles long at its longest, and 11,000 miles wide at its widest.  This means that if we sailed a boat at 100 miles an hour across the Pacific Ocean, it would take us more than 4 ½ days, without stopping for food or sleep, to cross the ocean, not counting resistance from wind and waves.  Talk about a lot of water!

            The Pacific Ocean has an average depth of 14,000 feet, with the deepest part, the Mariana trench, reaching a depth of 36,198 feet.  This is so deep that the tallest mountain on earth, Mt. Everest, which is 29,035 feet high, could fit into it with 7,000 feet to spare!  Human life cannot survive in the deepest parts of the ocean, nor can most fish.  The pressure of the water can reach up to 1.17 metric tons per cubic centimeter, which is so strong that it can crush submarines!

           Now, imagine that someone dropped a quarter from a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and it landed on the bottom.  Suppose that they then asked you to go get it.  How could you retrieve the quarter?  Assuming you could get a boat and travel all those miles out into the ocean to get to the spot where he dropped the quarter, how could you get it up from the bottom?  You couldn’t swim that deep, even with scuba gear.  There are only a handful of deep sea vessels that can withstand the massive pressure to reach the bottom, and they are not equipped to pick up the coin.  Let’s face it:  the quarter would be lost forever.

            This is great news for us as Christians!  You see, God promises us that when we make mistakes or sin, and we are sorry for our sins, we can ask God to forgive us.  And when we ask Him for forgiveness, He promises to forgive us completely:  “...for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more,” (Jeremiah 31:34, NIV).  Can you believe that God will not remember your sins?  You might remember them, but God will not!  God does not have a problem with His memory; He just chooses not to bring it to mind ever again.

            The Bible tells us that God “...will trample our sins under (His) feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean,” (Micah 7:19, NLT).  So, just like that quarter that is lost forever, our sins will be separated so far away from us that we can never get them back again!  That just shows us how much our awesome God loves us, that He could forgive us like that!

 

Finding joy

I love to go hiking.  At the mere mention of the word, I almost begin to drool, as I run for my shoes:  “A hike?  When?  Where?  What are we waiting for?  Let’s go!”  I feel so close to God, so connected to life, when I am hiking.  It isn’t that I think God is any closer to me; it’s more like I’m less distracted and more able to listen more closely.  My heart is more available to His touch.

            When I am at home or at work, I tend to focus on the minute details of the tasks before me or the needs of others around me.  I ask myself, “What am I supposed to be doing right now?  Who needs my help?”  A thousand things run through my head all at the same time, like a whirlwind:  “Do I have any appointments today?  What am I going to make for dinner?  Don’t forget to stop at the store and pick up some bread and milk.  Did I tell my husband that I love him before he went to work this morning?”  I’m answering phones, assessing patients, and taking orders at work, folding laundry, cleaning showers, and helping with homework once I get home. 

            When I am out in the woods or up on a mountain, however, I leave all of this behind.  There is only God and myself, and the evidence of His love, His beauty, and His creativity all around me.  I can’t get enough of it.  I guess I am kind of a hike-a-holic.  but it works for me.

            One particular afternoon hike stands out in my mind.  I was out with my kids and a few friends, up on one of the mountains near my home.  It was a bit windy that day, but the sun was out, and the sky was clear.  The views from the ridge we were following were breathtaking!  I was just imagining what we would be able to see when we got to the top, as one can see for miles in every direction from that vantage point, when something grabbed my attention.

            To our left was a huge basalt cliff, several hundred feet high, near our destination.  But the cliff was not what stole my attention.  This was brought about by a small group of very large, black birds, maybe 8 or 10 of them.  I think they were vultures, but I couldn’t quite tell.  In any case, it wasn’t their presence that drew my attention.  It was what they were doing that intrigued me.

            They were standing in line at the top of the cliff, and, one at a time, they were falling forward into the wind and performing all kinds of aerobatic flips and dives and summersaults in the air.  Of course, it is not unusual for birds to dive and circle around in the sky, but these birds just seemed to be having so much fun doing it.  They weren’t searching for food or migrating to a specific destination.  They weren’t working at all, as far as I could tell.  They were just taking time off and enjoying themselves. 

            I must admit, I was a bit jealous.  As I watched them tumbling and soaring, I couldn’t help feeling a little more light-hearted myself.  I felt the joy growing inside as I watched them and imagined myself joining them.  How the wind must feel rushing by as they dove over the edge, their wings catching the air just right and send them flying back up, high above the cliff!  How free they must feel!  As I left them and continued on with my own journey,  I began to walk with a little more spring in my step.

            Then it hit me:  Is this how God feels when He sees me fully experiencing life?  Does He look down from heaven and say, “Yes!  That’s it!  Go ahead and have fun.  Take it all in!  I made this for you.  Do you like it?”  Think about that for a moment.  If we can feel the joy of watching animals, other people, our friends and family experience exciting, fun things, don’t you think that God enjoys helping us to experience them, too?  I think He loves sharing life with us and watch us discover the amazing things He has in store for us.