Month: January 2018

For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36

I was doing a project today where I was given many random words, and I had to come up with synonyms and antonyms that go well with the word…sort of a word association game. I just went with the first thing that popped into my mind. I mean how do you really come up with an antonym to words like cow or window frame? Then, I was to group those words into categories of my choosing. I did this quickly with more of an abandon than a systematic approach.

I learned that no matter how hard we try, some things just aren’t meant to be stuffed into a category. We might fool ourselves into thinking we can, but it’s those things that aren’t nice and tidy that we learn from. Those that make us uncomfortable because we don’t fully understand them, allow us to grow the most. They may even seem insignificant compared to the other easily categorized and more important words that we can quickly put into our “all-important” groups. It’s easy to try to ignore and give no-mind to what we don’t understand, but then we end up missing the most significant lessons.

Mine was “zucchini” that just didn’t fit. I tried shoving it into a category, but it stood out to me with a spotlight on it. I even circled it and put a big old question mark beside it. There were so many words in my project (important words and words that excited me), but that’s the one that received my focus. It’s what I was called to “marinate” on even though it seemed so inconsequential.

I found something fascinating while researching the great “zucchini conundrum.” First off, I read that they’ll grow to be gargantuan, but this isn’t when the zucchini is at its best. They’re to be harvested when they’re still immature. I know this is hard to believe, but since I’m not a gardening genius, I checked with gardeningknowhow.com. They said that if you leave the fruit on too long, the seeds and rind harden, making it unpalatable. They become stringy on the inside with a tough exterior.

What a lesson! Does God pick us when we’re fully mature and when we’re ready for Him to? Nope! If He waited until we were ready, we’d be unpalatable to too many people. Our exterior would too tough for Him to use for His purposes. We get chosen when we’re still immature and palatable! I guess this is how we know it’s Him doing the work in us and not our own knowledge in work. He gets the glory and praise. We’re a vessel (usually an immature, broken one) that He works through, but He’s able to shape us.

I guess it isn’t a good idea to always have it in our head that we must reach a certain maturity before we can be used by God. I remember hearing that if we waited to have children until everything was perfect, we’d never have children because we’re never fully ready. If we wait to buy a house until everything is perfect, we’d never buy a house. This is the case about life. If we wait until we reach maturity to do the work God has in place for us to do, it’ll be too late.

This is where faith makes an appearance. We trust God to take us when we’re still immature to do what we can’t, and to work it all out for His glory. In what area do you feel inconsequential and unprepared to carry out instructions from God? Guess what…you don’t need to be perfect, you just need to be called.  Today, trust that He can use you as you are. Let God do the work, and you be the vessel.

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:16

I have a couple indoor palm plants that I’ve had to repot several times over the years because of how they’ve grown. I’ve put time into those plants and was concerned about leaving them without (what I felt) the necessary water to sustain them while we were gone. My hubby was adamant that they’d be fine and that I shouldn’t worry about them.

As we were coming home from our trip, I was thinking about my dead plants that would be waiting for my return. I really dreaded having to tell my hubby that I told him so. I did! When I walked in the door, I prepared myself by closing my eyes as tight as I could before peeking through a slit in order to assess the damage. Imagine my surprise when I saw a perfectly healthy plant in front of me!

I had the strangest thing happen to me within the last few days. I had different people telling me to look at my palms. What in the world were they talking about? No way was I getting into any type of palm reading…that kind of stuff I won’t go near. These were people who I really trust, so I knew there was something to what they were telling me.

When I turned my palms up, I visually thought about God having me in the palms of His hands. A protected feeling came over me when I realized I have nothing to fear. There’s only one way for me to be and that is victorious. Here’s where it really got good! Although my plants took frontstage in my mind lately, it didn’t dawn on me to reference those palms until a while after my conversation.

I started to get excited when I looked up palm in the dictionary. Merriam-Webster said that a leaf of the palm is a symbol of victory or rejoicing. Remember what I said about being victorious if God had me in the palms of His hands? I’m getting excited again just typing this! Ok, ok, ok…now look at the palms of your hands. I learned that the shape of a palm’s leaves is like fingers on a hand. Oooh, it’s all coming together now!

There’s a hard challenge coming your way. I challenge you to take your palms wherever you go. Ha! I guess that’s not so hard after all. Whenever you question your strength, your circumstances, your purpose, or your future, I want you to look at your palms! Remember that you’re engraved on the palms of God’s hands.

Next, notice those fingers coming out from your palms, and think about those plants. Think of Jesus riding along on a donkey with the people waving those palms and rejoicing. Start rejoicing because Jesus has come. Think about victory and having no fear because who’s holding you.

Are you getting as excited as me? Remember to look at those palms and shout, “VICTORY!” Actually, you might want to just shout that silently in your mind on occasion…like when in school, visiting your child’s classroom, sitting in a meeting, eating at a fancy restaurant…you know what I’m saying. Besides that, just go for it and startle your children or parents! They probably think you’re a little strange anyway.

Look at your palms and know victory today, tomorrow, and always!

For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.  Job 38:30 (New Living Translation)

As we went south for Christmas, we took the weather along with us. The unusual cold and dreariness had us bundling up, but not keeping us from enjoying the much-anticipated trip! It all culminated in an ice storm and snow that left businesses shutdown and immobile vehicles abandoned along the sides of the roads. We extended our stay one more night so that we didn’t get caught driving in the predicted weather event.

We spent the day huddled in front of a crackling fire that was warm and cozy as we listened to the freezing rain pelt against the windows and the wind blow with mighty gusts outside the doors. It might not have been a day to explore the outdoors, but it sure was a day to curl up inside! After the electric went out, we decided to get some packing done using flashlights before we all snuggled in front of that fireplace to keep warm.

The vehicle was almost ready to go when the sun made its appearance in the morning. It was one of the most beautiful sights as I looked out the wall of windows toward the ocean. The colors of the sky were breathtaking, but the beauty didn’t end there. There was a layer of snow covering the sand and everything else that wasn’t covered by the snow was glistening with ice. The marsh grass was standing at attention without its usual sway because the blades were frozen solid!

I got my hubby’s attention to get a picture of what I was seeing. It was amazing! For the first few days I really wanted to see those photographs, but I realized there was a lesson for me during the wait. We can get stuck on a snapshot and forget the rest of the story. We can be frozen in time just as those blades of marsh grass were. Isn’t it just as dangerous for us to be frozen as it would be for all the wildlife if things stayed the same as they were in that picture?

I was reading about how just to survive, alligators were going into a hibernation-like process called brumation during that cold blast we experienced. Silly question…is this something that humans can experience? Are you going through a period of brumation, hibernation, torpor, or even dormancy? In other words, are you frozen due to your surroundings? Are you experiencing a period of sluggishness or inactivity because of a snapshot from one event?

In the picture my hubby took, that area is still frozen even though everything has actually thawed out by now. That’s the danger of looking at our lives from snapshots. We stay frozen…stuck. Some of those alligators were in water that became hard as stone. Our hearts get a little harder and feel like they’re freezing up when we keep focused on a particularly bad event. Our entire body kind of goes into brumation too!

I have something else for you to think about.  Are you looking at a snapshot of somebody else’s life that you’re allowing to freeze your actions?  Just remember Pastor Furtick’s wisdom when you begin to do that.  He said, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”

The good news is the alligators are already back out sunning themselves.  We know that because there’s a video instead of only the snapshot. There’s more to the story for you too. Are you going to let the sun (God’s love and mercy) thaw you out if you’re suffering from your own type of brumation?

If God provided a way for the alligators, He’s already provided a way for you to not only survive, but thaw out from that frozen picture to see the story of amazing things that are still to come. It’s a good one too, so don’t miss it!