With coffee cup in hand I headed to the patio this a.m. to realize that the fog had set in. For a brief time it was even difficult to see the edge of the pond behind us. Fog has a way of silencing the world as we know it. It has a way of shutting out all that looms beyond it and causes our focus to be on the immediate. It is during these times that Psalm 46:10 jumps off the page and resounds with clarity, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."
"Be still" is difficult at best because our world seems to demand the chaos and the frustration that does not co-habit with stillness. As the fog began to diminish this morning I could see spider webs amongst the tops of the foilage that spring forth from the pond. One would almost have missed them if it were not for the breeze that so gently tossed them around. The beauty of the intricate design was worth the walk for a closer view. I am amazed at the very fine art that comes only from the hand of God. This art seems to diminish however when the fog begins to lift. As our horizons are broadened as the fog moves out we tend to look far beyond and miss the beauty of the immediate.
Perhaps the fog in our life is worth the sitting back and being quiet in order for us to view the immediate God has for us. What a craftsman He is. Shhh! lest we miss it.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Where Were You?
On ocassion you are challenged to remember where you were on a particular date. It is usually referring to a time in history and usually to an event that probably rocked us to our very foundations of who we are. Today's date, August 26th prompts me to remember where I was on August 26th, 1956. Where were you? Do you remember? Were you even walking planet earth at that time? "What was so significant on that date?" you ask.
Momentarily lets travel back even further. The year was 1809 Only if you are a history buff will you probably remember that it was the year that Napoleon trekked across Austria. The world was so focused on this man that they probably failed to notice that it also was the year that Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Darwin, and even Abraham Lincoln came into the world. People aren't noticing the "nobodies". And yet they have marked the genesis of an era. Not a one of us hasn't been touched by these individuals; by these "nobodies". Nobody noticed their arrival.
Sunday was the day; not Thursday when August 26 came into view in the year 1956. I remember where I was. I was in central Indiana amongst a group of about 1000 people. The weather was warm as it was today but much more pleasant because I am residing in Florida now and was residing in Dublin, Indiana at the time. Little did I know as I awoke on that day that my life was about to change forever. I was about to embark on a new relationship that I had only heard for a couple of weeks might be possible.
My family had recently moved to the area and at the prompting of a gentleman that my father was working with we began to attend a church in Connersville, Ind. This was something we had never done as a family We were charting new territory. On the date in question though I met the Lord Jesus Christ and came face to face as it were with new challenges and opportunities for the rest of my life. This has been a journey of journeys that the Lord and I have traveled together. I would like to say that I have always remained faithful during this journey but that would not be truth. I would like to say that I have always trusted my Father in all things. That also would not be truth. I would like to say as the Psalmist said (100:2) that I have always served the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with singing. That also would not be truth. But, it has not been because He was not watching over me, nor walking with me, nor shepherding me. It was because for a space in time I chose to not focus on Him alone. But I am glad He called me to love Him. I'm glad He called me to service and I am glad He called me to obedience. I'm thrilled that God called me, a "nobody" to love, serve, and obey.
As Saul hit a new depression in his life he said to his servants in I Sam. 16:17, "Provide for me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me." My one desire in life is that God will be able to say of me one day that I have played well.
Where were you when God called?
Momentarily lets travel back even further. The year was 1809 Only if you are a history buff will you probably remember that it was the year that Napoleon trekked across Austria. The world was so focused on this man that they probably failed to notice that it also was the year that Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Darwin, and even Abraham Lincoln came into the world. People aren't noticing the "nobodies". And yet they have marked the genesis of an era. Not a one of us hasn't been touched by these individuals; by these "nobodies". Nobody noticed their arrival.
Sunday was the day; not Thursday when August 26 came into view in the year 1956. I remember where I was. I was in central Indiana amongst a group of about 1000 people. The weather was warm as it was today but much more pleasant because I am residing in Florida now and was residing in Dublin, Indiana at the time. Little did I know as I awoke on that day that my life was about to change forever. I was about to embark on a new relationship that I had only heard for a couple of weeks might be possible.
My family had recently moved to the area and at the prompting of a gentleman that my father was working with we began to attend a church in Connersville, Ind. This was something we had never done as a family We were charting new territory. On the date in question though I met the Lord Jesus Christ and came face to face as it were with new challenges and opportunities for the rest of my life. This has been a journey of journeys that the Lord and I have traveled together. I would like to say that I have always remained faithful during this journey but that would not be truth. I would like to say that I have always trusted my Father in all things. That also would not be truth. I would like to say as the Psalmist said (100:2) that I have always served the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with singing. That also would not be truth. But, it has not been because He was not watching over me, nor walking with me, nor shepherding me. It was because for a space in time I chose to not focus on Him alone. But I am glad He called me to love Him. I'm glad He called me to service and I am glad He called me to obedience. I'm thrilled that God called me, a "nobody" to love, serve, and obey.
As Saul hit a new depression in his life he said to his servants in I Sam. 16:17, "Provide for me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me." My one desire in life is that God will be able to say of me one day that I have played well.
Where were you when God called?
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