Not a Very Good Waiter

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Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Exodus 31:15 ESV

It is amazing how resting, which after a long hard work-week, you might think would be kind of desirable and natural. And yet to those Israelites as much as with us today it was such a struggle that God had to prescribe the death penalty, in order to get everyone’s attention about obeying this commandment. And you might also assume that since I am now in my early seventies and still struggling through Covid, that I would be smart enough to listen to my wife and rest. But no! The lawn needed mowing, the weather was perfect, and no one was around outside. What could it hurt? Stumbling back inside a while later, I learned what it could hurt and that was my body! God has not only designed us to rest, and to rest in Him, but He has also made it so there will be consequences when we fail to do so. Since rest is something, I am still trying to learn after 50 plus years as a Christian, I hope that this upcoming series on rest may be of benefit to others as well. Today was just a teaser, but we’ll begin in earnest on Monday (I have to rest tomorrow!). I am looking forward to hearing your comments, feedback or personal stories on how you are learning to rest.

Not a Very Good Waiter
I’m not a very good waiter
Doing nothing seems simply a waste
But our Father who loves to walk slowly
Does nothing in hurry or haste!

Sufficient Grace

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Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:8-9a ESV

Ironically, while I was feeling terrific, heading into Easter weekend I wrote a post about God’s Selah and rest. That all sounded great to my ears when I clicked on publish, and we hurried on with our plans to celebrate Easter. It is amazing what a difference just a few days have made! On Monday evening Nancy and I both starting feeling poorly, but we shrugged it off as being just another virus. Though we didn’t have much of a fever we became incredibly weak, and Nancy almost took a tumble in the living room. (Fortunately, she only ended up sitting down suddenly on the couch!) So, by this morning we had the sneaking suspicion it might be Covid, and sure enough our test kits confirmed it (Not a yippee moment!) For those wondering about it, I of course immediately called our doctor. Our unrelenting weakness has driven us to ask for healing and strength, every time we pray, but so far it feels more like we are stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits than camping on a mountaintop with Jesus. This has given me new appreciation for Paul’s insistent triple prayer for his thorn to be removed. Yet in spite of Paul’s faithfulness, God not only did not remove the thorn, He also didn’t even give Paul an answer till HIs third prayer. The passage tells us that God did this to keep Paul humble, but I believe He also did it for the rest of us in our weaknesses. We learn here that Paul was not just some special Saint, with a halo hovering over his head, but he was also a perfect example of God’s grace in weakness and an encouragement to those of us who are walking the same path.

Gardening 101

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“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. John 15:1 NLT

Maybe because I have been a lifelong gardener, my favorite hymn has always been “In the Garden”. Though theologians say it sounds more like a love song than a hymn and teenagers just roll their eyes wondering when it will be over, I still love those words. “And He walks with me and He talks with me,” is an invitation Jesus makes every morning, for us to spend time with Him in the garden of prayer. If you tarry you can almost hear Him calling your name, just like He called His disciples to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Because we cannot see God now, except by faith, prayer is a blessing unique to our life on earth. In Heaven we will see Jesus face to face, but now we may only hear His voice from a distance, and yet even then, it is so sweet that the birds hush their singing at its sound. I hope you will be blessed listening to this song. I sense the presence of the Gardener of Heaven, almost every time I get to sing it!