Supply for My Need

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NKJV) We love to quote this verse, because it assures us that God will take care of us. But something that I had never noticed before: The promise is in the future tense! That tells me that some things I need and ask for may come later rather than sooner.

Besides, sometimes I have to feel a need keenly so that I will recognize and appreciate the gift when it comes!

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


Art from http//:www.sxc.hu/

I Just Came to Talk with You

A friend called me a few weeks ago to suggest that we have lunch one day soon. Yesterday was the day, and we met for a pleasant brunch. I expected that she needed something. She might want me to listen as she vented about something that had upset her. (I say, “Well, maybe this or this was the reason.) She might want to borrow money, my tools, or the car. (I always say no, but she still tries!) She might want advice about something. (I say, “You could try such-and-such.) To my surprise and delight, she didn't ask me for anything, even when I questioned her about her agenda. She just came to talk with me. How refreshing!

I wonder if God finds it refreshing when we come to Him without a “gimme” agenda, when we don't whine or beg or ask about anything. He won't be surprised, of course, but maybe delighted? The late Dottie Rambo, gospel song writer and singer, said, “I didn't come here to ask You for anything. I just came to talk with You, Lord.” How refreshing for Him—and for us!

MaryMartha

“I Feel” ≠ “I Am”

"You talkin' to me?"

On Monday morning after the weekend change to Daylight Saving Time, I felt like not going to work. I felt that I had not rested enough. I felt cross, grumpy, out of sorts.



I told myself, “But you do not have to act out what you feel. You do not have to think, 'I am cross, I am grumpy, I am out of sorts!' “ And you know what? After another cup of coffee and telling my co-workers good morning with our accustomed cheer, I didn't feel so cross and grumpy and out of sorts.

Lesson learned: I do not have to give to my feelings the authority to regulate what I am!

MaryMartha
 
 

Green Babies

I cannot remember that I have ever before planted seeds rather than buying young plants—not since I received the kids' one-cent packet from the Henry Field Seed Company when my parents placed their order each spring. How excited I was with my assortment of seeds! My brothers and I each sorted our personal bounty carefully: peas, beans, carrots, radishes, corn. We planted them in short little rows, watered, weeded and watched until they had produced a harvest.

I lost to the extreme winter weather the ground cover seeds I had planted last summer, so I decided to begin early with seed-starter kits by a sunny window inside. Little peat pellets which expanded when I added water were the medium in which I deposited the tiny

, tiny little seeds. I placed a plastic dome over the top of each tray to hold in the moisture, and in five days little sprouts were pushing up their leaves! I can't really be proud, since it is God that makes things grow when we co-operate by providing a suitable environment, but maybe I can say, “Look what we did!” I checked, and my thumb isn't green but I am awfully pleased all the same. I can see why they call garden centers “nurseries.” Those little green babies are just so cute!

I never cease to be amazed by the faithfulness of the seasons—God's faithfulness. Each spring I marvel, as though I had never before seen the greening of the earth after a cold, dreary winter! I never tire of this season of the year, although I know we are probably healthier and happier for having the variety that follows these beautiful days.

Praise our good Provider! And enjoy!

MaryMartha

 

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Where Is God?



A street in Tagajo, Miyagi prefecture.

As I read the reports and view the pictures of the tragic loss and suffering in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami along with fear of nuclear danger, I am stunned. To see buildings and vehicles swirling inland on the rushing flood and to know that in the wreckage are hundreds of human bodies is almost incomprehensible.
Where is God? If one is among those who are overwhelmed by the disaster, that might well be the question.

It certainly may feel at such a time of anguish that God has forsaken us. David, the psalmist and “a man after God's own heart,” cried out in his deep distress, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent.” (Psalm 22:1, 2) Here was a godly man who did not “deserve” the trauma in his life, but circumstances closed in on him until he felt that he had been abandoned by his God. But he had not been left alone; he would see the light again and feel hope once more.

Even Jesus, being made one of us, suffered that crushing sense of loss. On the Cross, he too cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34) He had not been left alone either, but would rise again in triumph three days hence. Can it be that this experience of feeling abandoned is not uncommon to the human condition, and that we must wait through it if we would see what is on the other side? May God give me grace, should my turn come, to affirm boldly, “He has not abandoned me.”

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Photo:  AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi  3/14/11

Puzzling Things

I am putting together another picture puzzle. Periodically, I take an interest in this activity, and may do several before I move on to something else. Right now I am working on a thousand-piece puzzle, the picture of which was expertly painted, I think, to be difficult! Many pieces are similar in an extreme way, both in color shading and

 in shape. After I am becoming confused in a section, I sometimes discover I have placed a piece where it didn't belong. The only way I can tell this is by holding it up to the light, which reveals tiny cracks where the piece did not fit perfectly.

I realized this afternoon how like our Christian life that is. We may be moving right along until we discover something is not quite right. The best way to see this is by holding it up to the light. The light is the Word of God, embodied in Jesus Christ. Things not fitting does not necessarily mean something is wrong; it may just be out of place. We might be trying to squeeze meaning into something without a contextual basis for doing so. Or we could be avoiding an understanding that is there to be seen if we are open to receive it.

Hold it up to the light!

Another of my posts on puzzles, here.
MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Something for Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday on the calendar of the Christian church. The season of Lent begins today, observed by liturgical churches and some other denominations as a time of “sacrifice,” preparing believers to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. A co-worker had on her forehead today a smudge of ashes in the form of a cross, and I knew she had been to her church early this morning to receive the “imposition of ashes.” We had an interesting conversation when I told her that I remembered this was a special day and that I respected her devotion. Although my own faith tradition does not formally observe Lent, I try each year to offer up something to the Lord that would normally be a part of my everyday life. This keeps me reminded of the approaching season and its importance.

She responded by telling me, “Last night I tried to explain to my boys (the three are still very young), that sacrifice does not always mean giving up some favorite thing Perhaps they can, every day, go out of their way to help someone, cheer them with a smile, or be friendly to a student who is not especially likeable. Her own upbringing emphasized the negative, giving up something, and she hated it! Although now she understands the benefit of self-denial, it made no sense to her as a youngster.



I went away with a better appreciation of the meaning of “giving up something for Lent.” Maybe that something is part of me. God doesn't necessarily need my “sacrifice,” but maybe someone else does.

Some of my other posts about Lent:

It's Hard to Be Humble   here

Self-Denial    here

 

MaryMartha