Welcome Fall; Welcome Change

 

Fall has come to our area.  It gets cold, well cool, at night.  The days have a bit of coolness on the edges.  Sweaters are welcome.  It makes us sleep better, and be more excited about exercise.  Oh, I do like fall!

God dresses the trees in orange, yellow, red and brown.  Some flowers are spent, but others come along.  Nature is embracing the change.  Much as I dislike change, the change from summer to fall is one of my favorite events. 

This year has been a year of constant change and upheaval.  COVID has disrupted so many days.  It is not about to stop.  I need to learn to look change in the eyes and say, “ok”!  I do not willingly do that, but I must work toward that.  If I peacefully said “ok” to change I would save myself stress and pain.  I could more easily pray, “Your will be done, Lord.”  Jesus prayed that.  He is my example.  Sooooo…. It might be time for me to pray that!

Do What Is Right in God's Eyes

 

Some days I just cannot get myself to be on top of things.  I allow distractions to lead me off chasing phantoms when I am supposed to be doing what God has laid before me.  I sometimes become a distraction to those I love.  Our Fellowship of Three family needs to have each of us working together to be effective tools for God.  We each take turns being out of tune, and then our song is awful. I need to focus on Jesus every day!  I need to turn my back on sin, no matter how inconsequential it may seem.  I need to see what God is doing and choose to be part of that work.  It is not at all productive to do what is right in my own eyes, because my vision is not clear.  Even with glasses on! I need my Scripture eyes to rise up and do what is right in God’s eyes every time.  Help me Lord!

Under The Shelter of His Wing

 

2020 is such a strange year.  I find myself puzzling over what will pop up next.  In Japan we were blessed with a long, very wet rainy season featuring no sun for a month.  The down side was mold, but the up side was cooler temperatures for July. Then rainy season vanished, and the sun poured out all the saved up rays.  The result has been sweltering heat which does not abate much at night.  Being outside is miserable and makes you feel exhausted. 

 

The virus continues to push its way into our lives.  It threatens us, and makes gatherings dangerous.  Our annual summer birthday party had to go on hold indefinitely. We have to throw out all the old customs and reinvent our days.  We are tired, but so is everyone else.  They get no relief.  Stress levels are high.  I am constantly being confronted with my inflexibility of lifestyle.  We all want times of the comfortable familiar, but it is not to be.  So what do I do?

 

I must remind myself that God is faithful and unchanging.  I have to burrow in closer and closer to Him where I find unchanging love and faithfulness.  There I can breathe and relax, and cling to the security of God’s timeless truths.  Focus on God.  It works! In the shadow of His wing I find refuge, and courage to face whatever comes, each day.  It is when I come away from the shelter of His wing that life becomes overwhelming.  So I am writing this in the shelter of His Wing.  We can shelter at home, but it is more secure to shelter under His wing! Care to join me?

God, Horses, and Me

As many of you know I love to ride horses.  I have time scheduled every Friday morning at 9:30 to ride for 45 minutes at a stable near my home.  For many years it has been the high point of my week.  For 2 months I had to stop this because of “The Virus”.  It made me sad, but I understood it had to be.  Yet I missed that weekly rendezvous with a horse. In all the years I have ridden I have been paired with a variety of older horses deemed safe for me.  Most of them I liked, and of course some better than others.  My favorites eventually die due to age and a new horse canters into the favored position.  Before the COVID-19 break I had two fine chestnut horses that filled the favored spot.  When I came back the one I least favored was my first ride.  He was delighted to see me!  He remembered me.  He could hardly stop nuzzling me.  He wanted Mom to scratch the top of his head.  He was obedient and more responsive to me.  The next week I had the other favored horse, but he was not as excited to see me.  Of course I have decided to throw my affection to the horse that remembered me well.

 

It made me think about the fact that God remembers me.  He knows my name.  I am inscribed on His palm.  I need to be excited to see Him each day.  I need to nuzzle in and let Him care for me.  I need to prize Him more than the horse or anything else in this world.  I admit I do not always do it. Lord, help me prize you above all else!

A Useful Tool

The other day an earthquake of rather strong magnitude shook us at about 4:30 am.  I am usually awake at that time, but amazingly I was asleep.  My mom opened my door and came over to me.  She said, “It’s scary!”  I became aware of the quake.  I thought I better comfort my mom who was frightened.  I reached over and kissed her, and rubbed her back.  I told her, “It’s okay.”  She hugged me and went back to her bed.  It was a unique moment to care for my mom who is more often my care giver.  It reminded me that I am now an adult who must step up and take my responsibility to offer care to those who need it.  My parents may come to a time they need my help.  I can now take the time and learn how to give care.  I have had a good model in my parents who not only care for me but others as well. If I follow their model and pray as I go I may become a useful tool. 

I am working to be all God wants me to be and certainly part of that is being a helper to my parents as they age.

Content

Warm, sunny days, warm rainy days either is okay. Cold days or warm days, either is okay.  In the house or outside the house, either is okay.  Working or resting either is okay.  Eating at home or eating out, either is okay.  Church in the church building, or church at home, either is okay. Lots of food or meager food, either is okay.  Bananas or no bananas (can I say it?), either is okay. Why can I say this?  I can say this because whatever happens God is in control.  Really God is enough!  I can be content because I have a relationship with the God of the universe.  That overshadows all the inconveniences I experience day to day.  It overshadows all other joy I experience day to day.

Now, I must confess I am quick to forget this truth.  I become focused on temporal things and forget that there are more real things.  So I want to be content with the eternal blessings and not fret the temporal.  The temporal is fragile and fleeting, changing ever.  So, Lord, help me center in You!

Learning in the Time of "The Virus"

What am I learning at this time of “The Virus?”  Well, I have learned that routine is easily upended.  My routine and personal desires are not sacred.  Life contains much outside my little box.  I can choose to be a blessing or be a big pain.  Being a big pain does attract attention, but maybe not the attention I like.  Trying to get my own way usually ends in misery for me. 

I am finding my world more and more restricted. As the virus continues its course, activities are gradually waning.  I see my parents, and my parents, and my parents and my parents.  I love them, and they are usually pleasant on the eyes, but even I need variety.  We are working hard at spending quality time, but they still have many responsibilities, and so I am learning to be mature. I should have learned this long ago, but I did not like the learning. It is hard and unpleasant at times.  Being immature is easier.

This is a good time to work on growing.  I need to take the challenge and rise higher.  I can hone new skills and add others. I can pray and meditate on Jesus.    Time for me to make good choices, and increase my faith.  Help me be growing, not stagnating!

Do not Fear!

Oh, how deserted our street has become.  We see houses but no people.  Everyone is inside trying to evade “The Virus”. We go out to the garbage site.  There are bags of garbage that may have walked there on their own.  We occasionally see a neighbor but they are far away and only call a brief greeting. It makes for a hard time. 

It is no coincidence we are reading Joshua at this time.  Joshua was instructed to be strong and courageous.  I need to remember that!  Do not fear!  Whoa, that is hard.  God never told Joshua to be foolish.  He did not call him to be unwise.  He called him to obey and be strong and courageous.  So right now in Japan we follow the rules. We are still able to go to the facility for the disabled if we follow the rules, so we go.  We pray vigorously before, during and after.  We show a calm, loving spirit, and trust God to take what we can give and multiply it.  We go with courage.  When and if we are told the facility is locked down what will we do?  We will obey and pray, pray, pray!  We will trust God to work!  We will not fear or be dismayed.  We will trust God to take care of it.

Shelter of His Wing

Here we are in Japan watching varying degrees of fear as a new virus is doing a worldwide tour.  It is sometimes hard to keep perspective as the situation changes day by day.  Old habits and routines must be laid aside.  New routines must be implemented leaving us sometimes unsure and insecure.  In my daily Bible reading I find God assuring me He is in absolute control.  This is not too big for God.  He invites me into His refuge, into the shelter of His wing.  Into His unchanging self.  Now that is a place I want to be.  Don’t you?  Come join me under the shelter of His wing.  It is warm, cozy, and secure.  Come get to know Him better, where evil cannot touch your soul.  Come on, there is plenty of room.

Eternal Perspective

The last couple of weeks have been hard for me.  A dear friend has been diagnosed with cancer and entered hospice care.  I have prayed for his healing for years as he is also disabled.  From a human standpoint this stinks!  Big time!  I have had so many emotions pouring through my heart.  I want to scream at the enormity of this situation.  It seems more than he could bear.  More than his parents and family can bear.  More than I can bear!  But then I have to pull back and look at a more eternal viewpoint.  No one can bear this.  None of us can do this.  God is not asking me to bear it.  God is asking me to trust Him to bear it for me. He is ready to take this burden.  He sends friends to pray with me in my grief and pain.  He sent me a special cousin to share the burden, to understand.

But even more God is reminding me real, complete healing for my friend is near.  I did not think it would come like this, but God is answering my prayer.  For when my friend takes his last breath here, his next breath will be his first breath as a completely healed man.  No pain, no disability. Complete healing.

So Lord, help me keep Your perspective, and anticipate seeing my friend at the Throne someday!