I awakened this morning feeling wonderfully energetic and spry. When I turned on the Weather Channel, I realized it was because the forecast was for 76°F and it was already 67°F outside! My body was created for just such weather (I was born in Hawaii, after all!) and responds with the energy and youthfulness that I often feel is long gone with age. So it did this morning . . .
I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and took the dogs out for their morning constitutional. While they took care of business, I just stood there, looking up at the Carolina blue sky with gentle wisps of clouds, the sun shining with that low-in-the-sky fall warmth. I had dressed in shorts and short-sleeved top in anticipation for the day's temperatures, and the wind was gentle and warm against my skin.
The leaves on the deciduous trees are in their last phases of color here in North Carolina, but they are still beautiful to me. My son, Tim, used to lovingly laugh at me every Autumn as I would exclaim with child-like wonder, "Just look at that tree! It looks like it's on fire!" It still puzzles me greatly when others don't seem to grasp the awesomeness of God's creation that surrounds us.
I fed the dogs, gave them their treats, and got them settled. I made myself a fried egg and some toast for breakfast and took my supplements, but not before opening all the windows in the house. We have nothing but trees behind us and I can hear the breeze rustling through the drying leaves. The sound of it is so soothing to my mind and soul. Even the chickens are totally silent, as if they, too, are enjoying this unfathomable sense of peace and well-being.
Suddenly, I am aware of the gentle sounds of my new Corinthian wind chimes coming from the screened-in porch off the back of our home.
I bought them while we were vacationing on the beach in Rodanthe, North Carolina just a few weeks ago in October. I had always wanted to buy some because they are hand-tuned and well-made to give an owner years of delightful wind-inspired tunes. But they were always so expensive that I opted to spend my money in a less selfish, more family-oriented manner. But this year, we vacationed late in the season and found the chimes sold for almost half-price. This year, I got my prized chimes.
The breeze on the porch is just barely enough to sound the chimes, making them resonate so lightly that you'd probably miss their wonderful intonations if you weren't really listening. I would never have heard them at all if I were not sitting here writing in total silence except for the occasional sounds of distant neighborhood activities.
Their effect on me is difficult to put in words; it is as if they are the crowning glory of this indescribable moment of experiencing the awesome Presence of God that comes so rarely in one's busy life. Everything around me right at this moment is so excruciatingly peaceful, and I sense Him in a way that makes every fibre of my being aware of it's need for His touch. I can't help but weep.
It is now two minutes later. The phone rang, and while I'm trying to deal with a sales person, the front door bell rings. The dogs begin to bark and I have to put my salesman on hold while I wrestle them away from the door. It's the mail lady with a package for which I have to sign a receipt. Both roosters are now vying for the Loudest Crower crown, and a repairman has started hammering on the house next door.
My special time with God is gone . . .
We live in a world that is full of unnecessary busyness as we go about our daily routines. We create a cacophony of sound and a whirlwind of activity that leaves us spent and full of stress at the end of each day. Our lives are cluttered with 'things to do' and 'places to go' while we try to 'be' and 'become' whatever our human devices deem is important for us. If we're not working, then we are seeking out the evening's bright lights for those recreations (re-creations) that never seem to do the trick. Always striving, always searching day and night, for that 'something' that will let us know we are needed, we have worth, we have purpose.
However, nothing can ever fill that emptiness in our hearts, that God-shaped emptiness into which we pour our precious energy and strength trying to put square pegs in round holes. Even we Christians often ramble in the conventional ways that others say is the way to success.
But then there are those encounters like the one I had this morning, and I am reminded that there is a much better way to achieve the peace and satisfaction we all seek. I am reminded that there is a way that does not cause us the worry, strife, and stress that so shortens the precious life given to us.
In His Presence, there is "fullness of life". And the only way to achieve that "fullness" is found in the Manual for Human Repair, the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 40:31: "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Matt 6:31-33: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
If Jesus came to "give us life, and that much more abundantly", then how much sense does it make to go to the One Who can give us the life we seek?
No one is more guilty of a busy life than me. It is a human condition. I ask His forgiveness for that lack in my life every day.
But on occasion, those special times come when He is so desperate for our companionship that He will sovereignly show up on the scene of our stage in ways that we cannot ignor. His Presence is so strong, like this morning for me, that we are awestruck and so very grateful that He came. At those times, we realize just how much we've missed Him.
I've missed Him. I'm glad He came to visit me today, even if it was just for a few moments. If I'd been busy, I wouldn't have notice Him. But in the quietness He spoke softly, took my hand as I reached out to Him, and I am full.
I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and took the dogs out for their morning constitutional. While they took care of business, I just stood there, looking up at the Carolina blue sky with gentle wisps of clouds, the sun shining with that low-in-the-sky fall warmth. I had dressed in shorts and short-sleeved top in anticipation for the day's temperatures, and the wind was gentle and warm against my skin.
The leaves on the deciduous trees are in their last phases of color here in North Carolina, but they are still beautiful to me. My son, Tim, used to lovingly laugh at me every Autumn as I would exclaim with child-like wonder, "Just look at that tree! It looks like it's on fire!" It still puzzles me greatly when others don't seem to grasp the awesomeness of God's creation that surrounds us.
I fed the dogs, gave them their treats, and got them settled. I made myself a fried egg and some toast for breakfast and took my supplements, but not before opening all the windows in the house. We have nothing but trees behind us and I can hear the breeze rustling through the drying leaves. The sound of it is so soothing to my mind and soul. Even the chickens are totally silent, as if they, too, are enjoying this unfathomable sense of peace and well-being.
Suddenly, I am aware of the gentle sounds of my new Corinthian wind chimes coming from the screened-in porch off the back of our home.
I bought them while we were vacationing on the beach in Rodanthe, North Carolina just a few weeks ago in October. I had always wanted to buy some because they are hand-tuned and well-made to give an owner years of delightful wind-inspired tunes. But they were always so expensive that I opted to spend my money in a less selfish, more family-oriented manner. But this year, we vacationed late in the season and found the chimes sold for almost half-price. This year, I got my prized chimes.
The breeze on the porch is just barely enough to sound the chimes, making them resonate so lightly that you'd probably miss their wonderful intonations if you weren't really listening. I would never have heard them at all if I were not sitting here writing in total silence except for the occasional sounds of distant neighborhood activities.
It is now two minutes later. The phone rang, and while I'm trying to deal with a sales person, the front door bell rings. The dogs begin to bark and I have to put my salesman on hold while I wrestle them away from the door. It's the mail lady with a package for which I have to sign a receipt. Both roosters are now vying for the Loudest Crower crown, and a repairman has started hammering on the house next door.
My special time with God is gone . . .
We live in a world that is full of unnecessary busyness as we go about our daily routines. We create a cacophony of sound and a whirlwind of activity that leaves us spent and full of stress at the end of each day. Our lives are cluttered with 'things to do' and 'places to go' while we try to 'be' and 'become' whatever our human devices deem is important for us. If we're not working, then we are seeking out the evening's bright lights for those recreations (re-creations) that never seem to do the trick. Always striving, always searching day and night, for that 'something' that will let us know we are needed, we have worth, we have purpose.
However, nothing can ever fill that emptiness in our hearts, that God-shaped emptiness into which we pour our precious energy and strength trying to put square pegs in round holes. Even we Christians often ramble in the conventional ways that others say is the way to success.
But then there are those encounters like the one I had this morning, and I am reminded that there is a much better way to achieve the peace and satisfaction we all seek. I am reminded that there is a way that does not cause us the worry, strife, and stress that so shortens the precious life given to us.
In His Presence, there is "fullness of life". And the only way to achieve that "fullness" is found in the Manual for Human Repair, the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 40:31: "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Matt 6:31-33: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
If Jesus came to "give us life, and that much more abundantly", then how much sense does it make to go to the One Who can give us the life we seek?
No one is more guilty of a busy life than me. It is a human condition. I ask His forgiveness for that lack in my life every day.
But on occasion, those special times come when He is so desperate for our companionship that He will sovereignly show up on the scene of our stage in ways that we cannot ignor. His Presence is so strong, like this morning for me, that we are awestruck and so very grateful that He came. At those times, we realize just how much we've missed Him.
I've missed Him. I'm glad He came to visit me today, even if it was just for a few moments. If I'd been busy, I wouldn't have notice Him. But in the quietness He spoke softly, took my hand as I reached out to Him, and I am full.
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