Have you ever been in a situation where you have been helpless and had to be rescued by someone? Did you feel embarrassed that someone had to help you out or were you so filled with gratitude that you realized that nothing you ever did could fully repay this person for what they had done for you? So often the person who comes to our rescue in our time of need is a complete stranger. A person who, is in no way tied to us physically, emotionally or financially and thus has no 'reason' to stop and assist us. Admittedly there are people who make rescuing others their occupation and get paid to do so, but I am not talking about the firefighters, or paramedics, or police.
Our response to help another person is an indication of our true character, and if we are unable to walk on by when someone is in need then we are reflecting the heart of God. However, except for in the case of emergencies, we should not be dependent on strangers when we are in situations where we need to be helped. God has called us to live in community, not in isolation. He has made us a part of His family, we are His children. As much as we should feel honoured when someone calls on us in their hour of need, we should not feel as though we are a burden when we have to turn to someone when we too have difficulties to face. If we were to live in community as God has called us to do, there would be far less suicide, sickness, divorce and depression in this world than what there is now.
Rescuing someone is not always needed only in traumatic situations like an accident or illness. Very often a young mother may need rescuing with some baby-sitting or an elderly person may need a hand with some transport to get their shopping done. Situations are all around us but, unless we are in community with others we are not going to be able to see them and therefore not going to be able to be the hands and feet that God wants us to be.
Whenever we think of helping someone our first thoughts are always 'monetary'. Then we realize that we don't have very much of that commodity ourselves, and so we lose heart and give up. Most people would be embarrassed at a financial handout, but if you know someone is struggling, invite them around for a meal, or drop off a bag of groceries. I could type pages and pages of suggestions and still not have an ending, because there will always be a new need – but God's storehouse is always full and all He needs is willing hands to carry the 'supplies' to those who are in need. It may even be you who has a need to be met!
Recently my youngest son called me to find out if it would be okay if he brought home a kitten, if he could catch it! He had gone to the post office and found this tiny creature trying to fend for itself on a traffic island in a busy street. He was able to catch it by feeding it pieces of bread. The poor little thing was only 4-5 weeks old and in a bad way. However, she is now a lively and active part of our lives and is my son's little shadow. The funny thing is, my son has never particularly liked cats! However, he said he could not live with himself, or consider himself a human being, if he just walked off and left the kitten in the street. The changes she is making in him and in his heart are amazing!
Believe it or not it actually is that time of the year again! Christmas!! Quite honestly, I have absolutely no idea how it got here. Last time I looked, I'm sure it was July. Anyway, whether I like it or not, it's here along with all the craziness that accompanies it. Packed shopping malls, road-rage, drunk drivers, Boney-M belting out in the supermarkets, exhausted shoppers, crying children, Santa's on every corner ringing bells and encouraging you to shop in the different stores.
Yet how many of the people rushing around decorating Christmas trees and spending more money than they should on unnecessary gifts really understand what they are celebrating? Perhaps that is why so many of them are so miserable? They do not understand the great sacrifice Christ made for them. Lets' face it, would you give up paradise, come down to earth, knowing all the pain and suffering you would go through, for a bunch of mostly ungrateful people? Would you? Didn't think so! Nor do they realize the amount of love that He had for us to do that and for His father. What love, what sacrifice, what a gift!
The other day I watched a very brave man, a bell ringing Santa in a local mini-mall, telling everyone that God Loves Them!! Now that was a first! I realized then that that is exactly the message that we should all be taking to the world at this time. So when you sit down to your Christmas dinner tell everyone near to you that we celebrate this day because Jesus was born to demonstrate just how much God loves us! You never know, by spreading God's good news, you may actually put some real joy into someone's Christmas!
THE GIFT
Madness, mayhem, glitter and lies,
Roasted turkeys, gift-wrap and good-byes
Every year we do it again
And again
Round and around it never ends
We search for something
We don't know what
Unfulfilled, saddened
We try again next year
Buy bigger gifts, bigger tree
All the time - lost
Then one Christmas day
A friend hands a 'gift' to me,
A miracle occurs
My eyes are opened
My heart set free as I am shown
God loves Me!
I have been struggling lately with ideas on what to write about for this blog and felt like I was definitely having a 'desert' experience. The well of creativity had run dry, my mind was like the Israelites – wandering around in circles, and the possibility of reaching the promised land (or writing a new post) were as remote as landing on Jupiter.
So I shot off a quick "why God, why?" message, (He know's my attention span is limited so tends to tolerate short yelps and mini messages) and responded with a quick "BECAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" Now trust me, I didn't hear a booming voice or anything like that, just had this conviction that this was what I had been doing wrong – making the post about me! My idea, my feelings, my thoughts, when in reality it is and always has been about God.
I realized then that the reason the Israelites had to wander the desert was because they also kept making everything about them! God had performed miracles and rescued them out of slavery. It wasn't long though before they started complaining about the heat, lack of water, food choice, and just about everything else you can possibly think of! It became about them and not about the Awesome God who was present with them every day, who provided for their every need, who had saved them from centuries of slavery with miracles that the might of Pharaoh and all his magicians and armies could not stop.
Unfortunately, that is what we do in our lives as well. We lose sight of God and focus on our little day to day problems. We forget that all that we have comes from God and every breath we take is a gift from Him. If we realize that its' all about God, that we live our lives to bring glory to Him, then we will find that we are no longer wandering dry, dusty, lonely desert roads of life but adventuring through the lush lands of milk and honey that God has promised us.
I must admit that looking at the two men, if I had been God, I would have chosen Aaron! Which is probably why God is God and I'm just little old, flawed me. And that's exactly what Moses was – flawed – just like you and me. Aaron also had his faults, but Moses certainly appeared to have the lead in the number of flaws he possessed. Therein, I feel, may be one of the reasons that God chose Moses. He was flawed. He had a speech impediment, self-esteem issues, a hot-temper, in fact, he was a regular guy and God was able to use him. He used him to manage one of the biggest, most important events in the history of the Israelites and yet he was just like you and me.
I cannot claim to know the mind of God, but I do feel that one of the reasons that He chose to use Moses, was so that we could realize that He can use us, with all our hang-ups and problems, to do His work. That we cannot excuse ourselves, because when He calls us, it is because He can use us just exactly as we are – flaws and all!
Eph 3:16-17 'I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources, He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.'
Being strong, independent, self-sufficient, are all characteristics that present day society applauds. Successful business people are lauded for being "self-made" men and women. The focus is always on financial success or super-stardom, never on the person's true character or moral values. In fact, if they do tend to be people with questionable morals and the personality of a villain, it is viewed with amusement or admiration. How the person achieved their success is also very often overlooked, particularly if their methods were unscrupulous and dishonest.
So why do we all strive to be what society wants us to be? God has created us with limitations and weaknesses for a reason. It is through our limitations, our inability to be "superman" that God's amazing power will shine through. This will give Him the glory, and not us. People will realize that if God can use someone as limited as we are, then He can use them to. Through our limitations we learn to depend on God and trust Him for the things that we, on our own, cannot do. This strengthens our love for Him and deepens our relationship with Him.
Consider how puny man is up against the forces of Nature – who can deflect a tornado, stop an earthquake or put out the fires of a volcano? Not one of us, and yet, God created all of these things! Shouldn't the very power and wonder of the world around us make us realize that He is far more powerful than us, but that since He loves us so completely, we can trust Him to give us His strength in troubled times.
Matt 6:34 'Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.'
I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it seems that just when we should be winding down and getting ready for the end of year festivities, people seem to be hit by all kinds of difficulties. My mother has been told that she is going to have to have a knee replacement operation; a friend has just discovered a growth on his kidneys, another has just found out that their new-born baby nephew is very ill, and the list goes on. However, the more I've thought and prayed about it, it really isn't the time of year, it's life! We all have constant challenges to face, difficulties that often seem insurmountable, but in reality, there is no problem too big for God.
God made us weak so that we could learn to depend on Him. He is our strength, if we allow Him to be. He made our lives short so that we could yearn for eternity. He gave us the ability to love, laugh and cry so that we could give our hearts to Him and show others the joy of knowing Him.
No matter what you are facing, ill-health, broken relationships, financial difficulties, just lay it all at His feet and trust that He knows what is best for you. It may be that through your financial struggles your direction in life changes so that God can use you more effectively. Perhaps through your ill-health you learn to slow down and spend time with your Saviour. I personally found that being bed-ridden for a while gave me ample time to pray for others.
To complete the phrase that I used to as this post's title: Worry is like a rocking chair ….. it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere!! Turn your worried thoughts into prayer – its far more effective!
2 Cor 5:17 'Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun.'
You are God's work of art – in process! A magnificent masterpiece that He will mould, shape and refine through life's up's and downs to make you the person He want's you to be. To have you reach your fullest potential and be all that you can be in Him!
The thought of God moulding and shaping us can be very upsetting to a lot of people, particularly those who see themselves as 'self-made', independent and strong. The thought that they are in need of change, that they may have to grow emotionally, spiritually and or mentally can be a severe knock to a person's ego and they will so often resist any thought of changing.
On a personal note, I can only tell you that God has, in so many ways, changed me for the better. Certainly, when I gave my life to God I felt that I was a good person, raising my sons on my own, strong-willed, independent and capable. What I was not prepared for was the things that I suddenly saw in my life that I realized were not pleasing to God. My temper for one thing! For such a tiny slip of a person (5'4" and only 58kgs), I was a force to be reckoned with when I got mad!! I remember having fetched all the children from school one day and my step-daughter commenting to me that my road-rage had gone! Then the others all started commenting on how previously I would have screamed at the car that had just cut in front of us, how I wasn't even swearing anymore! Wow!! I hadn't even noticed these things myself, but their comments certainly made me think about my behavior.
I know that the incident I have described above is rather small and inconsequential, and perhaps many of you have had more radical transformations than that, but it was that moment that was the turning point for me. It was this moment that made me realize that God had, already, without me being aware of it, started to transform my heart and, with this knowledge that He could change me without my conscious participation in the process, how much more could He do if I allowed Him to work in my heart?
I must admit that the process of allowing God to change me was not (sorry, IS not) always easy, but it is certainly worthwhile. The changes He has brought about have allowed me to release all my anger and bitterness, to learn to love myself (certainly the hardest battle) and to slowly start seeing that His plans and purposes for my life are far superior to any I may have had. I know that I am still taking baby-steps in my walk with the Lord, and that He still has LOTS of moulding and shaping to do to get me where He wants me to be, but I do know that I can trust Him through the process.
