Football already?

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. ~ Hebrews 12:11 (niv)


I love summer vacation and this summer has gone away entirely too quickly.  I feel as if I have floated through the entire summer oblivious to time.  I know that I have been very, very busy and right now I have that little kid feeling that school is just around the corner and I am fighting to savor the last few days of summer vacation before schedules and rituals creep in. 


I am leaving today and heading to Georgia to visit family and friends and I already know that the week will pass too quickly. Suddenly, Labor Day will be upon me: my sign that I must buckle down and stop living a carefree summer existence.  The past few days have felt more like autumn than summer and I have even watched a few pre-season football games (which by the way - I never watch. I mean really - who needs that agony?).  But I feel this longing for September to arrive.  I am actually looking forward to getting back into a routine because deep down I know that I am ever so much more productive when my days are structured.  


Hebrews 12:11 says this: No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 


It is so difficult to create any discipline for myself, especially in the summer.  I know for a fact that if I am not careful,  I could find myself wasting uncountable hours. Not necessarily doing nothing at all, but just becoming distracted by all the things that need to be done or gardening or well, just, things.  That is exactly what has happened to me this week.  All of the sudden it is Friday and I find myself wondering again, "What happened to the week?"


I look out the window and the sky is blue and the sun is shining all the warmth of a perfect summer day.  A good day.  A great day. A perfect day to take a road trip with my husband.  A last week of summer vacation for creating perfect memories to treasure through the long winter months that are sure to be here all too soon.  But for now, I will enjoy this last sweet taste of summer before it is time to settle in and watch football and cook chili and pick apples and pumpkins and watch the leaves begin to turn into a beautiful display of red, orange and gold.  For this summer girl, this year autumn can not arrive too soon.  And I know why.  I am ever seeking a harvest of righteousness and peace, but it only comes after discipline has been instilled.  To be disciplined I need structure and my structure always arrives the Tuesday after Labor Day.  I do not know why God built me to need the structure of a school year, but crave the freedoms of summer. Maybe one day He will reveal the mystery to me.


This will be my last post until I return.  May the last week of your summer be the sweetest of your life.  


Peace and Blessings,
Elizabeth

Like Sweetness in Honey

How shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace who bring glad tidings of good things. ~ Romans 10:15 (nkjv)


Friday, I found God in a dream.  

I find Him there sometimes in the wee morning hours before dawn, but this time was different. The sunlight streamed through the window, warm and sweet, as I lay napping.  It is a rarity that I ever nap.  Sleep often eludes me even as the rest of the world is tucked in tight not letting the bed bugs bite.  But this afternoon, as I struggled to write, my eyes heavily blinking, finally drooping, it was then that I finally gave in to sleep.  I tucked myself into bed, snuggled under the covers.

God gave me a nap.  And it was good.

Then the phone rang.  I sat up straight in the bed and gasped for air.  I am certain my heart was close to exploding. I felt confused and disoriented as I sat there.  I tried to recall what I had been dreaming, but all I could see in my head was white script on black: Chapter 33. Then images flooded my mind: what some would call Bible thumpers and Jesus freaks holding placards with bold words – the end is nigh, save yourselves; people permeated with fear rushing about the city streets screaming.  It was complete and utter chaos.  And it was not the quiet kind I am ever-seeking.  In the midst were people standing still, quietly, diligently, praying and watching the pandemonium unfold.

For the next two hours, I struggled to find the significance of Chapter 33.  In the middle of dinner I finally made the connection. Sometimes during my quiet time with God, instead of working on my designated Bible study, I will open my Bible and read for a while.  That morning I had opened The Message and it fell open to the first page of Ezekiel. On the left page there was a description about Ezekiel and on the right was chapter one.  Before I started reading, there were only two things that I knew about Ezekiel:  First, he was a prophet and second, God called him son of man, made him eat a scroll and Ezekiel wrote to us that it tasted like honey in sweetness (3:3).  So, I began reading what Peterson had to say about him:

Catastrophe strikes and a person’s world falls apart.  People respond variously, but two of the more common responses are denial and despair. Denial refuses to acknowledge the catastrophe. It shuts its eyes tight and looks the other way; it manages to act as if everything is going to be just fine; it takes refuge in distractions and lies and fantasies.  Despair is paralyzed by the catastrophe and accepts it as the end of the world.  It is unwilling to do anything, concluding that life for all intents and purposes is over. Despair listlessly closes its eyes to a world in which all the color has drained out, a world gone dead.  Among Biblical writers, Ezekiel is our master at dealing with catastrophe. When catastrophe struck…denial was the primary response. Ezekiel found himself living among a people of God who stubbornly refused to see what was right before their eyes (the denial crowd).  There were some who were unwilling to see anything other than what was right before their eyes (the despair crowd).

But Ezekiel saw.  He saw what the people with whom he lived either couldn’t or wouldn’t see.  He saw in wild and unforgettable images, elaborated in exuberant detail – God at work in a catastrophic era.  The denial people refused to see that the catastrophic was in fact catastrophic.  How could it be?  God wouldn’t allow anything that bad happen to them.  Ezekiel showed them.  He showed them that, yes, there was catastrophe, but God was at work in the catastrophe, sovereignly using the catastrophe.  He showed them so they would be able to embrace God in the worst of times. The despair people, overwhelmed by the devastation, refused to see that life was worth living.  How could it be? They lost everything or would soon…Ezekiel showed them.  He showed them that God was and would be at work in the wreckage and rubble, sovereignly using the disaster to create a new people of God...

There, I stopped reading.  I am constantly in awe of the things God will put directly in front of me.  And this was one of those moments.  I have told you that I am writing a book.  My book is about finding God in the midst of tragedy and affliction.  It is about not finding Him on the other side of the trial, but finding Him walking beside us with every step we take.   It is about knowing that God will never allow our destruction, but will rebuild us into newer and better people,  stronger and wiser people, people prepared to carry out His will.

And I know about denial.  I know about despair and desperation and affliction.  Six years ago, tragedy struck our family.  A truck rear-ended me at 70 mph as I was stopped in traffic.  I was 8 months pregnant with my first daughter and my 2 ½ year old son was in the car with me.  I spent months in the hospital recovering.  My husband, my oldest son who is now nineteen, and I walk a road that many before us have walked.  We aren’t bad people and the question has been posed to me often, “Why would God allow this to happen to you?”  Then the inquirer waits for an answer as if I have some secret access to God’s mind.  But maybe the access is not secret.  Maybe I am just willing to see God in places few are willing to look. Bit by bit, He reveals to me the things He wishes me to know creating a wiser me.  He walks beside me creating a stronger and more faithful me.  He performs miracles that leave me breathless and in awe of His sovereignty.  He teaches me to see Him in all of His glory as He breaks through desperation and despair and denial and affliction.  So you can see why I felt an immediate connection to Ezekiel in this moment. The words that Peterson wrote describing Ezekiel resonated with me and it was as if God was speaking to me. “Hey. Don’t give up.  I am working here.  Hang in there.”

Now I know that you are hanging on and saying, “yeah, but what about the dream???”

Over the past few months, I have been feeling led to be a bit more evangelistic.  I was raised Southern Baptist so this is not something I am unfamiliar with, however, I know it is not my primary spiritual gift.  What I learned this weekend as I read, studied and analyzed this information is that evangelizing doesn’t necessarily mean knocking on someone’s door and sharing the Bible with them.  It can, but it also means that we use our own gifts to share the gospel with others.  That can mean art or songs, it can mean teaching or hospitality.  The ways we evangelize are only limited by God's imagination and really, is there any limit there? In my case, it means writing and sharing how God speaks to me and where I find Him. It has been in the past few months that I have, as I told you before, begun opening my Bible and just reading it.  I think it is no coincidence that my Bible fell open to Ezekiel that morning.  I think it is no coincidence that I had a dream where God was giving me a message.  I am a extremely literal person.  God speaks to me in a very literal way.  I am a visual person and seeing words and pictures will clarify meaning when other methods do not work.  I am passionate about what I believe in and what I believe in the most is bringing God’s truth forward.  I have vivid dreams and I believe that sometimes, He will use those dreams to speak to me. I am not claiming to be a prophet.  I am not claiming to be any more special that anyone else God placed on His earth.  I am very simply sharing with you that, occasionally, God chooses to speak to me in this manner. I do not believe that He is urging me to stand on a street corner creating chaos and perpetuating fear, shouting, “the end is nigh.”  I do believe that this dream has certain meaning.

I live in chaos.  My mind races constantly and the racing feeds my insomnia.  I am rarely, if ever, still. It is not uncommon in the Bible that God caused people to fall into a deep sleep.  I was sleeping very soundly Friday afternoon.  I think that God just needed me to be still and quiet and without distraction for just a little while.  If it took a nap, then so be it.  In my dream is complete chaos.  Earlier I described it as pandemonium.  Now look at the word pandemonium and break it down…in the middle is this word: DEMON. What does the ruler of demons do? He creates FEAR.  People were running and screaming with fear and within all of the chaos are people standing still and praying to God.  Is scripture coming to mind?  Maybe…Be still and know that I am God.  God is sovereign and controls all situations, even catastrophe and chaos. He can control pandemonium as well if we are still and diligently praying to Him, listening for a response and for guidance.  If we are obedient, then lives are saved.  Not because we issue a threat – Repent or else, but because we show that God is good and worthy of our reverence by giving us a most precious gift in Jesus.

Chapter 33 talks about a watchman’s duty…this is quoted from The Message:

God’s message came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘If I bring war on this land and the people take one of their citizens and make him their watchman, and if the watchman sees war coming and blows the trumpet, warning the people, then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet and ignores it and war comes and takes him off, it’s his own fault. He heard the alarm, he ignored it – it’s his own fault. If he had listened, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees war coming and doesn’t blow the trumpet, warning the people, and war comes and takes anyone off, I’ll hold the watchman responsible for the bloodshed of any unwarned sinner.’ ~ Ezekiel 33:1-6

As I read these words, I felt the crushing weight of responsibility we bear as Christians.  It also reminded me of a favorite scripture in Isaiah:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.  The Lord has made bare His Holy Arm in the eyes of all nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. ~ Isaiah 52:7-10

God may have made Ezekiel a watchman, but clearly, here in Isaiah, God is telling us that we are all responsible for being watchmen.  The word is plural.

So here is my question: What are we doing to bring the glad tidings of good things to all the peoples of the world? 

If we are watchmen, are we consistently listening for God’s guidance and acting in obedience when He calls?  Are we ever still and quiet enough to hear Him speak?  Are we praying for opportunity to spread the word of God to those who are seeking it?  Are we studying and preparing ourselves for the moment that God presents us with an opportunity?  Are we equipping others to save their own lives?

I wonder.

I have questions.

I pray.

Faithfully, God listens and then proclaims truth.  His truth was incredibly and undeniably sobering to me because I know that I cannot answer yes to all of those questions consistently.

You are probably wondering why I posted pictures of honey bees in this blog.  Honey bees are diligent workers.  Every day, they wake up and search out clover or flowers for nectar so that they can make honey.  Saturday afternoon, they were working away in a little patch of clover in my front yard.  I believe that we need to be more like little honey bees.  We need to diligently search out those who do not know Jesus and give them the words of God to feed upon.  Ezekiel tells us they taste like honey in sweetness.  And is there anything sweeter than God’s truth?

a little note

Hello to my good and  faithful readers.....

A blog entry is coming.  I apologize that it has been a few days since my last post.  I have been a little under the weather. I have been working on a new entry the past couple of days and it is a little different and I would like it to be perfect just for you.  It will post in the next 24 hours I promise.  Thank you for your patience and persistence in checking back in...I have been happy to see my little ticker climbing.  Thanks to all who have passed my blog on to others.  Do not be concerned that if you use the e-mail-this-blog link and receive an error message; it still goes through. I will be adding a box so you can subscribe by e-mail if you wish.

In Christ,

Peace and Love and Blessings,

Elizabeth

In God's Presence

You will show me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. ~ Psalms 16:11 nkjv


Today I found God in a dragonfly.


Let me start at the beginning.  Yesterday, my husband was telecommuting because he had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day.  On his way back into the house from said appointment, he was intercepted by our neighbor.  It seems that in his opinion our yard needed to be cut and apparently there was a weed that needed to be pulled and he was offering his services.  My husband, of course, explained and declined, then felt the need to relay the entire conversation to me as I prepared our lunch.


And that is when the fight began.


All I was supposed to be doing yesterday afternoon was writing.  Not worrying about the length of the grass or weeds in the herb garden.  I wanted to do it all at my pace:  a couple of hours each morning and then inside to write. A speaker at the writing conference this weekend made a brilliant statement and one I whole heartedly believe:  If the devil can't make you bad, he will make you busy.  Well, yesterday, he made me both.

Angry words flew from my mouth.  There might have even been some cursing in there too - although I would take the 5th if asked directly.  I was so mad that I would not have been surprised if fire had spewed from within.  I riddled my husband with questions faster than he could respond.  "Did you tell him I was AWAY this weekend?  Did you tell him that LOGAN was SUPPOSED to do it before he left for Colorado?  Did you tell him that I am trying to PRIORITIZE?  Did you tell him that I DO NOT want HIM in MY yard cutting the grass or in MY garden for any reason?"  All of which my poor husband, who unwillingly had been caught in the middle of a battle of wills between my neighbor and myself, replied, "Yes to all of that.  Maybe I should leave and finish my day at the office???" And the only thing I could think of to say was, "maybe" as I stomped out of the room and I can honestly say that the devil made me say it.  Because in this case, he was trying to make me busy, but instead he made me bad.  Randy didn't leave and later, I slunk upstairs to apologize.  He worked and I wrote and the rest of the day was quite pleasant.  We had a lovely evening.

This morning, however, as I laid in the bed waiting for the alarm to sound, I began making excuses to God about how I had so much to do and I wasn't going to write today.  I was trying to prepare Him and I used yesterday as Exhibit A.  In the back of my mind, the devil played his familiar tune reminding me of all the things that I could get done today if I would just get my to-do list out and get busy checking off items.  Then, God asked me the all important question: "Yesterday he made you bad, today are you going to let him make you busy?"


I got up and dressed in my work clothes.  I cut the grass and worked in the lavender bed at the corner of the yard.  Gathering up weeds, satisfied that my work was done in under two hours, the devil began to taunt me.  "Are you stopping now?  There is still work to be done."  I thought for a moment, almost ready to cave in, but refusing to, knowing that God expected me to be obedient and spend my afternoon writing.  And that is when it happened.

A dragonfly flew right into my path.  I waited for a moment.  He landed on a wagon handle.  I watched in amazement as he sat perfectly still.  I wanted so much to run inside and get my camera, but feared that when I returned, he would be gone.  I decided to take the chance.  When I returned, he was still perched there.  I took a few pictures wishing that he had landed a few feet over in the garden and suddenly, up he darted and dropped over onto the rose bush.  Thrilled, I continued to snap away, picture after picture.  It was almost as if he was just sitting there posing for me.  He would flutter his wings and then lift his tail.  He was beautiful.  His tail was periwinkle - my favorite color.  His head was the most gorgeous green, his wings iridescent.  He was the most perfect dragonfly I have ever seen.  I turned around and there were more flying around, but he is the only one that sat still for a picture.


It was then that I realized.  I was in the presence of God.  I miss it a lot because my angry tongue gets the best of me.  I miss it a lot as I move from task to task.  This morning, God decided to grace me with His presence when I needed help to edge out the thoughts the devil taunted me with.  I know He is always on my side.  But this morning, He was telling me, "I know you would rather play in the garden all day and be in the summer sun.  But you are choosing to be obedient to what I am calling you to do so I will give you a little gift that I know will thrill you and excite you."  And He was right.  It did thrill me and excite me. 

Today I found God in a dragonfly. Today I found fullness of joy in God's presence.Today I caught a glimpse of the pleasures at His right hand that will be forevermore because He delights in me.  Today I can walk the path of obedience that God lays before me in spite of the devil's dirty tricks because God's path is life and beauty and abundance.  By the way, outside my window is another little reminder from God of His ever-presence.  As I type these last words, a squirrel is sitting up on the limb of my apple tree eating an apple.