Many of you will have read the post of three weeks ago telling the story of the moorhens in our lake. Since then, the chicks have arrived; four of them. I have so enjoyed checking on them each day, watching their progress. Night before last I was very concerned as we had hard rain and strong winds with gusts of 20-40 mph. How would the moorhen family be affected in that weather?
Early yesterday morning, as I took Jack, our dog, out for his first walk of the day, I purposely went to the side of the lake where Mamma Moorhen is nesting with her chicks. My heart sank. There was no sign of any nest! Gone! Just a few reeds and bits of grass swirled in the water where the nest once stood. Panic rising within I looked around but saw no signs of the moorhens — but then — what? It was Papa Moorhen! I stood several minutes watching in wonder as he swam with great speed to the bank, plucked foliage and brought it to a clump of grass on the lake. Then he would dive and bring up a leaf. He kept up this procedure, never resting, a bird on a determined mission. He was building a new nest!
Hope soared as I reasoned, why would he build a nest unless somewhere, perhaps hidden among the reeds, was his family? Later in the afternoon I came again to look. Papa Moorhen had made great progress. The new nest was taking a good shape. He was still furtively swimming to shore and back, packing bits of straw and leaf into the nest. Hopping onto the nest he would stamp everything down with his feet.
Suddenly a movement caught my eye. Oh, what joy! There in the reeds was Mama Moorhen and all four chicks! The chicks were happily plucking at bits of grass. Mama Moorhen, in the warmth of the sun, kept her eyes on them. They were safe, and Papa Moorhen was non-stop in building his family a new home. I could feel my face form a great smile. I said out loud, “He’s a good father.” That’s when it hit me. God’s fingerprint in nature was evidencing itself once again.
There are times when you and I experience unwanted storms in our lives. Rains of disappointment drown our peace. Winds of sorrow tear away our joy as our very foundation of security seems to crumble beneath us — but wait — who do we see? It’s our Father! He knows what pain has come upon us. He comes swiftly to the rescue. He takes no rest as He begins to rebuild the peace and the joy torn away in the storm’s fury. Lovingly He builds a nest of hope and security in our hearts. He never tires of tending to our every need. He comforts. He speaks words of love. He sees that we are protected and made safe once again.
I just came inside from today’s morning walk. What did I see? Mama Moorhen proudly sitting on a brand new nest! Where was Papa Moorhen? Swimming from shore to nest giving Mama Moorhen something to feed the chicks. Oh, he’s a good father.
“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” II Chronicles 16:9
Most people are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. I read it again this week and saw a verse that I never paid much attention to before. Let me set the scene. There is a giant of a man threatening the army of Israel. This man is 9 feet 9 inches tall (just under 3 meters). To put that in perspective, a basketball hoop is 10 feet from the ground (three meters). The man is bulky and comes armed with a sword, a spear, and a javelin. Then we have David, a teenage boy with no military experience. He is a shepherd but has defended his flock of sheep from bears and lions. He is armed with a slingshot and five tiny stones. David alone has agreed to face the giant.
As we read the story in I Samuel 17, we see something interesting in verse 48, “As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.” What? The teenage kid ran to face his giant attacker? We know what happened. Before Goliath had a chance to throw his javelin or spear, David put a stone in his slingshot, slung it round, released it, hitting Goliath in the forehead. Killed instantly the giant fell down. How could young David display such courage? It’s because he knew he had more than a slingshot.
David knew and fully believed that God could do anything. He also knew that Goliath not only had no belief in God, but despised all thought of Him. God was fully on David’s side. God doesn’t change. Therefore, He is fully on the side of all who believe Him and receive His gift of salvation. When we become a part of the family of God, we instantly inherit access to the Holy Throne. Therefore, we have access to God’s own courage. We walk in a new dimension through all our days; a dimension where “old things are passed away and all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17) It’s a dimension where “nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) It’s a dimension that allows us, not only to face our fears and challenges head on, but to run out to meet them, believing that we are indeed conquerers in Christ.
As we are reminded in Romans 8:30-31 where we read of God in His desires for His children, “…He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory. What shall we say then about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”
Now that’s a reason to “run out to meet” our every difficulty. No challenge is insurmountable when we carry the slingshot of God’s promises and walk in His holy dimension where all things are possible.
Most people have heard about The Ten Commandments. They are often met with negative feelings as if they’re just a bunch of “Thou shalt and thou shalt nots.” We don’t like to be controlled. Aren’t they archaic?Are they really necessary in today’s world? In our subconscious we may also harbor the feeling that they can’t all be kept anyway so why try? What good is it to us?
The Ten Commandments are recorded in two places: Exodus 20:3-17 and Deuteronomy 5:7-21. However, it’s the verse that precedes those two passages that puts all those “thou shalt and thou shalt nots,” into proper perspective. Both Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6 reads as follows: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.”
Do you see the vastness of God’s love here? He loved them so much that He not only rescued them from slavery, but He gave them instructions to keep them from going back into bondage again. Of course, He was talking about a far more serious act of enslavement than anything they experienced from the Egyptians. He was talking about spiritual slavery, the same captivity that threatens us today.
You see, when you and I accept God’s gift of eternal life with Him, and forgiveness of all our sins, He puts us on a new path of hope and joy where all things wonderful are possible. He sets us free from the daily drudgery this world keeps us in. He cleans up our hearts, gives us hope of better things to come, and places His own Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit is our seal, guaranteeing that we belong to God. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide. However, we have the choice to ignore Him. What are the consequences if we do? Return to bondage.
When we accept the freedom of life in the joy and power of God, we are free indeed from the stranglehold of this world. If, in time, we turn from that freedom, allowing the allures of this world to choke out the joy, and flood the engine of our peace with a willful ignoring of His loving instructions, we will lose that power and that joy and that peace that only comes in full throttle from God Himself.
We can say we don’t like to be controlled, but in that we have no choice. We will be controlled by one of two things — either the light or the darkness. We can’t escape control, but we can choose who controls us. One leads to despair while the other leads to inner peace such as the world cannot fully understand. One returns us to slavery while the other keeps us free. I hope you choose to follow the paths of God who is filled with loving instructions for us — not some of the time, but all of the time. I wonder if the above is helped by the instruction found in Hebrews 10:24, “Let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works.” God uses each of us to encourage one another to stay on the good and right path. May we each encourage someone today to — stay focused on God’s loving guidance and stay free!
Some of you have seen the video I put on my Facebook page this week of the moorhens nesting. I have been watching for days as the parents carefully build their nest making it strong. We have not had the best weather this past week with heavy rain, strong winds, and freezing temperatures. Even so, I have never seen the parents abandon their nest. Soon their chicks will arrive. Keeping them safe is obviously foremost in mind.
As I have been, in great wonder, watching this nesting event, I have been reminded of God’s fingerprint in nature. As the moorhens build a home for their young, so our Father provides for His own. As these lovely birds protect their little ones, so our Father gives us sanctuary. I love the verse in Psalm 91:4, “He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”
Troubles in this world come to us all. Just as heavy rain pelted these moorhens, tragedy and despair batter us, too. As freezing temperature threatened the bird’s well being, deepest sorrow exposes us to unrelenting anguish. Does our Father care? Can He help us? Will He provide relief from our deep-rooted despondency?
Our Heavenly Father cherishes us so enormously that it says of Him in Psalm 56:8, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in a book.” What does this mean? Does God have an actual bottle for our tears? Whether or not the bottle is literal, the absolute fact is, God remembers our every tear. He is aware. He adores you and me. He cares without measure.
He desires to be our everything to get us through anything. To gain access to His comfort in times of great trouble, remember — look to Him, call to Him. Don’t turn away in your hour of distress; maintain steadfast focus on His promises and on His care. Just as the moorhens love their children, so your Heavenly Father is devoted to you with an unfaltering passion. Remember Him — He always remembers you.
Sometimes dogs snarl at each other for no obvious reason to our human eyes. I’ve watched our dog, Jack, approach a dog who snarled at him, telling Jack in no uncertain doggie language to, “get lost!” I have to admit I’ve watched our dear Jack do the same thing to other dogs from time to time. Are they in a bad mood? Do they sense something they don’t like in the other dog? Do they simply want to be left alone for awhile? (A bit like people, come to think of it.)
While snarling is a sign of dislike or fear, pulling on the leash can mean either, “I want to get that dog!” or “I want to play with that dog!” One day this week Jack began to pull hard. He had seen several dogs up ahead all playing chase together. Jack loves chase; therefore, I knew this sudden tugging was excitement building. He wanted to go and play, and he wanted to go now! I held him back while we crossed the road. It wasn’t time yet. He was pulling hard. “Wait, Jack,” I said. We came closer. Jack was still pulling. He could hardly wait another moment. Finally, we were there in the field. I could let Jack go, and wow! he zoomed away in great delight, joining the cluster of dogs, all jumping on each other, chasing each other, a happy sight of tails wagging and legs running.
I joined the other dog owners. We were all watching the play time. Except for the absence of tongues hanging out, we had the same happy looks on our faces as did our dogs. Reflecting on this later I began to think of something Jesus told His followers in Luke 6: 22-23, “What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets the same way.” These are difficult days we are living in — wars happening and rumors of war, unprecedented weather disasters, cold hearts toward God, acceptance of what is bad as now good.
When Christians stand up for the truth of God’s Word, there may come snarling from those who don’t agree. We may be hated, treated terribly, laughed at, cursed, even killed as many of God’s children are around the world. We are pulling against our leashes, longing for the day when we see Jesus face to face, when we are no longer harnessed to our own temptations and burdens that weigh us down. A time is coming when eternal joy is ours. There will be no more tears or any sorrow. We will be set free from any leash holding us back. We can hardly wait! We will indeed leap for joy!
I enjoy the writings of C.S. Lewis. Many of you reading will feel the same way. God gave him wise and thought-provoking insights into daily living; or perhaps I should say, into how best to live daily. In his essay, Is Theology Poetry, he wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen — not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” I have often pondered this quote, meditating upon what it implies.
It is easy to look at all that takes place in our world, be it good or evil, and make a judgement upon it, based on our own understanding of God and His Word. We may rightly or mistakingly say, this is right and that is wrong. It’s important to have a grasp of God’s Word so that we can identify good and evil. However, we can also make a common mistake when we seek to be constantly looking at everything wrong. Our vision can be so far reaching that we lose sight of what’s in the mirror.
Jesus said something in this regard in Luke 6:42, “How can you say to you brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Jesus is wisely teaching us to keep our magnifying mirror close at hand. We must first examine our own lives before we point accusing fingers at someone else’s. When we do this, and do it in honesty, we allow the Holy Spirit to both, create a clean heart within us, but also to see others with the same compassion Jesus had when the adulterous woman was brought to Him. That story is recorded in John 8:1-11.
Jesus did not ignore the wrongness of what the woman had been doing, but He forced her accusers to take a long look at their own selves first. Then Jesus, with compassion, urged the woman from that point of meeting Him, to walk in holiness, to acknowledge Him, to seek a path of goodness and rightness. It is no different for you and me today.
We need to rightly see the wrong of the world so we may pray with knowledge, and also pray with compassion for those who do not yet know the One who can set them free to a new life of joy and peace in the midst of any storm, and to forgiveness of any sin ever committed. However, before we can pray with a holy heart, we must first take that magnifying glass, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, take an honest look at ourselves, and then reach out in the love of God to help someone fallen to stand.
Helps for daily Christian living.
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