A Gift

Each summer, Scott labors over our garden -- faithfully planting, watering, trimming.  This year's weather was so humid, although the garden was beautiful, I chose to enjoy it -- mostly -- from the window.  But now, the mornings are cool enough, I can grab a liter of coffee and enjoy one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me -- my husband's version of "Longwood Gardens" (so say the haters).  There's the constant flurry of squirrel activity -- flicking bushy tails, tree branches waving under their weight as they swing from limb to limb, nails scratching bark and the "crick, crick, crick" of their call.  I hear the honk of a rippling black arrow long before it flies overhead.  Splashes of bright color peek from still-green leaves, though most of the garden has been cut back, prepared for its winter repose.  The squeal and hiss of brakes on the street out front signal the arrival of a new school year.  And, almost as if on cue, a leaf falls.

Tuning In -- to God

Every morning on my way to work, God and I talk.  Days off, when I'm not laughing in the face of circadian rhythm it is much easier to get up, read my Bible and spend quality time in prayer in my room.  But, through the week, the place I can remain quiet and alert, is during my drive.  Although having quiet time in my car helps me to circumvent the temptation to reset the alarm and go back to bed, there is always the temptation to listen to some music instead -- especially when we've been out in the car the previous afternoon, and as I start the ignition in the morning, some cool new tune comes on and coaxes me into its riffs.  "Just one song," I think.  Or even, "Well, I've been really good the last couple of days.  I prayed longer last night before bed.  I can skip it just this once."  Its not long before I'm back down on my knees and begging forgiveness.  Not because God has laid out some divine judgement, but because without Him I am nothing.

David expresses it perfectly in Psalm 30:

When I felt secure, I said,

"I will never be shaken."

O LORD, when you favored me,

you made my mountain stand firm;

but when you hid your face,

I was dismayed.

In today's vernacular, The Message says it, just how I feel it:

 When things were going great

I crowed, "I've got it made.

I'm God's favorite.

He made me king of the mountain."

Then you looked the other way

and I fell to pieces.

Sure, God lets us suffer the consequences when we make dumb choices -- what loving Father wouldn't?  Does He enjoy inflicting pain or dishing out "just desserts?"  No more than anyone would their own child or grandchild.  But sometimes, it doesn't take anything close to that to remind us Who brought us to "the mountain."

A "Hands-On" Approach

This morning as I sat down to read my Bible and pray, I asked God to speak to me -- to show me what "words of wisdom" (my thoughts, not His) He would give to guide me and train me through my day.  As I read through Psalm 29, my initial impression was, "OK, another praise song -- can't get enough praise.  That's nice,but where is today's lesson?"  Reading it again, I thought, "Interlude."  Sort of the way people view verse after verse of genealogy right in he middle of a good story.  "Today must be something of a 'skip day'."  Third time.  "OK, power, glory -- I get it.  Certainly they are qualities of God not to be ignored."  One more read through -- only I couldn't just read through.  The words leapt off the page!  Wow!  "The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon!"  Now, I've never seen the cedars of Lebanon, but I have seen the redwoods in California -- amazing!  Majestic!  Monumental!  Hard to believe anything at all could break them.  But the voice of God does!

"The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness?"  Earthquake!  With only His voice!

"The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth."  OK, time to dish, here.  My husband had a vasectomy a long time ago.  A few years ago we even discussed a reversal; we decided against it, but that has never stopped either of us from wondering "what if?"  I have thought from time to time, I would be absolutely thrilled if God intervened and gave us a child -- I know Scott would be.  "The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth."  With only His voice, God controls reproduction for mankind, the animal kingdom, plants and trees -- everything!  He spoke the word thousands of years ago, put it into action and still maintains it today!  He can choose to deliver the deer early, or not at all.  He can choose to give a child to a couple who might never have had one, or choose others to serve Him more passionately.  His voice is so powerful, so magnificent, it can make the earth quake and the frailest of creatures seek its breath in the big world of the living.

And then, there's the piece de resistance... verses 10b and 11:

"the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

May the LORD give strength to his people!

May the LORD bless his people with peace!"

 

How can we not feel peace to know that God is in control of it all?  To know that God is still on His throne today, watching us, listening to our prayers, protecting, admonishing and teaching us?  That's peace, to know that the One who strips the leaves from the trees autumn after autumn -- or not, if He so chooses -- is at work in our lives day after day, hour after hour! 

A Timeless Idea

Lately, I have been reading the Book of Psalms.  I've just gotten started, but as usual, am struck by the relevance of the Scriptures.  Time and time again, Scott and I have shaken our heads in disgust at those who operate with no qualifications but their own advancement or gratification.  We hurt for the innocents who are caught up in others' quest for "the good life" -- for themselves, others be damned.  We wonder at the unfairness of it all.  How can the righteous be expected to continue that way, when unrighteousness seems to prosper others to no end?  How can God allow some folks to toil like a couple of hard-working stiffs while those who refuse to take care of the responsibilities they have, go on to receive all the glory, all the perks? 

Now, we know our frustration is based on worldly ideals, childish viewpoints and temporal gratifications, but let's face it, we are human and living in an imperfect world; we're bound to feel that way sometimes.  The author of many psalms, David, did too.  In Psalm 12 David talks about wickedness that seems to surround him: "...the faithful have vanished from among the children of man," he says.  "Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak."  Was it truly "everyone?"  Most likely not, but it seemed that way to David; he was clearly burdened by it.  Psalm 10 tells of the wicked who prey on the poor, scheming against them, and then boasting of their greedy deeds.  They deny God, murder the innocent and plot against the helpless, looking to ensnare them in some sort of trap.  David's concerns were valid.  He wanted to see justice; he wanted to see the Kingdom of God prevail.

By the end of the psalm, we see David turn it around.  He talks it through, so to speak and always comes back to the same reassurance -- the reassurance that God, our God is the Capital "G" God.  The One True God is loving, faithful, just, all-powerful and all-knowing.  He will protect us, He will do what He says He will do, He is a God of justice, He can do whatever He wills, and nothing gets by Him.  He is not the God of imagination or ethereal ideals; He is real, and is as committed to mankind today as He was in David's day.

Just as Scott and I hash things out from a human perspective, maybe just to vent or hear out loud just how tired it sounds, we always come back to the same conclusion -- God is in control.  We reestablish just how important it is to give it over to Him -- and we do.