Chiggers. If you've never had the "wonderful" (not really) experience of "having" chiggers, you just can't fathom the depth of itch it produces. Chiggers are so small you can hardly see them and most of the time you get them when walking through wooded areas where there happens to be a lot of brush or other foliage on the ground. When you happen to "get" chiggers, they are extremely hungry and shy (just kidding) and burrow into your skin (not kidding). They start itching within hours it seems and because they are small can find their way into the most private areas (enough said).
This past week I happen to be walking through the woods doing some praying and just talking to God. I had sprayed myself down with a mixture of red apple vinegar and water (an old Ozark favorite recipe to help keep ticks and chiggers at bay). Apparently, I did not spray myself well enough because I ended up with about 25 chigger bites (no fooling)! There are lots of recipes for chigger bits: like the obvious chigger medicine at the local drug store, bathing in bleach water (little bit of bleach to a LOT of water), and painting the bite with finger nail polish to suffocate them.
I've never really found any remedy for chiggers that works wonders, but they all have some benefit. I usually end up scratching mine until they bleed and then scratch them a bit more and the chiggers seem to head out after that! Not a pleasant way to spend a week of your life - then waiting for the sores to heal! It is interesting how we all have remedies to fix the things that go wrong in our lives as well. People have different philosophies on just about everything under the sun, including God.
And even though we try to appease our conscious with our own, often very personal and heartfelt, rationale, we stumble when it comes to having any kind of relationship with God. We don't understand sickness and pain and suffering and wars - so we blame God because we don't know who else to blame. But God really does long to have a personal relationship with his creation (yep, that be us) and he has made a way to do that.
John chapter 3 verse 16 tells us that God loved us so much that he allowed his only son to pay the full price of sin for us all. Even though none of us asked him to - he did it because it was the only way to repair the damage that sin had caused. The Bible also tells us in Romans chapter 6, verse 23, that the wages (or payment) for sin is death, but the "gift" of God is eternal life through His son, Jesus Christ. Spiritual death or an eternity separated from God, from everything that is good and loving and wonderful, is not something that I would wish on anyone - and the Bible tells us that God doesn't want that either. So thankfully he has made a way to repair the damage!
Chiggers will come and they will go, but one thing is for sure - when you get a chigger you can't help but scratch that itch! Scratching it feels good, even though people will tell you it's bad. So we don't listen and scratch anyway...leaving wounds to heal later on. When we do things that do not please God (called sin), we often are doing things that feel good for the moment, but leave wounds to heal over time. The awesome thing about God is that no matter how badly we wound ourselves, God is always there to welcome us back into a relationship with him - a relationship that brings healing beyond our greatest imagination. I'm glad I serve a God like that!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Where's the door?
Often, when we go through challenging times we search and pray and search some more for answers. When the way seems to get darker we pray even more! After all, the Lord did tell us in the Scriptures that "if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5 NIV) So as Christians we often look to God for answers when we have none ourselves!
I'm also amazed at all the advice and counsel you get from family and friends - and even people you don't know very well! It seems when things are already confusing enough, everyone has a word of advice and knows exactly what you should do:). So what do you do when you don't have any answers and everything you have tried has failed, or it just seems like every door you have knocked on is not only shut - but bolted tight?
First, I'm a firm believer in doing the best you can with what you already have in your hand, instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to give you opportunities. The good Lord gave us abilities and talents that we can use, even during downturns and times of uncertainty. Second, I'm also a firm believer in finding comfort in the Scriptures. God has given us his word to guide and comfort us with principles and promises that have stood the test of time. Third, prayer provides opportunities to vent and pour out our frustrations and concerns, as well as give thanks to a heavenly Father who actually does care about even the minutiae of our lives. And Fourth, good friends who will pray with you and encourage you are priceless.
Since our family seems to be going through some transition ourselves, I have been doing a lot of the above: staying busy doing what I know to do, reading the Scriptures, praying, and finding friends to pray with us. As I was praying during a Bible Study tonight, I sense the Lord sharing some wisdom with me. Since I did not see the door which I needed to go through I was praying for God to show me where the door, and direction for my family, was. But it was as if the Lord shared that when it is dark, I have learned to rest upon God and gain a greater sensitivity to His leading in the darkness. But if He illuminated the door, most of us are prone to charge ahead and make a bee-line toward that door without waiting for God's time!
I guess I've learned over the years that not only does God have a perfect plan for each of us, but He also has a perfect time for His plan. When we force our way or our timing on God's plan, we can often abort what would have been a wonderful experience. Just as the birthing process involves patience and waiting, so too the Christian walk is a journey that involves waiting on God and resting in His promise to faithfully lead us just as a shepherd leads his sheep. If "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Luke 12:7 NIV) then surely God is able to care for us and lead us through the right door - into a place that is greater than we could have ever imagined. I'm willing to wait for the right door - how about you?
I'm also amazed at all the advice and counsel you get from family and friends - and even people you don't know very well! It seems when things are already confusing enough, everyone has a word of advice and knows exactly what you should do:). So what do you do when you don't have any answers and everything you have tried has failed, or it just seems like every door you have knocked on is not only shut - but bolted tight?
First, I'm a firm believer in doing the best you can with what you already have in your hand, instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to give you opportunities. The good Lord gave us abilities and talents that we can use, even during downturns and times of uncertainty. Second, I'm also a firm believer in finding comfort in the Scriptures. God has given us his word to guide and comfort us with principles and promises that have stood the test of time. Third, prayer provides opportunities to vent and pour out our frustrations and concerns, as well as give thanks to a heavenly Father who actually does care about even the minutiae of our lives. And Fourth, good friends who will pray with you and encourage you are priceless.
Since our family seems to be going through some transition ourselves, I have been doing a lot of the above: staying busy doing what I know to do, reading the Scriptures, praying, and finding friends to pray with us. As I was praying during a Bible Study tonight, I sense the Lord sharing some wisdom with me. Since I did not see the door which I needed to go through I was praying for God to show me where the door, and direction for my family, was. But it was as if the Lord shared that when it is dark, I have learned to rest upon God and gain a greater sensitivity to His leading in the darkness. But if He illuminated the door, most of us are prone to charge ahead and make a bee-line toward that door without waiting for God's time!
I guess I've learned over the years that not only does God have a perfect plan for each of us, but He also has a perfect time for His plan. When we force our way or our timing on God's plan, we can often abort what would have been a wonderful experience. Just as the birthing process involves patience and waiting, so too the Christian walk is a journey that involves waiting on God and resting in His promise to faithfully lead us just as a shepherd leads his sheep. If "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Luke 12:7 NIV) then surely God is able to care for us and lead us through the right door - into a place that is greater than we could have ever imagined. I'm willing to wait for the right door - how about you?
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Good Friends.
Tonight we're out in ministry, absent our son who is at a youth retreat. On our way to ministry we stopped in my old home town where most of my relatives have been buried. Mom and Dad, as well as grandparents and cousins are buried there and we wanted to pay our respects. As an added treat we were able to meet up with one of my sisters and laugh about some of the funny times growing up in our rather large family - 8 kids!
Afterward, we headed for our final destination for ministry tomorrow. After checking into our hotel and having a wonderful siesta (nap), we headed to the home of our pastor friend for dinner. They had invited us to their home for dinner and fellowship - just a time of talking about everything that was going on in our lives. We could have opted out and stopped by a fast food place or all gone out to dinner some place, but there is just something about spending time with good friends.
We had a blast, enjoyed some great food, got beat at ping pong (but it was close!), and had an opportunity to talk about things that one would not normally talk about. That's the great thing about good friends - it's a trusted relationship where you feel safe talking about topics that would normally not arise: where ideas can receive some sound wisdom and a reality check it needed:).
There is another friend who the Scriptures tell us sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). As one who has three brothers and four sisters, I know that family relationships can be close, but never as close as the relationship that Jesus Christ wants to have with each and every one of us. A trusted relationship where I can be myself and share every concern, frustration, heartbreak, and hope. A friend who has suffered like I have (Hebrews 4:15), and who knows how I feel. A friend who paid a valuable price (John 3:16) so that I might have an eternal relationship with a God who cares for each of us.
I am so thankful for good friends, and even more so for The Good Friend I found in Jesus Christ. How about you? Do you need a friend like that? All you have to do is believe (Romans 10:9-10) and invite Jesus to be your best friend and Lord of your life, asking his forgiveness of all the things you might have done that are not pleasing to him; allowing you to experience the best friend a person could ever have. It can be so - for every one of us (Romans 10:13)!
Afterward, we headed for our final destination for ministry tomorrow. After checking into our hotel and having a wonderful siesta (nap), we headed to the home of our pastor friend for dinner. They had invited us to their home for dinner and fellowship - just a time of talking about everything that was going on in our lives. We could have opted out and stopped by a fast food place or all gone out to dinner some place, but there is just something about spending time with good friends.
We had a blast, enjoyed some great food, got beat at ping pong (but it was close!), and had an opportunity to talk about things that one would not normally talk about. That's the great thing about good friends - it's a trusted relationship where you feel safe talking about topics that would normally not arise: where ideas can receive some sound wisdom and a reality check it needed:).
There is another friend who the Scriptures tell us sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). As one who has three brothers and four sisters, I know that family relationships can be close, but never as close as the relationship that Jesus Christ wants to have with each and every one of us. A trusted relationship where I can be myself and share every concern, frustration, heartbreak, and hope. A friend who has suffered like I have (Hebrews 4:15), and who knows how I feel. A friend who paid a valuable price (John 3:16) so that I might have an eternal relationship with a God who cares for each of us.
I am so thankful for good friends, and even more so for The Good Friend I found in Jesus Christ. How about you? Do you need a friend like that? All you have to do is believe (Romans 10:9-10) and invite Jesus to be your best friend and Lord of your life, asking his forgiveness of all the things you might have done that are not pleasing to him; allowing you to experience the best friend a person could ever have. It can be so - for every one of us (Romans 10:13)!
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