Not Enough Time

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom."  Psalm 90:12 (NLT)

There are too many things to do. 

Too many books to read,

     places to visit, 
          people to witness to,
               Bible passages to absorb,
                    sunsets to enjoy,
                         fresh starts to relish in,

walks to take, conversations to be had,

        hugs to give, hugs to receive,

                 hours to just ponder, blessings to enjoy,                                                                                           opportunities to share,

                                and on and on it goes!

But not enough time to do it all!  

Even if I’d started as a young adult there would not be enough time.  So why is it at my age I let any moment, any hour, any day be spent doing something that isn’t part of the vast array of things that are truly a joy, a learning experience, a way to contribute or an act of giving back to the one who provided it all; living a life of grateful obedience.

I cannot waste one day, one hour or one single moment,
         wishing I had done the right thing,

               shared my testimony,

                      said thank you,

                              revisiting the past,

                                    thinking “if only” or “what if”,                                              

                                           or asking why –

Yes, the list is endless.

Lord, forgive me.  Help me live for you totally and completely, whatever the cost.  Help me see the simplicity of it all.  Help me as I seek your will and allow you to live through me!

Psalm 95

Today, if you would hear His voice! Psalm 95:7b

Oh how I love His Word – The Word of God!  Especially do I love how He brings it all together for me during my quiet time.    Recently I read Psalm 95:7, “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.  Today, if you would hear His voice.”   In my journal I had made that my prayer.  Oh that it will be my prayer every day!

And then this morning, during my quiet time, this Christmas season after hearing the Gospel proclaimed in music last night, I am remembering the baby in a manger.  As all of these thoughts go through my mind during my quiet time I read Job 38 and 39 and I am awestruck.  Awestruck over the greatness of our God. 

Remember the words of Psalm 95, “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand,” – remember that God?  That God is the baby in the manger.  Yes, the baby in the manger and the God of Psalm 95 is the God of Job 38 and 39.  The God who was there as the morning stars sang together (Job 38:7), the one who gave boundaries to the sea, who controls the storehouses of the snow. (Job 38:22)  The same God who has given birth to the frost of heaven (Job 38:29) and gives wisdom in the innermost being or understanding to the mind (Job 38:36)

. 

The God who knows the mountain goat from the time they give birth until their offspring grow up and leave (Job 39:1-4).  The God who gives the horse his might and clothes his neck with a mane (Job 39:19-25).  Yes, and its God who causes the hawk to soar and stretch His wings and commands the eagle. . . . 

And then I am reminded of other verses like, 

  

               Psalm 139, He knows me, when I sit or rise up . . . .

               Jeremiah 29:11, He has a plan for my life. . . . . 

               Genesis 1 and John 3:16, This God of creation loves me. He loves the world!

As I ponder the greatness of this God, my God. this morning I hear His voice. . . .

Oh, the baby in a manger, His life of ministry and his death on the cross.  I think about resurrection Sunday and I know He lives today – Yes,  That God!  How awesome and mighty, “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”

I trust Him with my life and with my world!  I challenge you to read of this God in the book of Job and bow before Him this Christmas season.  How great is our God, this baby in the manger!

Skipping Christmas

I asked God just the other day,

If we couldn't skip Christmas this year.

The "Christmas Spirit" I didn't have,

And Christmas was drawing near.

He reached down and took me in His arms,

As He said, "Come, go with me.

You've looked in all the wrong places,

Come and see Christmas with me."

I walked with Him to Bethlehem,

To that stable long ago.

I saw in the manger, God's only Son,

That’s Christmas LOVE I know.

He took me with Him to Calvary,

I saw His nail prints and pierced side.

He gave His all, His life for me,

Christmas JOY in my heart now abides.

I saw the stone rolled away from a borrowed grave,

He lives today and that's Christmas HOPE,

I saw it all as He walked with me.

And then I heard God say to me. . . . . .

"My child, I've shown you what Christmas is,

Now go and help others to see.

The "Spirit" of Christmas isn't tinsel and trees,

But a gift that comes from me."

Silence the World

"He says, 'Be still and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  Psalm 46:10 NIV


I am amazed how things "come together" in life to teach lessons or remind me of God's truths.  Seldom is it more obvious to me than in my quiet time.  From J. K. Dean's, Conversations With the Most High, yesterday I was reminded how important it is to "push back the noise" and Be still and know He is God." (Psalm 46:10)

Today I'm reminded that I am to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28).  Those two devotions were preceded by yesterday's Jesus Calling devotion by Sarah Young, reminding me that "peace is inherent in His presence.  His peace is not an elusive goal" but rather it surrounds me as I am resting in Him.  I try too many times to hear God "over" the noise of the world.  What I really need is to shut out the world and just listen to His peace as it dwells inside me.

Far too often I seek to keep muddling along in my day, involved in this, working on that, hearing the news, saying yes to a request, anxious about a change I see in my future, and on and on I could go.  Just how much more could I add to the list?   But all the while I tell myself I'm listening for you, Lord, trying to hear your direction and yet "tuned in" to the world!

Be still and know. . . .this is my prayer today.  Today may I hear ONLY you God. I'm not asking to hear you above the world's many voices, but just You. Help me to tune out all other voices, interruptions, social media, Lord, the world!  Lord, in this moment - may I hear Your voice as I silence my world today.

I love it when God's plan comes together in my life!

I Did It!

My cousin’s daughter and her husband have triplets that are now six years old.  When they were first born and their parents needed extra hands, I was fortunate enough to be able to help with them from time to time.  When they were about two, I was at their house enjoying watching the three of them do what two-year olds do!  On this particular day it was clear that the phrase of the day was, “I did it.”   Kai, the boy of this precious trio, has just recently learned to climb out of his crib.  Now this was not at all surprising because he had been climbing, opening cabinets and doors, turning toys off and on, and figuring things out for several months.

As one of the “sitters” we’d been told he had now mastered the crib so we needed to be aware of this.  This particular day we were all in his bedroom and he proceeded to show us how this task was accomplished.  He could not just climb out of the crib, but into it as well. He would climb in the crib on one end, stand up straight and tall and proudly say, “I did it!”  He then would go to the opposite end of the crib, climb out of the crib and, again, just as proudly announce, “I did it.”   This was a fun rotation for a few minutes and soon he was joined by his sister, Neely.  She would follow Kai’s lead and climb into the crib, announce, “I did it,” climb out of the crib to the floor and again proudly announce, “I did it.”  

This rotation had probably been done two or three times for each of them and I was watching with interest the third child, Bevan, as she watched her two siblings.  She had not completely mastered the technique yet but that didn’t stop her as she was proceeding to try to climb into the crib.  She struggled for a bit and just couldn’t figure it out and get that little knee in just the right place to accomplish this new feat.  After several minutes of struggling and seeing her brother and sister pass her by, she looked at me with those beautiful, clear blue eyes and pleaded, “Help.”   I, of course was able to give her just the little push she needed to make it over the side of the crib.  Success, she was in the crib and quickly she stood up and proudly pronounced, “I did it!”

Well, not really did she “do it” but she certainly knew how to take credit for it after having watched her brother and sister.  I thought this to be extremely cute and quite funny.  Later that day as I was retelling this story I thought about how her actions are so much like mine.  I struggle and struggle with the “task of the day” and then I finally look to God and say “Help” and then when He does, far too many times my reaction is, “I did it!”  I fail to recognize the push I’ve been given, the strength I was granted, or even the encouragement that has come from God that was my “help.”  I turn my thoughts inward and think of my independence, proclaiming “I did it!”

Thank you God for using the triplets to teach me about myself!  Forgive me God for not realizing that all my strength and help comes from you!


"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV)

Are you Disturbed?

We had made many plans, prepared our stories, and tried to take everything we would need as our church mission team headed to Zambia Africa.  As we headed out after planning for several months, we were confident that God had every detail under control and He had His agenda.  He opened the door for new stories we’d not planned on and we discovered quickly that we had everything we needed as long as we had clothes on our back and His Spirit directing our steps. I have learned this is true in Africa or in Western Kentucky. 

While in Zambia, the people we served lived in what we would consider extremely poor, dirty conditions and in need of so many things.  Clothes, shoes, medicine, eyeglasses, toys for the children, balanced diets, vitamins, clean water, a building to worship in – so much we would have liked to provide for them but where do you start? 

As we talked one day about all they needed, at least by our way of thinking, one of the missionaries we were working with quoted David Livingstone’s father-in-law, Mr. Moffat, when he said, “On any given night I see the fires from 1,000 villages, all without the light of Jesus.”  We knew that we could take 200 shirts for the children, a few balls for the children to play with but what they needed was Jesus to give them hope.   That was the one thing we could share with them and that is what we tried to do.

This was not my first trip to Zambia so when this mission trip became available and I felt like it was something God wanted me to be a part of, I began to ask God just what He might have for me this time?  As we worked in Zambia and also once I returned home, I kept asking what God wanted me to see, to take away from this trip.  I knew I had learned a lot, I’d experienced the “bush” and I loved every minute of it.  I’d seen God at work, I saw Him answer prayer, I felt His presence, and I learned a lot about me.  Somehow though, I felt God still had something else for me.

The same week we returned I attended a Women’s Conference in a nearby town.  The speaker reminded us how God called Abraham to leave Ur and go to a place he would show him.  I’m sure you know the story.   However, the speaker went on to say that we all have our own Ur – you know our U. R. – Usual Routine and that God calls each of us to leave our Usual Routine and be obedient to Him.  Oh my!  Was that what God was saying to me?  Well okay, I had done that – I’d stepped out of my Usual Routine and gone to Africa hadn’t I. Okay - so I’m not in Africa now.  What now?

 

It was then I remembered the quote from Mr. Moffat.  It was as though I could see the 1,000 fires in the villages, and the thousands of homes in the Zambia towns we visited, all without the light and hope of Jesus.”  Then it was almost as if God said, “You’re not in Zambia now – you’re back home - look around you.  When you walk out of church tonight, or drive through this community or stand in your own yard, you can see the lights of many homes right here who need the hope of Jesus as well.” 

Kay Warren says in her book, Dangerous Surrender, that God is looking for some disturbed people – people who will allow Him to disturb them by making them truly see the world where we live – so disturbed they will be compelled to do something.

Kay also says, “If we aren’t disturbed by the world in which we live, we will be consumed with the trivial, insignificant and temporary.  We will spend days pursuing wrong goals – living by the wrong measurement of success, and evaluating our legacy by the wrong standards.”

I had grown comfortable with my Usual Routine – now I’m trying to be obedient to what God has for me and I am expecting God to interrupt that routine daily.  

I’d go back to Zambia in a minute, I love the people, the country, and I certainly know God is working there.   God has “disturbed” me about the people in Zambia.  I believe we should go to the ends of the earth, including Zambia, to tell others about Him and if it is God’s will, I’ll go again one day.  In the meantime, I believe God wants us all disturbed about the people whose lights we see from the church parking lot and from our front yards.      

Twice now, I’ve been blessed to have shared the lives of the Zambian people and I've seen how God is working there.  I have come to love these people who live on the other side of the world.  What an incredible experience!  As I returned from Africa the first time, my son who had been to Africa a few years before looked at me as he met me at the airport and said, “Kinda leaves a scar doesn’t it?”  A scar indeed – with an exclamation mark!

It is my prayer that you will go to Zambia or to wherever God is leading you. But if it is God's plan that you stay near home, I also pray that God will disturb you, as He has me, about those living around you who need the light of Jesus in their lives.


"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" Matthew 28:18-20

Seamless Transition

My husband and I recently returned from a few days at the beach.  Even though the beach is one of my favorite places to be, it is always good to be home.  I was telling someone one morning after we returned how I wished I could just "drop in" at the beach for a day or two about once a month.  There would be no packing or unpacking.  No exits, just arrivals.  No settling in, just taking it in. No catching up, just staying in step.  I would prefer a seamless transition from my front porch to the beach!

Sometimes I think that is how my life has been, a seamless transition from when I was twenty-five to where I am today, seventy.  The transition has not always been smooth or without a few rips and tears, maybe a gathered sleeve or an uneven hem along the way.  There were years when I think I had a pattern and other years when I was only sewing a crooked seam or even sewing "in the ditch."  Often as I've worked my own design it was like I was using a pattern with pieces of the pattern missing.  My least favorite part of sewing are those times when you just have to do it over.  I've had my share of "do overs" as well.

Sometimes life appeared to "fit" but the inside seams were obvious as I seemed to be wearing my life inside out.  Many days were like trying on a dress that had been pinned together or just "basted" at best, as I carefully tried it on without the pins sticking me, taking one tentative step after another.

And now here I am with a wrinkled "dress," faded and worn, a bit tattered in places, and with more than a few patches.  Although I know the pattern for my finished garment was designed before I was born, I still find myself trying to fit the pieces together.  Even at my age I seldom have the seams straight and some days I continue to look for a pattern piece.   

One thing I have learned is that the fabric of my life must be washed by the Word, over and over and over again.  It's in God's Word where I find my stabilizer and the tension of my stitches is adjusted perfectly.  Thank you God for your patience as I am still trying to get myself put together!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit be together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)

     

Time Change

Time Change

Today is the day we change our clocks.  In the spring we move our clocks forward one hour for Daylight Saving Time.  In the fall our clocks will “recover” the hour lost in the spring as we move our clocks back one hour.

It’s always a big deal at our house to make this adjustment because we have too many clocks.  Of course we have our watches, by which we regulate our day so we will arrive at appointments or pick up the kids or go to work at the right time.  I know our watches are necessary but I’m not sure that we don’t get too carried away with “being on time.”

Then we have clocks by the bed.  Actually my husband and I each have a clock on our side of the bed no less.  We seldom ever set the alarm on those clocks so I’m not sure why we need them.  I guess we use them so we know what time it is when we wake up in the middle of the night.  I mean after all, it I go to bed at 10:22 p.m., I want to know when I wake up at 1:35 a.m. that I’ve only been asleep a few hours so I can spend the next 30 minutes thinking about how I must have been asleep much longer than that!  Or, even better, if I wake up and my clock tells me I only have about another hour to sleep before its time to get up, I need to be able to fret about how I really need to get back to sleep.  Now who needs that extra stress to begin the day?

Then, of course, there is the clock on the stove which is totally unnecessary.  If I’m cooking supper (which doesn’t happen every night) then I obviously know its supper time.  I really don’t need to know the exact time because seldom is my husband home to eat “on time” anyway!  If I’m not cooking supper then I’m not looking at the stove wondering what time the stove will cook something on its own.  Now the microwave is another matter.  I need the timer on the microwave to tell me when three minutes has elapsed, but I don’t really need a clock, just a timer that beeps when it’s time to take out food.

The clock that is the most reliable and is used the most is the one on my cell phone.  It changes itself automatically and is tied to the “mean” time or the world’s time or something beyond my control, whatever that is!  On my cell phone I lost my hour in the spring and I’ll get it back tonight with no effort on my part.  Convenient isn’t it?

Which brings me to the point of my story.  As I have pondered this process this morning I realized my life has been a bit like Daylight Saving Time.  For about the first 20 years of my life it seemed like my clock was being “set back.”  Would I ever turn 16 and get my driver’s license, would I ever be 21?  Then sometime over the next several years, my clock began to speed up somewhat.  I really didn’t “change” my clock but all of a sudden I’d lost a year, or maybe two.  I found myself thinking my children should just be teenagers, but wait, it’s my grandchildren who are learning to drive!  Wasn’t it just a few “time changes ago” that I was learning to drive?

I’ve been known to complain about my cell phone.  With all of its conveniences, also called apps, it controls my life, with little effort from me and often without me intending to let it happen!

Have I allowed my life to spring forward at such a pace, controlled by the world or others, that I hardly know what time it really is?  Am I allowing life to “fall back” or “spring forward” and just happen with no real purpose or plan? 

God’s Word addresses this in several places.  Psalm 90 in The Message says we live for seventy years or so and with luck we might make it to eighty.  Then the question is asked, “And what do we have to show for it?  Trouble, toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.”

Well that gets my attention since I’ve had my seventy years!  Now I don’t want to stop the clock, I don’t even want to watch the clock, but I do want to be intentional about living my days.  Verse 12 of Psalm 90 says, “Oh!  Teach us to live well!  Teach us to live wisely and well.”  God has ordained our days before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16), may I allow my “time” to be controlled by Him as I seek His will.

“Search me, “O God and know my heart;” test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  Psalm 139:23-24

P.S.

As I penned the above thoughts in my Journal this morning I was reminded of something I wrote over 25 years ago. 

Time

Time doesn’t stand still for anyone,

It moves on for all of us.

We must move forward, day after day,

Until all of life is done.

Taking each day as it is,

And not for what might have been.

Not for what the future will be,
But today for today, today!

Rain

I sat on my porch that morning enjoying the birds calling to each other as it began to rain.

First it was gentle and I hardly realized it was raining because it wasn’t raining hard enough to come through the trees that surrounded me.  I heard the soft drops as they fell on the leaves and only then did I notice the small drops of rain as they landed on the deck.

As the rain became more intense, the gentle drops becoming larger, the rain began to splash gently on the table.  The birds seemed to increase their chatter with each other.  They seemed to enjoy the rain. 

Then it came.  Thunder!  Not just in the distance or a soft rumble, but THUNDER!  Cracking, loud, bold, attention getting!

As the thunder got my attention I was reminded that God is in this picture.

He is in the gentle rain, when the rain comes gently to refresh the earth and the birds call out.  He refreshes our soul in the gentle way He speaks to us, guides us as we read His Word.

His voice is in the thunder.  The rain didn’t stop with the thunder, but it seemed to almost pause, hesitate.  Even the birds were silent as they heard His voice.  Sometimes as I study His Word, He speaks to me like that.  

“This is for you today.”  

        "Where have you been?"  

                    “Today is the day to act.”  

                           “Love your neighbor.”

                                     "Do you love me?"

I could feel His presence as I sat there on my porch.  In the distance I heard a rumble.  Almost as if God was acknowledging my thoughts.

To be His child, to know His love, to hear Him speak through the rain, the thunder and through His Word.  I am blessed!

The birds are silent now but He still speaks!

We speak to God when we pray.  God speaks to us when we read the Bible.  St. Augustine

Update

The above journal entry was written several weeks ago.  As I revisited it today, I realized that perhaps this was the last day it rained.  The earth is very dry, grass brittle and leaves are dropping from the trees, all a result of little or no rain.  I couldn’t help but think about how this relates to my life when I go days without spending time in God’s Word.  How quickly my life changes without the washing of His Word on a daily basis.  Thank you God for reminding me how necessary Your Word is to keep me refreshed and alive.

My Requests

My Requests

I ask for words to teach,

You filled me with praise and a desire to share.

I ask for good health,

You gave me your strength to draw from.

I ask for friends to love me,

You gave me love to share with strangers.

I ask for children who would call me blessed,

You blessed my children and they’re a blessing to me.

I ask you to protect those I love,

You allowed those I love to walk with you.

I ask to find happiness in life,

You filled my life with unquenchable joy.

I ask to do things perfectly today,

You gave me a new day so I could try again.

I ask for knowledge so I’d understand why,

You gave me your Word to be my guide.

I ask for quiet in this busy world,

You lifted me up high above the noise.

I ask for new clothes for others to see,

You let your radiance adorn my being so they’d see you.

I ask to have no storms in life,

You hid me in the cleft of the rock as storms raged outside.

I asked for things over and over

and you repeatedly answered my every need. 

You then waited patiently as I learned

that all I need is you and you want the best for me.

                        

May ‘97