As we left the church tonight I saw fireflies (lightening bugs) in the woods near the edge of the church property. It reminded me of all the times we would take the kids into the meadow and see how many we could catch. We would carefully put the captured insects in a large mason jar and watch them light the jar as they explored the confines.
After the kids had gone to bed I would release the prisoners and sit in the open field and watch in wonder as the little bugs spotted the air above the tall grass. I miss the open spaces and the expanse of stars we used to see in the darkened landscape of our farm in West Virginia. There really is so much here where we live right now, but it comes at a price – it is crowded. But not too crowded for lightening bugs.
It reminds me of just how often we make the circumstances fit our attitude by seeing what we want to see. If we are upset we see the things in our circumstances that can be held responsible for our state of discontent. If we are happy, we see the best things around us. If we are content we see the reasons to congratulate ourselves. In reality nothing has to change but our willingness to look at the circumstances differently.
I know I am not honest enough to see my life truthfully. I have to rely on God to help me see things from an eternal perspective and trust that “all things work together for good” even when it does not appear so from my limited perspective. Let’s not forget that I have my wife to set me straight when I get too caught up in what I think I see.
I have been painfully corrected many times so it tends to bother me when even the most gentle advice is rejected out of hand by those who need it the most. I know that one of the laws of God, both naturally and spiritually, is that you will reap what you sow. The translation in worldly terms is, “What goes around, comes around.”
Sow carefully. If you are leaving angry and hurt people in your wake as you pass through life, you will one day reap that harvest; how much better it would be to examine our relationships and correct where we might be at fault so we can reap that kind of harvest instead.
Don’t read too much into it, most all of us need help in this area. A little honesty may save you a world of hurt.
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Saturday, June 5, 2010
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Little lightning bugs, lights wherever they go, in the fields of Missouri or in the Suburban of New Jersey. God is good in displaying what we should be as his creatures, through little simple things.
It is good to have those moments to "be still" and watch, little things like little flashing bugs. To an open heart, meditating on the things of God, God can reveal something from his word with his creation, as he has done many a time with me.
I love to get alone and just walk sometimes, it is these times that I can reflect and often God just reveals to me something and often that is just a little reminder to me who he is.
The apostle Paul said," I have learned whatsoever state I am to be content." Paul shipwrecked and imprisoned, chased and robbed, was in a lot of different states. To me that sounds like New Jersey, from only a mere one of perhaps hundreds of adverse experiences endured by Paul. God equipped Paul to be content in whatsoever State, he must equip us to, but we must let him equip us.
Now, still contentment must be tempered with a thirst to grow in the Lord and to do more for him, not being satisfied with apathy, sure. But the type of the contentment that comes with patience, I could use a major dose of. Waiting on the Lord, seeking his will, praying for things, and like Gideon acting upon faith, doing something to receive that dew from heaven.
In reading through Leviticus, Exodus, and Deuteronomy recently. We do reap what we sow, but often there are different types of seeds sown and differing germination periods for those seeds. Some lie dormant for years. The scary thing for me is that there is a consequence that can be passed down through the generations and could stay in my house and doesn't just affect me and my house but others too. All that repercussion for disobedience should put the fear of the Lord in us. Like in David's house, he sinned and the period of time he had that was sinful weakness, cost him and reaped that a long time.
Anyway, dreadful harvest I do not look forward too. I must be careful and keep to the path, like in the pilgrims progress, to keep from defeat and despair. Keeping my eyes on the mark and pressing toward the goal.
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