Weekend Words

 From Letters from Ruth's Attic...

What Lies Ahead

"Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. ... Your father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you." - Luke 12:29-31, NKJV

One day many years ago, as I was driving home from town with one of our sons, he kept urging me to hurry.  "Go faster, Mother!" he insisted.  But he was too young to read the road sign that said 45 mph.  And again, "Pass him, Mother."  But he was too small to see that there was a double yellow line.

Then I began applying the brakes.  "Why are you stopping?" he demanded.

"There's a school bus ahead that has stopped," I replied.  I thought to myself, "When God is at the wheel, we may request - but never insist.  We are too young to read certain signs, too small to see what lies ahead."

George MacDonald writes, "There is a communion with God that asks for nothing, yet asks for everything. ...He who seeks the Father more than anything He can give, is likely to have what he asks, for he is not likely to ask amiss."

There may be a long interval between these two clauses from John 16:24: "ask and ye shall receive" and "that your joy may be full" (KJV).  But the end of true prayer is always joy.

Prayer: How good it is to know that I can rest in Your provision for me, Lord. 
When I am anxious and worried about the future, please help me to seek Your face instead.

From Water My Soul...

Winter Storm

Exodus 20:18-21; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Matthan is at the age when storms are fearful things.  Sometimes just a scattering of raindrops from grey clouds is enough to send him into a panic.

There are times when he seeks shelter in the dark cavity behind the couch.  Most often though, the arms of his family are his preferred method of comfort.  At the first rumble of thunder or the first sweep of wind along the treetops, he runs to whomever is closest to be soothed and cuddled.

I am afraid of some storms too.  Not necessarily of the tempests that blow through the hills with wild gales that set the treetops to dancing and bending, but the ones that sweep over my life with sudden fury.  The ones that settle down upon me with thick, smothering clouds and ice my soul with their frigid winds.

I'm afraid of the storms that bring to my heart a season that feels like a perpetual winter.

My favorite words in these verses of Exodus 20 are found in verse 21: "Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was."

God is in the midst of the storm!  In the thick darkness, to be exact.  Why fear the heavy clouds that settle over us, when that is where God is?  There is no storm He hasn't seen coming, no conflict that ever takes Him by surprise.  God is never caught off guard by the unfolding events that leave me reeling with shock.

In some ways Matthan is wise.  When storms come, he runs to the arms of those he loves and trusts.  We don't stop the winds or turn a spigot to stop the torrents of rain, but we do our best to calm him.  We go with him through the storm and emerge together on the other side.

God does no less for those who turn to Him when the storms of life rage.  After all, He has promised, "and I will receive you.  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters" (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).  He might not stop the winds, nor does He automatically make everything better, but He does walk with us through the storm.

And when the storm is subsiding and the gusts of wind are slackening, He is still with us.  He didn't leave us during the bad days or the worst hours.  Just as I would never leave Matthan when he's afraid.

Prayer: Some of life's storms are frightening to the extreme, God.  Remind me again that You have promised to walk through all my storms with me.

Reflection: Is someone I know experiencing a storm?  How could I help?