The Shadow of Your Wings

"No doubt of it, but God reveals wonders, and does great deeds that we cannot understand.  When He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth' or tells the rain to pour down in torrents, He brings all men's strivings to a standstill so that each must acknowledge His hand at work."  Job 37:5-7

This time last year I was preparing for a visit from a (dare I say "old") friend.  We hadn't seen one another for several years and it was her first journey to my home since we'd moved away 19 years earlier.  She was flying in two days after Easter and I was so tickled that she was coming and absolutely thrilled that she was going to see our state in its spring grandeur.  The roadways were filled with the beauty of the wildflowers, my own yard a palette of color - trees in leaf, the shades and scent of lilac, pale yellow banksia roses, and a perennial favorite 'round these parts, the bluebonnets, which covered the upper portion of our front "lawn."  Moreover, what a joy it would be for her, locked in a northern winter, to feel the warmth of the sun on her shoulders and breathe fresh air wafting through the open windows. 

Good Friday fell upon us with a shock of frigid weather.  I worried about the growing things - the flowers, my plum trees with thumb size fruit already set, the peaches just coming out of blossom.   Walking the gardens I prayed for more seasonable weather.  As the sun set on the eve of Easter the temperature plummeted.  I prayed all the more - Lord, please, for the plants, for my friend, let it warm up! 

Sunday morning I rose early to a bright, white world.  Snow, 6 inches deep in some areas, covered everything.  Sigh.  The last bit of hope I'd held for the plantlife melted away with the slush on the walkway.  By the afternoon most of the snowfall had soaked into the ground.  Sodden flower heads drooped.  Grass lay plastered to the earth.  As I lamented what I thought was the end of our lovely spring I remembered something from my few years in a northern clime - the snow was not an enemy!  In fact, it was what protected tender plants, serving as an insulator against the cold.  Snow, beautiful snow!  The Lord had not dismissed my plea!  He, in His wisdom and care, had sent the perfect answer to my prayer.

Monday dawned warm and clear and by the time I drove to the airport to meet my friend on Tuesday the roadsides were brighter and more welcoming than ever.  We shared a wonderful time together basking in the sun, delighting in the perfumed scents of Spring.

There have been many times it has seemed as if God wasn't answering my cries for mercy, indifferent to my need to feel the warmth of the Son in my life.  Times I've been "under the weather," when a numbing cold fell like snow upon the soil of my soul.  Often this happens just when I am beginning to experience and rejoice in some new growth - a greening in my spirit, promise and hope springing up in fragrant blossom.  It may well be that some of those sudden and unexpected storms are "attacks" designed to freeze my faith, to shrivel my fruitfulness.  But how many more are blessings "in disguise"?  And which will I be most quick to assume? 

Which will you?

I've been watching too much BBC on our local public station.  Have found myself saying compost (short "o") when talking about the dung and stuff we spread on American gardens called compOst (long "o").  A few days ago I was reading something online that was listed as a "repost."  For whatever reason I read that word with a short "o" and decided it must be one of them new-fangled words bloggers (yes, like "bloggers") have created.  I actually spent more than a minute trying to decipher the meaning when - ding-a-ling - I realized it was a (long "o") re-pOsting of a previously (long "o") posted piece.

Reminded me of working in a multinational Armed Forces library in the Netherlands.  We stocked our shelves with books written in French, English (to include American), German, and Dutch.  A new volume arrived that I just glanced at and placed in the German section.  Someone returned it to the circulation desk to be reshelved.  OK, perhaps it's Dutch (the languages have some words in common), so I put it in that section.  Again it was brought back to the desk.  Hmmm ... I was stymied.  I looked at the title again - Die (Dutch or German - pronounced "dee" meaning "the"), ok, Rich (though I was not familiar with the word I tried to pronounce it with the guttural hard "ch"); then I noticed the author.  American.  Shifting mental gears I reread the title -  Die  (long "i") Rich.  Altogether now, Die Rich!  (This is NOT an endorsement for the book!)  OH!!! (very long "o")  Boy, did I feel "stoopid."  (Texas slang, y'all.)

So, here's the point - We reflect our environment.  The way we think, pronounce, define, interpret - rightly or wrongly - is due in large part to our cultural upbringing or surroundings.  Cultural, in this sense, meaning ethnically, denominationally, or even regionally.  (For instance, I can tell which part of my state someone hails from by the pitch of their twang or their particular slang.)  As one dear Brother commented, we won't always agree with one another - you say toMAto, I say toMAHto (not really, but you get the idea.)  What WE are to reflect is the Glory of our Beloved Lord.  He is our environment - for in Him we live and move and have our being!  (Acts 17:28)

This past week I've seen this "community" come together as The Church.  Encouraging, reaching out, ministering to one another.  It's been a blessing to watch and be a part of.  No, we won't always be in agreement on issues of doctrine, pronunciation, scriptural interpretation, or employment of ministry gifts, but "... as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so, we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them ..."  Ro 12:4-6a NKJ

To His glory!

By His grace ~ p

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