Don’t mistake God’s patience for permission.
I don’t know who said this, but it made me think. Where does it take you?
All the best,
KK
Patience or Permission
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Tag Archives: God
Consider Mary
Consider Mary; young, outcast, weary of nine months of whispers as she passed the other women rather than motherly advice from her elders. Did the hormonal swings make her think she was crazy? With no book, What to Expect when Expecting to guide her, she prepared for her baby and our king. Did she know how to count the weeks and months until the birth? In her third trimester did she understand Braxton Hicks contractions? Joseph had come back ready to love her through this, did she wonder if he would change his mind? Knowing they would be traveling to Bethlehem, did she do any “nesting” like most mothers, preparing space and blankets for wrapping her new born?
Each year at Christmas as a mother, I am drawn to Mary and her point of view. Nine months pregnant, more than likely swollen and uncomfortable riding on the back of a lumpy donkey, did she weep with fear of giving birth?
Or in her discomfort, fear and pain, did the God who chose her, carry her. Did she find peace in the silence and feel His strength and confidence surround her?
Jesus didn’t just feel his humanity when he was older and being tempted in the desert, even during birth the babe experienced the trauma of the birth canal and his first sounds were that of his mother’s scream during delivery. No doubt Jesus immediately felt the dramatic contrast from the warmth of a mother’s womb to the coldness of the world.
All births are miracles, if you are a mother, you can imagine Mary holding her child close to nestle him in the warmth of her arms. While we may have held our children in wonder about who this little person is and what they will be when they are grown. Mary held her son knowing his purpose but not fully understanding his impact.
Recovering from giving birth, Mary lay resting with her child snuggled close and a loving but shell-shocked Joseph trying very hard to make their surroundings more comfortable.
Taking a deep breath of contentment, the young mother, forgetting the nine-confusing months rested under the star that made the silent announcement that her son had arrived and the world would forever be changed.
Gardening in the spiritual sense
Many times on Sunday afternoon after church and our family lunch, Jay will retire to a nap, Cole to the couch for relaxing with some TV and I head for the yard. Some might call what I do, “yard work”, but for someone like me who works in a professional setting, climate controlled office 40+ hours a week, it’s much, much more than that; even though I end up hot, sweaty and very dirty.
I like plants and flowers and have garden areas in the front and back of our home. It’s still absolutely amazing to me to plant a seed or small flower and watch it grow. Isn’t that amazing? Most of the time while pulling weeds or trimming I think about the sermon from that morning, our Creator and this earth He gave us that we so readily consume without a second thought. Sometimes I think about all my questions for God, like “are weeds that bloom really weeds or just misplaced flowers?” Today, I planted mums (.88 cents at Home Depot) and my trees from the Arbor Foundation (www.arborday.org). Today I thought about the legacy of gardening I’ve inherited. Family legend has it that my MaMaw Bray could poke a hole in
the ground with her finger, put a stick in it and grow a tree. My mother is a gardener and gave me something close to a stick with roots last spring assuring me if I put it in the ground I will have a Butterfly bush. I did what I was told and sure enough there grew a Butterfly bush that was very busy this afternoon.
Being outside trimming and cleaning up the garden reminds me of how we should constantly be aware of how God nips and prunes us to become the beautiful person He sees when He looks at us. At the end of my time outside I usually turn on the hose and give all the flowers a drink, hose down the sidewalk and my feet. What a wonderful site and fresh smell; completely natural.
Ok, so to top it off, I like to mow also. In fact, I’m a little sad that my son is getting old enough and motivated (by the pay) to want to mow. It’s like getting a haircut. You start out a little unkempt and in an hour you have a clean, well-manicured look and feel. The same holds true for your lawn. Within a short time (and even when you don’t edge) you have a tidy looking yard. To make mowing really appealing in today’s vernacular; it’s pretty much instant gratification. There, I said it.
Coming in from the garden I am sticky, dirty, and if I’ve worn a cap it’s pretty much sweat-plastered to my head until I’m safely in the bathroom where no one can see the mess of my hair. I always feel my cleanest after a post-gardening shower. From a dirty mess to clean and fresh, huh, pretty much the point the pastor was trying to make.
Think about it,
KK
Ssshhh, listen
It’s obvious to me that everything happens for a reason; especially for the believer. Sometimes we don’t know the reason. But knowing our heavenly father and the order He created, I find it hard to think that believers who are really focused on Him are just ping-ponging through this world.
I think we are completely challenged by the distractions in life and often miss His still small voice. We are too busy doing and checking (voicemail, email, texts, etc.). We are distracted and don’t always hear God’s leading. James 1:19 says that we should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…and verse 22 continues this theme, “do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
While this passage gives us the push to do what the word says, the first thing it tells us is to be quick to listen. What would happen if we spent as much time or more after we talk to God just listening, truly be still and listen for the voice of our Creator? What would He say to you?
KK
KK's Candor 