Monthly Archives: August 2015

Hunt of the Woodpecker

Out in my woods God showed me many things.  Things within me and things around me.  One time He wanted to teach me about listening.  As I walked the trail, I heard the distant sound of a woodpecker pounding away on a tree.  He told me to look down and follow.  So I did, no matter where it lead me, and no matter what I had to walk through to do it.

I only looked at the ground straight in front of me, just enough for the next step.  The tapping got louder as I followed.  I tried to keep silent so as not to disturb anything.  Finally my search was over as my quest brought me to the foot of a tree; the hammering continued directly above me.  I looked up and there he was digging for his next meal.

There is an almost endless amount of wisdom in that experience, and even now 20+ years later, I learn new things from it.  Back then, He showed me I can follow best with my ears.  If I would have tried to follow with my eyes, I would have tripped and scared the bird.  Only by using my ears was I allowed to make it to him.

Today, I think about my walk with Jesus.  If I would have used my eyes during different times of my life, I would have tripped and been like the seed sown among thorns, Mark 4:18-19.  The circumstances that surrounded me would have choked me, making me unfruitful.  But only by listening to His voice am I able to pass through as He did amidst an angry crowd in Luke 4:30.

So go ahead, go outside.  Listen for the knocking and follow.  Join the hunt of that Divine Woodpecker.  Let His voice guide you one step at a time, Proverbs 16:9.  It was Jesus’ obedience to the will of the Father that brought Him to the knocking on the cross, Luke 22:42.  He fulfilled that path opening the door of salvation for us all, so that in the end, we would receive it, 1 Peter 1:9.

-Brian

Where’s the Sunshine?

“Where’s the sunshine?” a person asked me as they were walking outside.  “Just behind the clouds,” I replied.

This is another instance of my mouth acting faster than my brain… but once my “thinker” caught up, I thought about how often we ask that question about Jesus.  Some days feel like Jesus just isn’t around.  We get caught in the clouds of whatever is going on and we wonder, “Where’s the Son-shine?”

One of my friends told me that she used to pray that God would make the sun shine in her day until He told her that the sun is always shining… instead she should pray for the clouds to go away.

This totally changed the way I pray.  I no longer ask Him to be with me because He has never left me (Deut. 31:6, Josh. 1:5, Heb.13:5)).  Instead, I thank Him for always being with me and ask Him to open my eyes to His Presence and His blessings for me throughout the day.  I don’t have to ask for something He’s already given me – His will is for constant fellowship with me and He has nothing but good things to give me.  I simply need to recognize Him, receive His gifts, and glorify Him with thanksgiving!

Cloudy days aren’t the same to me anymore, now that I’ve realized where the Son is.  He’s just behind the clouds.  Ask Him to make them go away.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:38-39

-Betsy

I am a Copy-Cat

Who do I look like?

I am a copy-cat.  Ever since I was a little girl, I have been copying someone… always someone that I admire and want to be like.  My big sister was one of the first that I wanted to be like – I constantly borrowed her clothes, used her stuff, imitated her hairstyles, played the same sports, chose the same glasses frames, attempted the same hairstyles, listened to the same music, etc.  There were at least two problems: We don’t look alike (she is short with dark hair and green eyes, I am tall with blonde hair and blue eyes) and I annoyed her horribly.  They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery but she didn’t seem to catch the compliment.

My copy-cat tendencies didn’t stop there.  I had a best friend in middle school who influenced me to love the boy-band “New Kids on the Block” (John was my favorite), wear “Great Lash” mascara (still wearing it 25 years later!), flirt with boys (embarrassing attempts), and basically be a typical teenage girl.  I tried to copy the 90’s rock star “Roxette,” by cutting my hair (yikes!), attempted to rap like Bobby Brown (what?!), dance like Janet Jackson (I wish!), dress like Grace Kelly (tragedy!)… phew!  So many people to copy, so little success!

Obviously, I desire to look like someone besides myself.  True, I could delve into the deep psychological reasons of why I’m not content to “be myself,” and attempt to find peace and self-discovery, yadda, yadda, yadda.  This would be a huge, exhausting battle to me that doesn’t need to be fought.  Being a copy-cat is a good thing if I know Who to copy!

From my beginning, I was created to look like God.  Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in His own Image, in the Image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”  That’s me!  That’s you!  The Father used Himself as the model for making us, sent Jesus to be the perfect example for us, and gave the Holy Spirit to empower us to be like Him.

Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

From the beginning of time, God planned to make me like my big Brother, Jesus.  I get to copy Jesus and He likes it.  He shows me the way I should look, act, and be.  When I mess up, He makes it better.  He is proud of my attempts and is never embarrassed to have me follow Him around.  He promised to never leave me or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6).  I don’t have weird self-esteem problems when I’m copying Him.  I was made to copy Him.  I want to look like Jesus.

-Betsy

Smeared Eyeliner

My eyeliner smeared this morning… three times.  It was so bad the first time that my attempts to correct it with a Q-tip only made it worse so I washed my face and reapplied only to have it smear again.  I would have washed and started again but it was time to open at work AND I only had a little powder make-up left and needed to stretch that for another couple of days… ugh.  This kind of stuff makes me irritable and self-conscious and grouchy.  Not my favorite way to start the day.

This was when the Holy Spirit quoted a Scripture to me, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

Wow.  Does He mean trials of any kind?  Even smeared make-up?  I know that Jesus cares about me and promised to never leave me or forsake me, but doesn’t this verse mainly apply to persecution and major life challenges?  Certainly not something so petty and insignificant as eyeliner.

The answer is “yes.”  It’s not so much what the trial is, but what it does to us. It seems easier to be faithful when the trial is big and obvious because we know we need a Savior.  But when the trial is little and annoying, we assume that it is too small to give to Jesus and we try to deal with it on our own.  This is when we get irritated, self-conscious and grouchy.  We take our eyes off Jesus and even little things can rock us.

We are called to be faithful in the little things so we can be trusted with the big things (Luke 16:10).  It produces perseverance which makes us mature and complete – “not lacking in anything.”  Wow.  That’s really cool.  I want to be complete and lack-less (is that a word?)!

This act of faithfulness is giving everything (including our eyeliner smears) to Jesus and trusting in Him to make it right.  And since Jesus always wins, I always win… and winners are never irritable, self-conscious or grouchy.  Winners are solid, confident and joyful – complete.

Thank You, Jesus, for the smeared eyeliner because it brought me closer to You.

-Betsy

For Those Who Have Gone Before and For Those Who Remain

Such a chorus it must be of saints and angels welcoming them home.
Such a sight to see when they receive their white robes and the crown of life to don.

When the Son of God no longer takes the form of a Lamb but girds Himself for war,
taking up their cause the world trembles and quakes for on it His wrath He will pour.

Look to the sky for the time is coming nigh when you will either enter His throne room
or call for mountains to fall and hide you from your doom.