21 June 2011

A Funny Thing…

Actually, it’s not funny.  A few days ago I broke my sewing machine.  I’ve had it for 4 months and was sewing away on a fairly light knit fabric when it got caught up.  So I took the fabric out and started to sew again, but the machine was suddenly labouring to move…

To supply a little bit of background, I’ve been wanting a sewing machine for about 2 years and finally got one for my birthday this year.  And whether it is all in my head or not, I have felt that God has stirred this interest in sewing in me.  It’s a great hobby for extracting creative juices and also for having something to do besides looking after the little ones, but I have felt that it’s for more than that…sort of like, someday, somehow, there will be an opportunity for ministry. 

I am pleased to say that my first response when the machine broke was…’well, if God wants me to sew then it will all work out’ so I wasn’t really too concerned.  Yes, very pleased indeed…needless to say, it wasn’t long before the devil (and when I say the devil, I don’t mean the actual devil…I’m sure he’s way to busy to bother with me…) began to put thoughts of ‘it’s not fair’ in my head.  Yes, I began to pout, and I felt quite deserving of my grumble…after all, I’m just trying to follow God’s leading, and now look what’s happened! 

Several days went on after this.  I have dropped my sewing machine off at the store and will hopefully get it fixed under warranty.  However, on the way home I was thinking of my response and was a little disappointed in myself for letting those second thoughts push their way in and so I apologized to God  and will endeavour to have the, and KEEP the first response I had, in all situations…and that’s when thoughts flooded into my head of all the times ‘it’s not fair’ was my first and only thought in MANY things in my life.  It seems somewhat easy to have a good response when you feel you are following in God’s leading, but what about all the times in life when life has just plain been not fair?  Oh, I’ve got my work cut out for me…being a Christian is not easy!

13 June 2011

Confession

Sounds intriguing doesn’t it?  Well, perhaps not…

Over the past several months I have been making an increased effort to spend more time with God.  Praying, reading my Bible and just sitting quietly and listening.  Then about a week ago, I heard a message at a church meeting.  We had visiting missionaries and one of the ladies who spoke talked of Deborah in the book of Judges.  Deborah was married to the king and she was a prophetess.  She received a word from the Lord and said to her husband the king “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you…”  I don’t need to go further because the point she made was, why was Deborah so confident of the words she spoke?  She knew she had a word from God…why? Because she was a woman of prayer.  She KNEW the sound of Gods voice. 

I have to say with some confidence that if God gave me a word as big as the one he gave to Deborah, I would not feel so confident.  And so, with that, I knew that I needed to step up my time with God even more…no time for slacking off.

Then, over the past couple of days I’ve not been spending so much time with God, - so this morning I knew I needed to, but I found that as I sang a worship song in my head, and as I prayed a few little prayers as I went about getting the kids fed and dressed this morning, there was a little bit of resistance.  I didn’t really feel like it.  I wasn’t enjoying it.  In fact, I would have been a whole lot more comfortable leaving it alone and just getting busy in the day as I had been the last few days.  I’ve felt this way before in the past and never really thought much about it…usually I’d just leave it for a while.  But this time I became curious as to what that feeling was all about.  Then I realized, it was my conscience.  I was feeling convicted, because the truth is, the reason I haven’t been spending much time with God is because I’ve been a bit lazy and selfish with my time.  This may seem like a small thing and no reason to get so bothered…but I don’t think it’s a small thing to God. In fact, as soon as I realized where the feelings came from and made a mental effort to change things (also known as repenting) I felt so much better and just about fell into my time with God this morning.

So why the confession?  Well, partly because I felt so different after I realized what was going on I felt like sharing, and partly because I thought it might breathe some insight into someone else’s life.

Judges 4:23 – On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Isrealites. 

If you can hear the voice of God, you can be a part of changing the world.

04 June 2011

Impossible

Now, there is a word I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.  Perhaps it is because I just spoke for Communion and that was the subject…but in reality, the reason I spoke about it for Communion is because that’s what God has been chatting to me about lately.  The reason I used it for Communion is because we celebrate a man coming back to life after 3 days…which is impossible.  After a Doctor declares someone dead in hospital they let the morgue know.  They don’t say “well, lets leave him here for a few days just in case he comes back to life.”
It’s a bit like that question:  Could God create a rock that’s too big for even him to lift?  The answer being:  Yes he could, but then he’d be able to lift it.  We, as humans can’t really understand impossible because there are things that are impossible to us…but there is nothing impossible for God.
I read a book recently called Mission Possible.  The story of a woman who worked for Wycliffe.  She lived in a tribe in PNG with people who did not even have a written language.  She told a story about a time when she took some young men from the tribe to town in a motor boat.  The boat took 5 cans of fuel to get home and the young men, thinking they were saving money only got 4 cans of fuel, so when they were about an hour away from home the boat motor stopped.  This meant they would have to spend the next 4 days floating back to town.  Marilyn was exasperated, but the men said ‘why don’t we just ask God, he’s got more than enough power (I’m paraphrasing)'.  So they began to pray that God with make the boat motor run.  Marilyn got tears in her eyes for the sentiment, but was not expecting anything to happen.  After the men prayed they tried to start the motor which sputtered a bit, so they prayed again, and again tried to start the motor…that time it started.  Marilyn figured it had started off of fumes and would soon cut out again, but it got them all the way home and she was reminded of Matthew 18:3 “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”  These tribal men knew that nothing was impossible for God.
I think sometimes we get a bit jaded as we get older.  We’ve seen to many empty dreams, hopes dashed etc. that we don’t want to hope in anything any more.  Or we try to make things as easy on God as we can so he will make things happen.  But children see the world differently.
My son said to me recently (he was two at the time)
“Mum, I have a big idea”  I chuckled and said “Oh yeah?  What’s your big idea”.  He replied “I’m going to fly to the moon.” 
It would never even occur to me to have an idea that big, because I know it’s impossible…but not to the mind of a child…
In another book I read recently (see I told you God has been chatting to me about ‘Impossible’) called Elijah and the Secret of his Power.  The author, F.B. Meyer, says this (if you aren’t sure of the story, you can read it in 1 Kings 18):
His (Elijah’s) faith was exuberant. He was so sure of God, that he dared to heap difficulties in His way, knowing that there is no real difficulty for infinite power. The more unlikely the answer was, the more glory would there be to God. Oh, matchless faith! which can laugh at impossibilities and heap them one upon another, to have the pleasure of seeing God vanquish them -- as a steam hammer cracks a nutshell placed under it by the wondering child.
The altar was reared, the wood laid in order, the bullock cut in pieces; but to prevent any possibility of fraud and make the coming miracle still more wonderful, Elijah said, "Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood (1 Kings 18:33). This they did three times until the wood was drenched, and the water filled the trench, making it impossible for a spark to travel across.
Alas, few of us have faith like this! We are not so sure of God that we dare to pile difficulties in His way. We all try our best to make it easy for Him to help us. Yet what this man had, we too may have, by prayer and fasting.
What a challenge to my own faith…I know I have, on many occasions, tried to make things easier for God…
Let’s make sure, when it comes to God’s Kingdom, that we change our hearts and become like little children.  Let’s have faith that can fly to the moon.