A QUESTION FOR THE AGES
First, something to make you smile…
Feeling a little bored with herself one afternoon, a pastor’s wife decided to go shopping. After visiting several stores, she came across a dress that caught her attention. She knew in her heart that, that dress would give her the spark she was looking for and would make her feel pretty. She tried it on, and it was a perfect fit! So, disregarding the price tag, she bought the dress.
When her husband came home, after exchanging courtesies, he asked her what she did with her day. Excited about her purchase, she blurted out that she went shopping and found and bought the perfect dress.
The pastor reminded his lovely wife that the church was struggling, and the finances were tight. He went on to suggest that maybe she should have delayed her purchase.
She explained to him that when she tried the dress on, she could not resist it. She had to have it!
He gently admonished her that she should have resisted more. He said her reply to the desire to have the dress in light of their circumstances should have been, “Get thee behind me, Satan!”
The wife replied, “After seeing myself in the dress, I did just that. I told Satan to get thee behind me, and he said, ‘okay, but you look just as good from behind.’”
Something for the Mind
As we draw to the close of the Unwrapped series, please bear with me while this next to the last episode in this series is on a more personal note where I share what I call the musings of a church lady during a pandemic. There is nothing too radical about it; but hopefully it is thought-provoking.
I had an associate who was once a co-worker, then a former co-worker, and finally a Facebook friend. Sadly, he passed away recently.
A tad bit older than me, I found him to be quite the refined gentleman with a wide variety of interests. Also, after his transitioning, I learned that he was very well-accomplished and well-loved many diverse communities.
Though he never shared as much on social media, I learned through the grapevine that his health had taken a dramatic turn. It seems that shortly thereafter, I received word through various sources that he had transitioned.
Naturally, I was struck by the news as I vividly recalled his last posting to Facebook not much longer than a few weeks earlier where he was rejoicing over witnessing the early spring appearance of the hummingbirds to his flowers and feeders.
Many of us who shared his friendship responded gleefully at his excitement, while also expressing our desire to see the mesmerizing little creatures flutter around our various sites. Then, almost without notice or maybe even without a second thought, conversation about the birds ended. There was nothing else from the gentleman until news had spread of his passing.
Not too long afterwards, on a bright, warm, sunny, spring morning, I pulled the cords of the horizontal blinds at my patio door to fully expose the glass and get a full view of the beautiful spring day. Then, lo and behold I hear the sound that only a giggly flock of hummingbirds are known to make. I went over to get a closer look, and sure enough they were out there, dancing around my deck area. I was caught amused.
Suddenly and to my surprise, one of the tiny, colorful birds flew right in the view of my patio door to the point where the glass was all that stood between us. Unbothered by the sight of me, it seemed to flicker there for, what at the time, seemed like more than a few moments.
During the encounter, my amusement and joy were arrested by fear and turned into horror as I recalled my associate’s last posting about seeing the birds.
“What did that mean for me?” I recalled asking myself. At that moment, that is all that I could think about and worry about. Was this a sign of impending doom? Then as much as I enjoyed seeing the birds, my next inclination was to shoo them away from my deck or away from the window, at the very least.
Panicked, I Googled ™ the symbolism of hummingbirds; trying to learn of any omens associated with a visit. My mind was eased when I found tidbits about them being seen more as messengers of joy and playfulness rather than doom, gloom, and death. I also read that the tiny birds are seen as bringing good news from those who have passed away. I then chalked up that almost magical encounter to my social media friend sending his friends a hello.
As a woman of faith, though, I had to deal with a larger issue after getting relief from my fear. While I continued to laugh at myself for my initial uneasy thoughts, I could sense the small voice of my consciousness asking me, “So what?”
That “so what?” question prompted me to consider a much larger question, which is: How will I give an account of my time on earth when my work here is complete? Will I be able to stand before God and answer as Chadwick Boseman is quoted as saying, where he said: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything You gave me.”
Everything means everything: Every gift, every talent, every opportunity, every joy—all for his glory.
That is what this podcast is about. It is about helping each other to focus on and move forward in realizing and living out our unique purpose so that we, too, can have the hope of accounting for our precious time on earth just as the late, great Mr. Boseman imagined for himself.
I believe we all have that same potential and that same duty.
https://worldbirds.com/what-does-a-hummingbird-symbolize/
Meditation Verse: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
I believe that as a new creation in Christ, we have a dual citizenship: One in our fleshly or natural environment; and the other in the spiritual realm.
In our fleshly or natural environment, we might burden ourselves with certain requirements or limitations that influence what we expect, what we do, and how we do it. Sometimes that hinders us or block our blessings—as the elders would say. However, in the spiritual realm, we are free to live a life that fully occupies the dash—meaning that takes up the space between our sunrise and sunset. That is our highest form of praise. And it is of that mindset where we take to heart the word of God that says, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” We can best believe that if he sent us, then he equipped us.
Our affirmations are these. Please feel free to repeat them with me. In my position in Christ:
- I am a new creation.
- I am free from condemnation.
- I am comforted.
- I am at peace with God.
- I am cared for.
- I am assured.
- I am accepted.
- I am enriched in every way.
- I am courageous in him.
- I am blessed.
Something for the Heart and Soul-
Tip of the WEEK
Human nature sometimes causes us to block our blessings when we analyze too thoroughly the small wonders and whispers that are unfolding before and within us. The same human nature causes us to doubt and shortchange ourselves when we feel we are called to do a certain thing or are on a certain path.
Let us therefore commit this week to walk by faith—not faith in faith, but faith in the word of God that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that he knit us together in that special place to give us hope and an abounding future.
Let us claim our place in Him; receive our gifts from Him, then go to work.
Appeal for Purpose
All minds clear?
Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask that you shut any doors that need to be shut and open any doors that need to be opened in the spiritual and natural realms of our lives.
Father, we ask for a covering over the doorways as we go out and come in, and that the enemies—real, imagined, believed, or perceived, visible or invisible, be rendered powerless and harmless while we seek to follow the path that you have set before us.
Please keep our minds from deceiving us, and Father, please cleanse our minds of all thoughts and preconceived ideas that do not conform to Your will and destiny for our lives.
Give us individually and to each person for whom we have prayed and who are in our hearts and on our minds, clarity of vision, clarity of sight, clarity of thought, clarity of mind, clarity of knowing and hearing your still small voice according to your word.
Lord, after you have given us that clarity, please gird us with assurance that we might find favor for our works in you, and courage to move in ways that will glorify you despite the noise.
Father, this is Your servants’ prayer that we pray by your holy spirit and in the name of Jesus the Christ.
Amen.
