GIFTED

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same LORD. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. I Corinthians 12:4-6

 

One of my favorite children’s books is Frederick, Leo Leonni’s story of a little field mouse who might be perceived as a lazy, do-nothing. Throughout the summer all the other mice are toiling diligently, preparing for winter. They are gathering food and storing it to sustain themselves throughout those long months. But as Frederick’s friends pass him by carrying heavy loads of grain, he is peacefully sitting on a rock looking about and absorbing the rays of the sun. Frederick suggests that he, also, is preparing for the winter although his efforts are not obvious to anyone else.

After months of hard work, the fierce winter and cold winds drive the little mouse community into their underground refuge. Stashes of seeds and grains are brought out, and everyone shares. Suddenly, someone remembers, “Frederick, what did you gather for the dark winter days?” And little Frederick, whose dreamy eyes have baffled them all, begins to describe the marvelous colors and sights he has gathered, the wonderful words, and paints his lovely pictures of the sun and the beauty of nature all around. As he speaks, the grayness of the long winter dissipates, and his poetry carries them through the harsh reality above ground.

We, too, need to look around to find the Fredericks in our midst. They are those who, no matter how difficult the circumstance, can always be depended upon to remind us to think about and to remember those things that are beautiful, pure, true, honest (Phil 4:8). They remind us of God’s promises and his presence with us. They may not always be in the forefront of the latest church project or community volunteer program, but they’re watching all the time and storing up God’s faithfulness to remind us during our dark days.

God has spread his gifts widely and has given each of us a role in his Kingdom. We’re not to judge nor measure another’s worth by our initial perception. God needs worker bees and those who are readily noticed for their energies, but he also needs Fredericks who take time to sit, to meditate, to wait, and to watch God at work. We need those Fredericks who, in our winter days, lift our spirits to see and hear and remember God’s goodness.

Identify the Fredericks in your life and keep them close at hand.

 

Father, thank you for those in my life who continue to speak of your beauty, your mercy, your love, your grace, and all things that cheer me onward. AMEN.

BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELSE

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever; with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.  Psalm 89:1

 

 

I was always bemused when, in their Golden Years, my parents would often reflect on their blessings.  “God has been better to us than anybody else,” Momo would say.  And Papa would agree as they recounted God’s goodness.

The reason for my perplexity had to do with my firsthand knowledge of their circumstances for most of the decades of their lives:  I’d seen and lived through various severe illnesses, financial stresses, personality clashes, heated disagreements, griefs, and assorted crises.  And yet my parents thought their lives were better than anyone else’s.

As I get older I am beginning to understand.  My parents were faithful, committed believers but were not perfect.  They lived with the same challenges and struggles many of us encounter and sometimes, I think, they, too, may have been at a breaking point.  BUT THEY BELIEVED GOD.  Romans 4:3 says that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  God knew Abraham’s heart and walked with him through all the dark places of his life just as he walked with Momo and Papa.

As we walk with the Lord, learning from the suffering and failures, praising him for his faithfulness, our trust in him (our belief) is strengthened, and we begin to know him.  We experience his faithfulness; we experience his love, his closeness, his comfort; and, like Paul, we are persuaded that he is able to keep us (II Timothy 1:12).  Over time we begin to know experientially that God is everything he says and will do everything he says.  We know that he will provide desired outcomes or the grace to enrich the most terrible circumstance.  We learn to accept his peace before the storm is stilled, and we obediently rejoice in him always.

Nowadays, I think I may be among the most blessed people alive, and then I remember Momo and Papa.  Yes, I’m beginning to understand what they mean.

 

Father, thank you for the seed of eternity you’ve put within us, and thank you for that joy and hope that continually grows as we walk faithfully with you.  Help me to walk on and on with you, as Enoch did, and someday arrive at home.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

SINGING IN THE DARK

 

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Acts 16:25

 

Upon a recent reading of this text, I was struck not by Paul and Silas’s singing in prison, which in itself was remarkable,  but by the little comment that “the other prisoners were listening to them.”  Of course, they were listening.  Never having occupied a prison cell for my Christian witness, I have no firsthand experience of what words and phrases would daily bounce off the walls of those cold, dark, forgotten places.  But I do have a vivid imagination.

I can imagine that angry, bitter expressions and vile curses would be commonplace as the wicked, the innocent, and the politically disfavored wasted away hoping for rescue.  And then these strange men are tossed in among them.  Men who were thrown in prison for healing a demon-possessed woman.  Of all those locked away, Paul and Silas had reason to complain.

And yet, “about midnight,” the time when all one’s aches and pains and worries and emotional angst are exacerbated, that time when the Prince of Darkness wreaks havoc in our bodies and minds, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.  Do you wonder that the prisoners were listening to them?  Paul and Silas had been beaten and severely flogged.  They were probably bleeding and were surely suffering.  Instead of cursing and complaining, they were singing because there was a joyous melody in their hearts.

There was something beyond the realm of ordinary religion.  Rather than comfort, the gods of the day made selfish, extraordinary requirements of their supplicants and were known to wreak havoc on their lives.  Paul and Silas were praying and singing to the Almighty, Omnipotent God.  What a mighty God they served, one who caused them to sing in suffering, one who brought joy to the darkest circumstance, and one who caused them to experience his presence in the hopelessness of their situation.  Of course, the prisoners were listening.

Today people around us are watching, and they’re listening.  Will we pray, will we sing in difficulty?  Will we “count it all joy” when we experience trials that threaten to overcome us.  Will we sense that there is a Fourth Man in the fire with us?  And will we sing?

 

Father, only you are able to give us those songs in the night.  It’s not a matter of putting on a happy face, but it’s rather a matter of absolute abandonment to your faithfulness.  Strengthen us to keep singing of you, and cause our lives to be lived to your glory at all times.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

SONGS IN THE NIGHT

…Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?  Job 35:10

 

Several nights ago I had one of those nights that we all experience from time to time.  For me, it was intense pain.  Determining my pain wasn’t fatal, I decided to wait until morning to call for help.  Even though I was suffering, I called on the One who brings us songs no matter what we call our darkness.  He was there, and he brought peace in spite of the pain.

For whatever reason, we’ve built up a strong dislike for darkness.  It seems almost inherent that from childhood we imagine the monsters who live in the darkness and who are waiting to do us harm.  Fairy tales foster that belief, and old houses with creaky floors affirm it.

But Solomon tells us that “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.”  (I Kings 8:12)   Did you note that the reference quantifies the darkness as thick?  Thick, intense darkness.  To me that signifies that no matter how dark our circumstances, God is there.

What kind of darkness surrounds you?  Financial, relational, physical, emotional…?  You don’t have to wait until the sun comes up.  God is there.

 

Father, thank you for your comforting presence wherever we are in our circumstances.  We trust you to give us songs in our nights, and we await that joy that comes in the morning.  AMEN.