Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

 Is it easier to trust God when you are living in abundance or when you are living in poverty? The obvious answer is that it is easier to trust God when you have plenty. However, I wonder if that is true. 

In the story of the widow of Zarephath found in 1 Kings 17:7-24, she is gathering sticks to fuel her last meal for her and her son when this cheeky prophet comes up and asks her to use the last of her flour to make him a loaf of bread first. And she does! This is so hard for me to wrap my head around while sitting in my warm house with a full pantry. She was practicing faith when she had no physical evidence that God cared for her. 

I have often heard of or read about people in poverty who are generous beyond comprehension. Poverty seems to give a perspective that plenty cannot see. In times of extreme difficulty people seem to have a clearer view of the Father. The connection somehow becomes stronger and more real. This leads me to my next line of thinking. Must I suffer to learn to trust God? I really don’t want to! 

Then I jerk myself back into reality and remember that we will all suffer at some point in our life. It is a reality of living in our frail bodies in a world of hardship. But it is not the hardship itself that makes us more connected to God, it is the preparation of our hearts that opens the boundary to God’s presence in those inevitable difficulties. The suffering isn’t what produces faith, it simply magnifies the faith we already have developed. We can know that when the time comes, if we choose it, we will experience a broader Divine connection.

We are not told in the Bible, but I’m willing to bet that the widow of Zarephath prepared her heart by choosing to seek God when she was happily married and living a life of plenty. I am basing that wager on my experience. When I practice freaking out over the little issues of my day, I freak out when the big issues arise. Just like in emergency medical training, they practice keeping a cool head when there is no emergency in order to be able to rely on that training in the real thing. Trusting God does not ordinarily come out of the blue. Like other attributes, it usually follows an organic pathway of practice and development over time.

So what should we be doing to prepare our hearts to receive this connection when we inevitably experience hardship? Actively seek Him. Seeking is not passive. As Priscilla Shirer states in her book, The Armor of God, it is “meditating on God’s word, internalizing its principles and implementing them in your life”. And meanwhile we should be comforted to know that no matter the circumstances, our God will hold us. By the way, the widow’s story ends well. Her jar of flour and oil miraculously do not run out day after day. God provides.

Moving Furniture in the Rain

 On this week of Valentine’s Day it is appropriate that I introduce you to some beautiful people that have blessed my life. I have been privileged to know many amazing, kind and loving people. As we all know, there are many people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. And for me, the ability to discern the authentic people from fake rule-followers came at a steep price.

It was a period of life many years ago, in which I felt shunned by my Christian family and friends that I met these special people. My isolation came from my guilt and gave me eyes to see the truth I never would have known without going through that. I learned that sadly, many folks including myself, were only rule-following Christians and had no use for folks who strayed from that path. I took the road through heartbreak and poverty and while I was sorry for my mistakes, I wouldn’t trade it for the insight I gained from it. I learned to see the world in a way that I never would have if I hadn’t veered off the path that was laid out for me. It made me change the channel. It made me look for and listen to other points of view other than the one I was born into and I am so thankful for this.

It was authentic Christ followers who stepped up and helped me when I was alone. Meet Pat and Bob Bicknell. Bob was the head of the music department for Wayland Baptist University and he and Pat had two lovely children, Sharon and David. Pat saw my loneliness and was a friend to me. She saw my lack of income and came up with a way for me to earn money while staying home with my baby. What a blessing! She employed me to sew smocks for her daycare workers and she also employed me to pick up her kids from school and keep them until she came home from work. I spent many hours caring for Sharon and David while thoroughly enjoying the companionship and added income.

After I graduated I needed help moving to a nearby town to live and work in my first teaching position. I felt like I knew the Bicknells well enough to ask them for help to move. I will never forget Dr. Bicknell struggling to move my washer and dryer through a small door on that rainy that day. I still feel bad about that and I know now that it is only the most beautiful people who will help you move your furniture in the rain.

In the following years I remarried and the Bicknells moved away from that college town. Forty years later, I have tried to find them to thank them but can only find a tiny digital footprint leading to a general area of Texas. I will see them again someday though. And when I do, I will run up and hug their necks. What beautiful people!

Gratudis: A Pill for Health and Happiness

 Here is a quote from the Mayo Clinic on gratitude: Expressing gratitude is associated with a host of mental and physical benefits. Studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease. If a pill could do this, everyone would be taking it. Dec 6, 2022

Side effects of daily doses of “Gratudis” are peace, patience, kindness, and contentment. For best results take it with your coffee every morning, with your lunch, dinner and before you go to bed. If you skip a dose, double it the next day.

As I grow older, I am convinced that the practice of gratitude is lacking in our everyday lives and the implications are far-reaching beyond anything we can imagine. I believe that gratitude leads to peace as well as many other life-changing benefits. I am not talking about a Pollyanna approach to life nor am I talking about a fake-it-till-you-make-it practice. I am talking about a deep-seated attitude change rooted in gratitude to God. It is developing a relationship with God starting with gratitude.

I wish developing gratitude was as easy as taking a pill. There are some people who were raised to be grateful. Their parents constantly pointed to the blessings, small and large, in their day. Consequently, they grow up to be joyful adults. I have a feeling though, that most of us were not taught gratitude while young and impressionable. Like me, most of us only hear about it in November every year near the Thanksgiving holiday and it seems warm and fuzzy but we forget it while vying for a parking spot on Black Friday.

So how do we begin to learn a lifestyle that wasn’t modeled for us as children? I am convinced that the first step is to develop a thirst for gratitude. Seek it. Convince yourself that you need gratitude like oxygen. For starters, try Googling “benefits of a grateful heart”. Study how gratitude is a practice that will answer the deepest longing of your soul. Then tell God of this desire. Ask God for it like you are asking for water at the end of a marathon. He is the source of all good things. He will give us whatever we ask in his will. Asking for gratitude is most certainly asking for something that God wants to give us.

And how many times should we ask Him? As many as it takes. It should be asked in sincerity of heart and not forgotten. If you are like me, you will need to take measures to remember that you asked God for this. In my experience, God usually has tipped his hand and given as he sees fit for the day. And when I am ready for more, he gives more. Although I have no doubt that he can, he does not usually zap me to fix me. He teaches me in small increments. He is a patient teacher at heart.

Learning something new is not easy for an adult. Just ask anyone over 70 how they feel about technology. And change won’t happen if we don’t cooperate in the process. We have to be willing to change habits. After developing a desire for gratitude and asking God for this gift, we must be willing to put away old practices that God shows us are detrimental to gratitude and begin new gratitude-nurturing practices. He will show us what these are but we must pay attention. He might lead us to sit with Him at an appointed time daily and list points of gratitude. He might ask us to limit time with those who constantly complain and spend more time with people who have a joyful attitude. He might prompt us to fill our minds with stories of those who lived a life of gratitude like the Apostle Paul or Corrie ten Boom.

How do we recognize it when God has answered our prayer? Because change is slow, most often I see God’s work in my life when I look back over several years time. Give Him your cooperation and patience and he will change your heart.

Here is a final comment from the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.