Brighter than Moonlight

Psalm 51:7  "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." 

This past week Scott and I were able to take a get away, just the two of us, alone, no kids...OK...you get the point.  I am so thankful for our friends who took care of our children in our stead.  It is always fun to hear all the stories from each child when we get back.  Silas didn't even "diss" me this time, unlike after our trip to Israel.  This time he spent several minutes snuggling with me and giving me kisses.  I loved how he would push away from me and look into my face to reassure himself that I was indeed the one he was showering with affection and then he would give me a bear hug and more kisses.  Toddler love is GREAT!!!

As we were driving back to where we are staying it was snowing lightly.  The closer we got to Kings Mountain, the heavier the snow.  When we arrived at the church to pick up our kids the ground was covered with snow.  Not a very common thing in this neck of the woods, otherwise known as the "ice-belt".  By the time we headed to our "home-away-from-home-this-week" the roads were covered with snow.

It turned out that the snow made it impossible for us to get to our meeting scheduled for today and the Pastor actually called to cancel the meeting.  Though we are disappointed not to be with our friends who have so faithfully prayed for us over the years we are thankful to God for His Hand in this storm.

One of these friends sent me an email and commented that we often don't like the negative effects of the snow "but that it doesn't change how beautiful God can be."  She went on to say how much better we can see at night with the snow than moonlight.  Too quote her again, "God is awesome."  And she is right! 

I keep thinking of that in relation to the cleansing God offers us through the blood of Christ.  We become whiter than snow.  It is illustrated that the moon is a reflection of the sun, it has no light of it's own and in that way we are reflections of the Son, Jesus Christ, without Him there is nothing to reflect.  The darkness that  abounds reflects nothing.  In light of Psalm 51:7 my friends thought caused me to ponder how much brighter we reflect Christ when we are pure from sin.  Because our reflection is pure it is free from the filth that obstructs the reflection of Christ.

The truthes that God has shown me through this storm, and the resulting snow, are things I need to continue to ponder.  Will I rejoice and glorify God in the storms God in His sovereignty allows in my life?  If I will, that trust will shine in my heart and point the way to Christ.  That is what I truly long for!

 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."  2 Corinthians 4:4,6
 

Reaching the Other Side

About a year ago I signed up to receive an occasional devotional on Monday Morning Club from Claudia Barba. I have been so blessed by each one but this one especially spoke to me. I suppose that after just having been in the very place where Jesus spoke to the disciples, knowing that He had waited until the 4th watch, and having recently passed through our own storm wondering where God was, I could relate. I hope this is as much a blessing to you as it is to me.

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The disciples were doing what He told them to do—no more, no less. “Get into the boat, and go to the other side,” Jesus had said, and they had obeyed. So when a horrible storm began when they reached the middle of the lake, they must have been as bewildered as they were panicked. What was going on? Why would Jesus send them out onto deep water, knowing that just as they got to the farthest point from safety, wind and waves would threaten their lives? No matter how quickly they bailed or how vigorously they rowed, they were going to die. Two tempests raged that day: one on the sea and the other in their hearts. I don’t know which was worse.

I have never been in a storm on the Sea of Galilee, but I have felt like it—at least once. At that memorably low moment following a line of ministry squalls, I complained to my longsuffering husband, “This is a very strange way for the Lord to treat servants who are just doing what they were told. Where has He gone, and why has He left us here to die?”

I was repeating the disciples’ mistake (and maybe yours) of believing that I knew what God was supposed to be doing. At Jesus’ command, the disciples took off rowing, assuming that His goal must be for them to arrive at the opposite shore. But His plan instead was to teach them something on the way. He directed them into the storm to prove that He is the Master of tempests. He planted them in the middle of the tumult to demonstrate that He would always, eventually, come walking on the water.

We had embarked on our ministry believing we knew what God was planning to do--that since He had called us to build a church, big numbers, large offerings, and continual victory were surely His will. But God’s definition of success was not the same as ours. He wasn’t just building a church; He was building us. His construction tools included storms that made no sense to us but made perfect sense to Him. I thought that trying circumstances were hindering us from accomplishing His purpose, when they actually were His purpose, for His concern (as always) was not our comfort or success, but our character.

The disciples eventually reached the other side, but when they arrived, they were different men. The Lord did build our church, but by the time the steeple was in place, the ministry couple inside had been thoroughly changed. All that bailing and rowing had made us stronger and softer. Our spirits had grown sturdier as we learned to distinguish His face even in the murkiest skies, and we had become much more compassionate, with our ears tuned to the cries of other sailors floundering in other gales.

A storm is a stressful, scary place for disciples in a little boat, but when they are there at His direction, there’s no better place to learn from the Master.

Matthew 14:22-33

With thanks to Oswald Chambers

A Huge Storm

The past few days have blessed us with warm pleasant weather. Much different than the freezing weather we had this time last year. With this warm weather we have had some heat storms. Tonight's was exceptional! Scott was picking me and Silas up from the hospital (for vaccinations) when we saw an enormous storm approaching. I wish I would have had my camera with me because it was actually pretty the way it hovered over the water of the river. The front and bottom edges of the clouds had an orange glow. And the contrast of the river water, a tannish brown, against the cloud color, a dark grayish black made it even more spectacular.

After the hospital visit we had get people to drop people off at the Perez' and pick up Bethany from her piano lesson there. The brunt of the storm hit about halfway to the Perez' home. I've never been in a hail storm so bad. The ground was covered with hail ranging in size from grapes to baseballs. (Note: the above photo is borrowed from the web and best shows what the ground here looked like.) I was shielding the baby's eyes from the glass that I just knew was going to fly in on us. Thankfully, it didn't and we are fine but I'm sure there are some pretty dented cars and people tonight. We felt so badly for the people on foot and motos.

Church had to be cancelled because the storm broke windows at the church as well as windows on our bus. We have some sky-light windows in our house that I'm surprised didn't break but I'm glad they're still in tact.