Open Your Mouth Wide. . .

"Open your mouth wide," says the Lord, "and I will fill it!" (Psalm 81:10)

It was an unlikely place to witness God's care for the world, but there it was, indisputable proof right before my very eyes.  Like the irony of the Savior of the world being born in a smelly animal stable, this mini-drama took place among oil spots and gasoline fumes, traffic noises and a bustling world.

I heard them before I saw them. It was their shrill cries that prompted me to look for the source of the noise.  At first I thought the sound was coming from the sparrow that was feasting on dog kibble that had fallen out of someone's car when they stopped to gas up.  But if it was the bird who was eating the dog food that was making the noise, why was she squawking?

As I watched her pick up the dog food in her beak, instead of swallowing it, she took it and ran with it. I traced her hops to the source of the birdie cacophony -- two fledgling babies that were big enough to fly, but still needed help filling their bellies.

Mama bird made innumerable trips back and forth from the dog food to the babies while I watched.  She didn't pick up the round whole pieces of food, but chose instead those pieces that had been crushed to a fine powder by the steady stream of cars that had come and gone from the gas station that morning, Tirelessly she fed first one pleading mouth then the other, never stopping, never out of order.  As soon as a baby swallowed its portion, it would begin to squawk again, its strident tone ignoring the mama bird's obvious commitment to persist until its belly was full.

I heard the voice of the Lord whisper His truth into my ear as I watched the sparrows that day.  He reminded me of the words of Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

I saw the Father-heart of God in the mama sparrow -- faithful, tireless, committed to provide for my needs.  He wants to give me not just something to fill my needs, but carefully selected provision that is just right for me.

I also saw the faithless-heart of myself in the baby birds -- panicked, strident, and demanding.  Despite being the recipient of almost half a century of God's provision, sometimes I still panic and act like God has never done a single thing for me.

Fellow traveler, will you join me in trusting our bountiful, generous, loving Father God to give us just what we need just when we need it?  Let us open our mouths wide so He can fill them!

"When GAWD Blesses You. . . " E.V. Hill and Moldy Strawberries

"Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church. . ." 

It was my friend Katie's birthday, and her father wanted to do something extravagant and unusual.  He knew Katie loved strawberries, probably because her mother canned 12 pints of strawberry jam the day before she was born, so strawberries had to be involved.  Add to that her love for dark chocolate, and the fusion of the two made for several wonderful possibilities. 

He chose to order twelve luscious red strawberries dressed in tuxedos of dark chocolate, nestled quietly together in a satin-lined box.  He could almost imagine them whispering together in the dark box, giggling softly as they awaited the moment when she would lift the lid and reveal her birthday surprise. 

Her reaction was sheer delight. She later confessed  that after her father left, she tucked them waaaaay back into the farthest corner of the refrigerator so she wouldn't have to share them.  Occasionally she would take them out just to admire how pretty they looked.  Every now and then she would eat one, enjoying their juicy sweetness.

Several days passed, and she called me from work to tell me the sad news. "I had to throw most of my strawberries away.  They were moldy.  I never expected them to spoil so quickly.  It's really sad that so many of them were wasted.  I wish I had shared them." 

My friend's moldy strawberries remind me of a similar gift that you and I have received from our heavenly Father -- our spiritual gift(s), "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. . . " Romans 12:6

As I thought about my friend Katie's strawberries that wasted away in the fridge because she didn't share them, I wondered how many of us allow our spiritual gifts to grow moldy in the refrigerator of life because we don't share them?  I Corinthians 14:12 says, "Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church. . ."  God never gives us anything simply for our own selfish pursuits. 

If you are a believer, you have at least one spiritual gift.  Your gift may be dramatic and out-front like teaching or preaching, or your gift may be a behind-the-scenes gift like the gift of helps or the gift of mercy.  You may cringe at the thought of speaking in front of a group, but may absolutely love serving in the nursery or visiting the sick in the hospital.  Teaching Vacation Bible School may make you want to run and hide, but organizing the supply closet may make you feel fulfilled and happy.  Whatever your gift is, you have an obligation not to hide it in the back of the refrigerator until it is wasted.  First Corinthians 4:2 tells us that he who has been given a trust must prove faithful.

What is  your spiritual gift?  If you don't know, check out some of the passages listed at the end of this blog or take the spiritual gift inventory. You may be surprised to find out how God has gifted you for His service.

Once you know what your spiritual gift is, pray and ask God how He would have you use it in His kingdom.  Talk to someone in your church's leadership, and tell them you want to volunteer.  After you pick them up off the floor, they will be delighted to help you find a place of service.

 As the late Dr. E.V. Hill, pastor of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California often said, "When GAWD blesses you, He don't even have you in mind!"


RESOURCES:

1 Corinthians 12
Romans 12
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift

"Shhh! No Talking While the Pastor's Preaching!"

 How many times during church have we felt a little tap on our arm or a tug on our sleeve and leaned over to whisper, "Shhh!  No talking while the pastor's preaching!"?  I felt that little tap this past Sunday during morning church service.  Since my children are grown and my husband was in the sound booth, I quickly recognized that the tap on my arm was really a tap on my heart.  I realized that it was the LORD Who was speaking while the pastor was preaching.

And so, while the pastor was delivering a stirring sermon on every believer's call to be a missionary, the Holy Spirit was addressing an entirely different issue in my own heart.  In order to do so, He hijacked my pastor's perfectly good text, threw me into the wagon with it, and off we went down a divergent path.

In the hope that our conversation might also help you, I transcribed it to share.  It went something like this:

"The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat." (Mat. 8:14)

How are we going to pay for college next fall?  We only have a small savings.  It is not even enough for ONE year, let alone four..


"Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you not still see or understand?" (Mat. 8:17) 

How much or how little you have is irrelevant, because your provision is not in what you have, but in Whom you have.  And you have Me.

"Is your heart hardened?  Do you not have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?  And don't you remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfulls of pieces did you pick up" (Mat. 8:19)

Do you not remember that I have always provided for you?  Do you not remember that I sent your husband to school when there was no money?  Do you not remember that I sent your daughter, too?

I do remember, Lord.  We stepped out in faith, believing that you were calling Him there, and without fail, every semester, you provided.  For over four years.  Over $17,000.
And Kristen, too.  She'll graduate in May with no debt.  You provided.

And how many baskets of food were left over after I provided for your needs?

Lots, Lord..  We've had everything we've needed and then some.

"Do you have eyes, and do not see, and do you have ears and not hear? . . . Don't you understand yet?"


Yes, Lord, I understand.  And I want to understand while it is still faith, not sight.


Thank you, Lord.  I love you a lot.

Dear friend, are you struggling?  Are you seeing the giants and forgetting the promises?  Are you facing huge needs with small faith?  Are you forgetting all that God has done for you in the past and focusing only on what is looming before you today?  Then join me. Put your face in His hands, look deep into His kind eyes, and hear Him say, "Don't you remember?  Do you not see?"  And let's watch Him do a miracle.

"If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Be thou removed.'"

Like God Today

 

 

I got to be like God today.

Whenever we visit the mountain house, one of my first priorities is to fill the many bird feeders that dangle from the wraparound porch. The winters are very cold at 4,000 feet, and thick snow often blankets the ground. It is difficult for small creatures to find enough to eat.

I love to haul the huge bucket of bird seed outside to the porch, dig out the scoop, and fill each feeder to the brim. For good measure, I also scatter some seed on the porch railings. Within minutes hungry birds begin to flock to the feeders. There is the occasional squabble over a particularly savory sunflower seed, but for the most part the steady stream of visitors comes and goes quietly. Their silent takeoffs and landings remind me of the times I’ve looked out from the observation deck at the airport and watched the planes come and go.

Psalm 145:15 states of God, “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” As I provide food for my feathered friends, I identify with the Father heart of God. He knows our needs. Better still, He cares about them, and He is eager to meet all of our needs in due season. We don’t have to fear that His resources will ever run short, for His bucket is deep, and His scoop is large. His hand is generous, providing all that we need and then some. “Open your mouth wide,” God encourages us, “and I will fill it!”

I got to be like God today, and it made me smile.

The Parable of the Cantaloupe

I was biting into a sweet, juicy piece of cantaloupe one morning when it slipped off my fork and landed with a splat on the kitchen floor.  

Knowing that Winston, our puppy, was lying under the table near my feet, I dove for the dropped piece before he could snag it.  (No people food for puppies is the rule at our house.)  As I dove under the table, he looked up at me with startled eyes.  He hadn't moved a muscle.  In fact, he hadn't even noticed the melon that had dropped on the floor.  

As I pondered this minor miracle, God, as he so often did during his years on earth, spoke to my heart in a parable.  I call it the Parable of the Cantaloupe.

Winston didn't lunge for the dropped cantaloupe, because that isn’t how he is accustomed to being fed.  He doesn't scrounge for crumbs and scraps of food inadvertently left behind and hope to make a meal out of them.  He is fed from a benevolent loving hand that scoops abundantly from a food supply designed just for him.  He never goes hungry or has to beg for the smallest handout.  His owners love to feed him regularly and generously.

As I pondered Winston I saw myself.  Unfortunately, unlike Winston, I am not always so certain of my Master’s provision and daily sustenance.  Sometimes I see God not as a generous God who "loves to give good gifts to his children," (Matthew 7:11) but as a minimalist God who, like the miserly Scrooge, doles out the smallest portion he can get away with in order to satisfy his responsibility.  

This faulty perception affects my prayers.  Instead of praying BIG, I pray small, like a pauper trying to beg a scrap or a small coin from a reluctant passerby.  I pray hesitantly, almost apologetically, when I have to ask, and then only for needs, never wants or "extras," because after all, God only promises to supply my NEEDS, right? 

But WHY do I think, like the Samaritan "dogs" of Jesus' healing parable, that I have to "eat the scraps that fall from the  Master's table" instead of expecting God to "prepare a table before me"? (Psalm 23:5)  In His Word, God tells us to "Open your mouth WIDE, and I will fill it!"  (Psalm 81:10).  

He tells us that "He satisfies the desires of every living thing," (Psalm 145:15), does "exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ever ask or imagine," (Ephesians 3:20  ) and supplies “all our need according to His riches and glory."  (Philippians 4:19)  

Our God is NOT a minimalist God.  He wants to "pour out a blessing so great that you will not have room to receive it." (Malachi 3:10)

Next time I pray, I plan to sit at Jesus' feet expectantly and with trust to see what great abundance will flow from His hand to my heart.  "Early in the morning, I lay my request before you and wait in expectation!" (Psalm 5:3)