Today's Treasure Hunt

"No, keep walking."  Every day I fight against the powerful force of my three dogs' attraction to storm drains!  We walk past several drains on our usual route.  I prepare for the 80 pounds of combined effort to drag us all to the opening of the drain.  If I keep us walking in the middle of the street I can withstand the initial pull.  If I am not alert and let the three dogs too close to the curb, I get ready to run because their pull toward the drain is too powerful.

The curious part of this occurrence is each and every time they make it to the storm drain.  It's one sniff and done.  I'm amazed that they continue to strain for the experience when it is obviously not satisfying.  You'd think they'd learn that the anticipated reward of the storm drain will not meet their expectations.

"You will eat and not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty.  You will store up but save nothing..."  Micah 6: 14.  Micah continues his message to the Israelites to turn from their sin of trusting in anything but the One True God.  Micah warns them that there will be consequences for their unfaithfulness.  There will be dishonesty, violence, ruin, scorn.  They will be unable to fix the situations on their own. 

The search for satisfaction in life is more powerful than the combined pull of three dogs toward a storm sewer.  There is no real satisfaction in the work of our hands.

I considered all the seasons in my life when I sought to be satisfied.  I had goals and many achieved.  Yet there was, and is, always another goal waiting because I haven't been truly satisfied.

I once had a goal to collect Beanie Babies.  I loved the feel of the soft toy in my hand.  Their cute faces made me smile.  My husband joined my passion.  What started as just the dogs and bears became a hunt for each and every Beanie.  We  had a network of collectors sharing leads.  We met in parking lots to inspect potential purchases.  We negotiated with internet providers. A friend even procured a coveted bear on an international trip.  It was great fun while it lasted.

One day I realized the craze was manipulating me. I was collecting even the ugly Beanies.  I didn't like the amphibians and psychedelic additions.  Yet I felt obliged to complete my collection.  I quit when I admitted I was  no longer satisfied.

Now I store my Beanie treasures in plastic tubs in my basement.  Soon I'll need to find new homes for them.  I love them but it's a burden to care for them. 

Micah urges the Israelites to "Listen!  The Lord is calling..." (Micah 6:9a) and to "Heed the rod and the One who appointed it." (Micah 6:9b).  He challenges them to pay attention to what is happening in their world and why.  The evil forces were prospering and their unfaithfulness to God contributed.

Listen and heed.  Pay attention and obey.  Wake up and change your course.

I don't want to be like my dogs who haven't learned from their daily unsatisfactory sniffing experience.  I want to listen to the One who leads me on my daily walk.  The One who keeps me in the middle of the road a safe distance from the unsatisfying and gently says "No, keep walking."

It  is not easy to choose the unknown experience with God over the handy, tangible, attractive "storm drains" of life.  "I watch in hope for the Lord.  I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."  Micah 7:7 challenges me to not trust in what I do and collect my treasures.  I will not be satisfied.  I actually will become burdened with these treasures. The only true satisfaction is in The One who is my Savior and hears me.  There is no burden in His treasure.

Today begins another treasure hunt. 

            Will I evaluate the treasure I seek by heavenly standards or worldly opinion? 

                        What will I do with the treasure once I have it? 

                                    Will it be short-lived or eternal in nature?   

                                                How will the treasure I seek satisfy?

Today's goal is a satisfactory day.  To achieve this goal I plan to collect God's treasures not what the world considers treasure.  I have no room to store worldly treasure but plenty of room for His treasures.

                                                                       

The Secret is at the End

I'll never know the #1 worst __________ because I was too impatient.  I had done an internet search on a problem and clicked on an info-commercial type video.  The video had dramatic music and catchy photos but I was ready for the #1 worst and the solution by the time the video was on #3.  Of course, no way to fast forward.  Unfortunately my internet training came at the hands of the instant gratification society so I clicked off.  So I'll never know the solution.  I wasn't prepared for the whole presentation.

The prophet Micah interjects what he would expect the Israelite response should be to the Lord's accusation of their unfaithfulness in the verses just preceding verses 6 though 8 in chapter 6.  Micah asks what would be a proper offer of reconciliation from the Israelites to The Lord after the realization of what He has done for them and their obvious misplaced worship of other gods.

Would the acceptable gesture be year  old calves, thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil or even the first born child?  Now that the transgression is fully understood the desperate attempts to reconcile are planned.

I thought about those "I'm sorry" gifts I'd given and received.  Cookies, flowers, letters, acts of service.  It's already easier to apologize with a gift in hand.  It "breaks the ice" and "cuts the tension".  I still highly recommend the practice of a tangible with an apology.  But that is not my point today.

Micah points to the method to completely avoid the need for a transgression apology.  He reminds the Israelites of what God has shown them, by His example, and what He expects of them.

To act justly (Who else but God is more fair and wise to judge all matters and people?)

To love mercy (Who else but God has loved us more and lavished us with undeserved grace?) and

to walk humbly with your God.

There it is the secret.  We too often think it's humility.  It's last in the list of qualities and usually the hardest for us proud humans.  The real secret to a relationship with God is "with your God."

First, we must make Him our One and Only God.  The only One we worship and follow.  This is quite  a challenge in today's world when busy-ness alone becomes an obstacle to worship as well as an object of worship.  God is to be my only God.  Not anything the world may try to present as much more gratifying.

Secondly, we must join Him and live our lives with Him.  Have you ever tried to hold hands and walk with someone who has a longer, faster stride or one who takes small careful steps when you  are ready to just get there?  Frustrating, right?  Too often we drop hands and just walk separately.

Maybe that's the secret to a fruitful relationship with God:  to never let go of His hands and learn to walk with Him, at whatever pace He sets and to wherever He leads.

If I choose to live my life with my God, then acting justly and loving mercy will be the results. I won't have to discipline myself to be just and merciful, I will thirst to be fair and gracious because I've experienced justice and mercy from The One True God.

In The Message verse 8 ends with "Don't take yourself too seriously, take God seriously." So today I begin to take my relationship with God more seriously and my gratification of self far less seriously!  I'm glad I made it to the end of these verses to gain some insight into the real secret to life with God!

The Mountains Rule

"I'll wait in the car."  It was our third trip to Yosemite that summer and my  husband felt that El Capitan would look the same as the last three times we'd visited the national park.  Years ago we lived a couple hours away from Yo-se-mite, as our new friends pronounced it.  We had a number of international visitors that summer. The international visitors always wanted to see Yosemite and Disneyland when they came to California.  (I think we did Disney three times that year also!)  My husband wasn't much of a scenery man in those days.  After living in Idaho and Utah for several months, he's become quite the mountain admirer.

(These are photos of the Tetons in Wyoming and Superstition Mountains in Arizona.  Digital photos weren't available to me 30+ years ago!)

In Micah 6:1-5, the prophet uses some imagery.  He presents the scenario of the Lord presenting His legal case for the Israelites' unfaithfulness to a judge.  The mountains play the part of the judge.  He challenges the Israelites to present their defense to the  mountains and hills.

"My people, what have I done to you?" (6:3a) is the question the Lord poses to the Israelites.  The Lord lists what He has done:  He brought them out of Egypt and redeemed them from a life of slavery.  He gave them leaders in Moses, Aaron and Miriam.  He thwarted the evil intentions of Balak and Balaam and made blessings.

I was impressed by irony of the choice of the mountains as the judge in Micah's message.  The Israelites had been  unfaithful by worshiping the high places of idols.  Now the Lord reminds the Israelites that the mountains, which He created,  the highest places the Israelites have ever seen, see everything.  The mountains silently  observe everything because they tower above everything.  You can hide in a mountain but you can't  hide from a mountain.

Mountains must have been ageless to the Israelites.  The mountains were the same in their fathers' days, their grandfathers' days, their great-grandfathers' days.  So my husband was right El Capitan did look the same as it did early that summer and thirty years before, one  hundred years before and so forth.  To my limited lifetime the mountains are timeless.  They are among the very oldest of the earth.  Compared to my life they are everlasting.

This morning the question presented to the  mountains challenges me to make a list.  What has God done  to me?  Last night's small group bible study on Ephesians helped me compile my response to the mountains:

I have been rescued, loved, chosen, forgiven, redeemed;

I have been given a purpose, given a family, given worth.

I have protection, meaning and direction.

I am never alone.

(That's my list off the top of my head without reviewing my notes or rereading Ephesians!)

God gets the credit and the mountains will rule in His favor.  I'm ready to visit El Capitan again just to let the mountains know what God has done for me.

Tangled Leashes

This was not the best part of their day.  The three dogs wake up anticipating the moment the leashes come out of the basket.  They love to go for a walk.  I shook my head in amazement.  The three dog walk came to a  standstill.  Each dog kept vying for the leadership position so the three leashes were braided together.  They were going nowhere!  I could sense a dog fight in the near future.

Before I untangled them I snapped a photo because I just knew there was a spiritual lesson.  If they would let me lead and not worry about being first.....

"God is greater...." entitles my next page in  my Micah journal.  In verses 9-15 in chapter 5, Micah proclaims victory in the Coming Day when the Lord will destroy the works of human hands so that humans will no longer bow down and worship their works instead of Him.  Micah mentions the destruction of horses and chariots, cities and strongholds, witchcraft and false idols.  The Lord will take vengeance on the nations who have disobeyed Him.

We live in a world where people think they can build defenses, fortresses and protective forces to stave off evil.  God is greater.

I listed what I have depended for protection:  my intellect, my decision making, my control, my relationships.  When I saw this list I was struck by the very temporary and unreliable nature of those things I sought for my protection.  God is greater.

The three dogs got so tangled during the favorite part of their day such that it was no longer enjoyable and became contentious. If they would just follow my lead.  I reviewed my list and the common word in the list was "my."  My disobedience, my refusal to follow His lead, blinds me to God's greatness.  His greatness is the real and dependable source of protection and ultimate victory.

God is greater than anything and everything this world.  He is

G racious

R eady

E ternal

A vailable

T rustworthy

E verywhere

R eal

The dogs haven't learned that the tangled leashes get them nowhere.  I'm learning that my way does not lead me where I truly want to go.  My life will be victorious if I let God lead and not strive to be first.  God is greater.

Be The Dew

"...it's Sunday but Monday's coming..."  I heard those words during the closing prayer at my small group bible study.  My brain was alerted to an "aha" moment!  It was the opposite of the theme of a favorite famous sermon, "It's Friday but Sunday's coming".  I knew my brain lit up when I heard those words because it was the connection I needed to apply the verses in Micah I'd been wrestling for many days.

I'd read and reread Micah 5: 5b-8 many times in the past several days; made notes in the margin; trolled the internet and checked other translations.  I always came back to "Be the Dew" but what does that mean?

Prophet Micah is still delivering good news and bad news to the Israelites.  When those bullies, the Assyrians, show up, don't worry. The Shepherd-Ruler will deliver them.  "The nation of Israel will refresh the world like gentle dew or the welcome showers of rain."(The Living Bible Micah 5:7) 

In the  midst of their adversity, the Israelites were to be gentle reminders of God's provision and  protection.

Merriam  Webster's dictionary reminded me that dew is moisture condensed on the surface of cool bodies especially at night.  In botany dew is droplets produced by transpiration.

My degree in botany (yes, I do have a degree in botany but not a green thumb,  I can tell you why the plant died!) sent me to look up transpiration.  The U.S. Geological Survey web page explained:

Transpiration is the process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere. Transpiration is essentially evaporation of water from plant leaves.

Studies have revealed that about 10 percent of the moisture found in the atmosphere is released by plants through transpiration. The remaining 90 percent is mainly supplied by evaporation from oceans, seas, and other bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams).

Plants put down roots into the soil to draw water and nutrients up into the stems and leaves.

My botany degree has been an integral part of my spiritual development.  I distinctly recall the day in class  when I was amazed with how our bodies are so intricately designed to always be in balance.  I loved the day we diagrammed photosynthesis and filed it away to explain why grass is green.  Plants have roots comprised of miles and miles of surface area to probe the earth for life giving water and nutrients.  These revelations began my personal search for God to make sense of this crazy planet.

My "roots" should stretch deep  into God's love, forgiveness and future such that I will be able to share  the excess with those I encounter.   Just as plants share excess moisture with our atmosphere, so I, through a spiritual transpiration, release evidence of God's work in our world.

There's my challenge from these verses in Micah.  Put down roots in God's faithfulness and draw on His provision such that others will benefit through my experience and trust.  -  Be the dew -that reveals God's power; refresh others faith with a gentle reminder of God's amazing love .

So my friend's prayer reminded me that on Sunday I sent my roots deep through worship and study into God's love but on Monday, it's time to Be The Dew and gently refresh and remind others of God's amazing grace.

D epend

E ntirely on God

W hile here