God Uses The Marks of Life

"Do not gaze at me because I am deeply tanned, (I have worked in) the sun; it has left its mark on me...." Song of Solomon1:6a The Amplified Bible

"That will leave a mark!"  The phrase has become a part of our colloquial sayings.  Perhaps in the beginning of its use, the phrase referred to an act which would result in impressive impact on history, like the hero changing the course of a battle.  Now a days, in comedy productions, the phrase is used more literally.  Someone chooses an ill-advised act which will result in a physical mark on the body.

The doctor told my mother that the mark on my nose would prevent me from being a model or any profession in front of the camera.  He had examined the result of my ill-advised problem solving.  I hated being called "Freckle Face".  I think the relatives used it as a term of endearment but I hated it.  So my five year old brain reasoned that if my mother's emery board could eliminate rough edges of fingernails, it certainly could remove freckles from my nose.  I did not  anticipate the pain nor the permanent red spot on the bridge of my nose!

When I read the sixth verse of the Song of Solomon I pondered how the world leaves marks on us, how my actions, both good and ill-advised, leave marks on me and how God uses the marks regardless of how obtained.

The doctor thought my cherry red spot would prevent me from enjoying certain careers.  He was right about it being very visible to the camera.  The spot is quite apparent in my childhood school pictures. (With our recent move I couldn't locate a childhood school picture!)

My sins mark me and prevent me from enjoying the deepest of relationships with God.  I choose unwisely, without considering the impact of my thoughts and actions on the future God has designed for me.

Yet my nose and this verse has reminded me of the amazing miracle of His love.  Jesus was The Sacrifice which paid the consequence for my sin.  His incomprehensible gift has given me the freedom to become a new person.  You see if you look closely at my nose today, no red spot is evident.  Somewhere in high school the spot just faded away.  No surgery. No treatment. It just disappeared.

God can make the marks of this world, including the results of my poor judgment, useful, beautiful and/or disappear. The marks serve as reminders, warnings or proof.

What marks has the world left on your life?  God is greater.

What marks have your own actions left on your life?  God is greater.

How we think of the marks will demonstrate our trust in God.  Let go of the effect of the mark.  Give Him the mark and its effect.  God is Greater than all those marks. 

The Simpler Straighter and Wiser Choice

Ecclesiastes 1: 6

" The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere!"  The Living Bible

"Rotation, Rotation!"  I heard my co-worker calling but didn't quite comprehend.  I turned and saw two co-workers beckoning me to come.  I couldn't see it, because of the trees, but a tornado was headed straight for us.  It was only a handful of minutes away.

In the aftermath of the devastating tornado I joined a local Facebook group designed to assist those in need.  When I saw this photo I knew there was a message for me.  When I read Ecclesiastes 1:6, I found its message for my life.

Ecclesiastes has long been a favorite of mine.  The preacher, quester, teacher of the book relates his tale of pursuing life's meaning in the world's way.  The author tried to find meaning for life in a lot of party, work projects, accumulating possessions, and culture just to name a few. (These sound much like modern pursuits of life's meaning.)

He begins the book with his evaluation of his pursuit- worthless, meaningless, a wisp of smoke, chasing the wind.  In my mind, the wrapped tree photograph is a visual presentation of our efforts to chase meaning in life, the world's way.

The conclusion of Ecclesiastes sets me straight.  "... Fear God.  Do what He tells you.  Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether good or evil" Chapter 12: 13-14  The Message.

My co-worker's call saved me that day from driving straight into the path of an oncoming tornado.  Ecclesiastes 1:6 calls me to straighten my life path, to choose the simple way, to do what God says.  His way may seem narrow but the final destination, as well as the journey, makes it the simpler, straighter and wiser choice.

To Survive Life, Remember Wisdom Nuggets

Proverbs 1:6

...for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise."

Today would have been my mom's 85th birthday.  I can hardly imagine what she would have been like since she left us at age 61.  She would have understood my desire for crazy colored hair since she advised me as a youth, "If you've got it, flaunt it."

My mom left me with lots of artifacts that I treasure, too many as the recent move reminded me. Today I realize the real treasures are her bits of wisdom to survive life.  I think of them as "Lizzisms".  I apparently use her nuggets of advice often.  Just the other day, a dining companion asked me for  some advice. As I started with one of my favorite Lizzisms, my companion got excited.  She wished she'd met the wise Lizzie she'd heard so often quoted.

My mom's advice shaped my ability to cope with life, after the scriptures, of course.  Somehow she'd developed a perspective that helped a teenage drama queen survive into well seasoned adulthood.  

When Life gives me lemons (or those circumstances so not of my choosing), I recall  her asking the very young Me, "In the span of eternity, how important will...?"  Gosh when you honestly put most daily challenges against eternity, they seem a bit more manageable.

During one of her bigger challenges, cancer, she gave me similar nugget of wisdom.  Many people would ask "Why me?" in the same situation.  Lizzie chose the "Why not me"  approach.  Mom showed me not to get too involved in  my self-importance and to think that bad things shouldn't, wouldn't or couldn't happen to me. 

Lizzisms distill the swirl of emotions and reactions to Life events and help me navigate.  Proverbs 1:6 reminds me that no matter how old and wise I think I am, Life will continue to challenge.  It's a good idea to  increase my wisdom, to lean not my own understanding, but to use other wise predecessors,  like the scriptures and occasionally Lizzie.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Trust God With Your Life Path

Psalm 1:6

"For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom."  The Living Bible

"Arrived!" announced the Irish man voice.  We looked and knew we had  a problem.  Our destination was a church and what appeared on our right was an apartment complex.  No church in sight.

My husband and I were on an adventure in Southern Indiana using a phone app as our navigator.  The 7 hour trip had gone well except 30 minutes from our destination two voices gave us conflicting instructions.  The Irish man's voice had led us for six and one half hours but now was joined by the well known woman voice. The two voices had happened before but never had the two voices given opposing directions.

We had a fifty-fifty chance that we would choose the correct voice.  Unfortunately we chose the wrong voice and ended up on the wrong side of town!

Today's verse reminds me that every day I have two voices giving me direction. The world has a direction for me.  God has  The  Direction for me. How can I have better "odds" to choose correctly?

The preceding verses (Psalm1:1-5) give me advice.

·         Don't hang around sinners and scoffers.  Pay attention to the results of those offering worldly wisdom.  How does their life path look?

·         Meditate on what God wants me to do.  It is as  simple as asking, unlike the phone app, life's journey can be interactive.  We just need to ask the Right One!

·         Think about ways to follow Him more closely.  Think of the future path.  Does it lead to the best destination, a closer relationship with God?

Do Not Be Satisfied With Almost

Job 1:6

"One day as the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan, the Adversary, came with them." The Living Bible

He quickly reached for a napkin and spit the whole thing out!  I was a bit surprised  at his quick and definitive action.  It was our annual Christmas cookie bake and we'd made a batch of Grandma's Snowballs.  We knew we couldn't make them as well as Grandma but I've prided myself as coming close.  This time the cookies were more than a bit off. We needed another opinion.  So the grandson was called in.  He proclaimed them "not even close" and didn't waste the calories trying to swallow the sample.

Today's blog comes with a disclaimer.  The subject verse comes from the biblical book which wrestles with sin, tragedy and evil.  Theologians and humans have argued the perspectives presented for centuries and I don't plan to present any new opinions today.

Today I don't claim to offer any comfort to those experiencing very real Job-sized loss, suffering and grief.  I also don't suggest that Job was a failure which caused the circumstances described in the Book of Job.

My thoughts today begin with the first two words of this verse, "one day..."  One day made me think of "Once upon a time."  Too often we chase a fairy tale life.  Too often, it just doesn't happen.  We settle for the world's sad imitation of perfection, forgetting from where perfect comes.

Occasionally life is not a fairy tale because of my failure.  I'd become too comfortable with my baking skills and failed not on just batch number one of Grandma's Snowballs.  Batch number 2 was even worse-no need to even taste them. They went immediately to the trash.

Here's what I learned, one day, making cookies:  Sometimes I create the mishap.

One day, my perfect cookie failed because it was not the right time.  Batch number 1 was undercooked.  I'd rushed the batch or I could blame the unfamiliar oven. I could microwave them to create the allusion of perfection, but there was no improvement in quality.  End result the same, destination trash!  How many times have I been disappointed because my timeline didn't correlate with God's timeline?

One day, my perfect cookie failed because I didn't follow the recipe.  I didn't measure the flour correctly.  Same destination, trash.  How many times have I been disappointed because I followed my own instructions rather than God's simple instructions?

Never will I achieve the perfect Grandma 's Snowball.  I've admitted that I only offer "my imitation" of Grandma's Snowballs, a mere reflection of her Snowballs. This is where the cookie analogy separates from the spiritual.  I'm not Grandma.  I won't be able to reenact her Snowballs. I am not God.  God has such a better control of the world.  The world I try to create is not even a mere reflection.

ONE DAY I will have the  perfect day:  when Jesus comes for me and I change my address to "Heaven".

At the expense of a couple of pounds of chocolate chips, I learned to

be conscientious to follow the instructions,

lay my pride aside,

embrace my failure acknowledging that no about of fixing will lead to perfection and

resolve to look forward to the future knowing that God does have that perfect day waiting for me.

The world can't give me ONE DAY of my heart's desire;  I can't create the ONE DAY;  Only God has my ONE DAY waiting for me.

Do Not Be Satisfied with Almost...

ONE DAY Awaits

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                              

Sound of Purple Makes Me Smile

Esther 1:6

"The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars.  There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones." NIV

"What is your favorite color?"  I would ask this often of the three year old.  I knew the answer.  She was consistent.  The answer was the same, every time I asked:  "Purple."  I always smiled.  Not because of the answer but because of the way this three year old pronounced "purple."  I could definitely hear the strong first syllable of "pur"  but the second syllable was a soft round "ple".  It makes me smile now to think on it.  I'm glad I asked the question often to enjoy the answer.  As the three year old has mastered the English language, her pronunciation changes to the customary sound.

The sixth verse in Esther was a challenge.  I ventured on a thought trail on "porphry".  I was surprised since I disliked 8th grade Earth Science.  I could never distinguish rocks. They all looked the same to me.  The internet told me porphry is a strong rock with a red purple color.  The word porphry is the root for our word purple.  I read more but it doesn't stay in my brain.  It feels like 8th grade again.

So I ventured on a thought trail on "purple" and  it's meaning. The color purple is associated with royalty and spirituality.

Then it dawned on me that the sound of purple makes me  smile.  My reflection on the three year old sound of purple led me to ask,  "What words from my mouth makes God smile?

Have you ever thought of what God would like to hear? God gets lists and lists of needs, concerns, tragedies, crises, drama and desperation.  Do I share anything that will make God smile?  I hope so.  If God would smile at one of my remarks, surely I'm having a great experience, too.

I hope  God smiles when I say "Oh Wow!"  Experiences which prompted "Oh Wow!"  include most sunsets, occasional sunrises, my first look at  the grandchild, my first step in my new home after a long wait..."

"Oh Wow" means other words fail me but God, thanks so much,  Amazing!

Perhaps I need to keep a journal of the times I say "Oh Wow!"  so  I'll remember to give God gratitude for those good and great moments  of life.

Take time today to ponder what sound makes you smile.  Then ask what words would make God smile.  Enjoy the good and great moments of today.

Can I ask you a favor?

Nehemiah 1:6

"Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear..."

This  is it! The pressure is on! It's January 1st, the day resolutions are made.  Today is the day I'm going to complete one of my resolutions, I hope.

Nehemiah was the King's servant while living in exile.  He was loyally serving the King of Persia while his heart was loyal to the One True God.  The time had come to make his allegiance to God public and take the first step in his mission.

Nehemiah heard the status of the work of the exiles who had voluntarily returned to Jerusalem to rebuild.  He was distressed when he heard "the remnant there ... is in great trouble and shame..." (Nehemiah 1:3).  Nehemiah cried and prayed for days.  Then at just the right time, he approached the king for assistance.

Several weeks ago, my husband asked me for my goals in retirement.  I wanted to be selfish and claim the T-shirt proclamation of "I have a plan for retirement... I  plan to quilt."  I figured my husband was a bit more serious.  So I spent some time in prayer, thought and list making.  One of my three goals was to improve my writing skills and maybe fulfill my mother's desire for me at an early age:  to be a writer.

To achieve this goal, I made a few resolutions.  The first resolution was to get back to my blog.  I had neglected the habit with the excuse of moving.  Change is hard, even good change.  The past several months were a bit overwhelming. 

A few days ago I returned to my last blog series, "The Sixes".  I'm going through the Bible to reflect on the sixth verse of each book.  Each blog has  a six word title.

Today I'm executing my next resolution:  to expand my readership and hopefully encourage a few more people to get to know the best thing that ever happened to me, developing a relationship with the One True God.

I so relish the comments and feedback from my friends.  I'd like to meet friends of my friends. So, today I ask my friends to assist me with Resolution 2.  Could you do a few favors for me?  First, if you enjoy my blog, become a follower.  I've added the gadget to become a follower.  Secondly,  feel free to leave comments on the blog so we can continue discussion. Finally, could you share one of my blogs with your friends and encourage them to become a follower of my blog?  (Hopefully, you've already encouraged them to become a follower of Jesus!)

I welcome my friends to join my daily journey to know The One - The One who truly Knows.  To know Jesus. Every day is a new day!

 h