October | 2020 | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for October, 2020

Wrong Focus

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #jesusmessiah, #loveoneanother, #wrongfocus on October 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »

It seems every time I turn on the radio I encounter talk of leadership, or, more specifically, political leaders and wannabees.

There is an election that has been called in our province for later this month, but the news is at least as much about the election south of us, in November (somehow, our media outlets and population have become convinced that US politics need more airtime than our own).

Last week I had simply had enough and stopped listening and reading.

I wish politicians would just speak their plans along with explanations of how they plan to carry them out. Tell us what they did and did not accomplish since the last election. I wish they would apologize for their errors, owning not just the victories, but their failures as well. I wish they would stop pointing fingers and hurling insults and just keep the main things the main things.

The Bible is a good place to go when I need to be reminded of the main things, but even we, who are followers of Christ, can miss the main things.

The best example of this is Israel’s waiting and hope for the Messiah.

When Jesus came, as God’s chosen Messiah, his message did not sound like what they had expected.

They wanted affirmation of the law. Thought that their safety and security was found there.

When he broke the law by healing on the Sabbath, he responded with “the Sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27)

The law is like a whip, beckoning strict obedience. Jesus, as the Messiah, was and is asking something more, something better. His final message to his beloved disciples has nothing to do with law, everything to do with love.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

It is with love for our God, love for each other that redemption comes to a people, a world in need of saving. It is through love for others that communities strengthen. It is only love, only the leadership of Jesus that will bring (eternal) health and growth to a nation.

He never had to point fingers at the opponent, for what he has to offer is so good that no other is even worthy of mention.

What he has to offer is love … and it’s a promise that will has been, is and will be kept.

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Feeling Small

Posted in life, Nature/Creation, WONDER, tagged #feelingsmall, #howgreathouart, #humansaresmall, #mygodissobig on October 4, 2020| Leave a Comment »

There we were, sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake, “this lake is about 60km long and over 900 feet deep (gotta love the normalcy of Canadian mixing and matching of metric and imperial systems in one sentence).”

That’s a big lake.

And. I. felt. so. small.

and it felt so good.

It was like a correction, a righting of a wrong. For, in the vastness of our physical world, I am indeed small … insignificant.

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
Psalm 8:3-4

I do not just not size up in my physical world, but also in the spiritual world as well. My God is so big (and all of us who grew up going to Sunday School are singing the words, “so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God can not do”). I am so small.

It is good to be reminded of the space I occupy versus the space available. The relative insignificance of me … the great significance of the creator of this world, of me.

Then to remember that he, who is great, sacrificed his best for me. So that I would be his, eternally his. Not because of something I … who am so small … accomplished, but because of what Christ accomplished on my behalf.

O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all
The works Thy Hand hath made …

Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!

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Married to Multiple People

Posted in WONDER on October 1, 2020| 2 Comments »

A few days ago I read the following post,

“Just gonna tell y’all something. By the time you’ve been married over 40 years, you’ve been married to about four different people. So have they. It’s a miracle of God any of us ever make it.”
Beth Moore

I guess that means that today, at thirty one years married, we are each just getting to know person number four.

Her words resonated with me, for so many experiences of living happen over the years and those happenings do, indeed, change a person … how we see things, react, our values can even change.

I look at the first wife my husband was married to … I’ll call her Rocky Ideal. She looked better than any version to come. It took little effort to get herself ready for anything. She had black and white ideals and even tried to follow through with those beliefs. And she looked to her mister to be her every need-meeter. Yet … she was SO eager to win ALL the arguments, believing that the end result was about winning.

The next wife hubby had I will call Bitter Baby Momma … the idealism of Rocky Ideal faded with multiple miscarriages and the all-consuming needs of littles. My parenting ideals were disappearing, but rather than ask for help I expected that hubby would just read my mind and figure out what I needed. He didn’t (couldn’t) and bitterness crept in.

Then came a wife I will call, Dr Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde. She was the personification of the good, the bad and the ugly. These most demanding years of marriage took us through mountains and valleys. These years also had me running to God’s word and the security that he offered. Some days I was a committed and faithful wife, other days I was plotting my exit (or his).

And here we are now … my idealism and easy-care appearance have both faded. Black and white thinking has evolved to shades of grey (as has my hair). The years when my mettle was tested have softened my heart. I now look first and foremost to God to meet my needs, relieving hubby of my grand expectations. I know I don’t have all the answers … actually, I have more questions now than ever before. I don’t even acknowledge that there is a winning or losing … for life is just too short for such things. I don’t yet know what I will call this current version of me. I do know this wife looks more at her mister as a child of God, with his value based in whose he is … rather than what has he done for me lately.

After thirty-one years hubby could truly say I am not the woman he first married, for he has had three other versions through these years. And so have I …

and, by the miraculous grace of God here our souls still are, together.

Happy anniversary mister, you’re just getting to know wife number four!

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