THE REVELATION OF NOT BELONGING.

She was a slave girl. Brought at a price from Egypt to serve her master and his wife. Abram and Sarai. In particular she was the maidservant to Sarah. After years of frustration and waiting for a promise God had given that a son would be born to them, Abram and Sarai agreed that if Abram slept with Hagar, the beautiful Egyptian maidservant they could have a child by her… So she submitted and before long became pregnant to Abram. It was then the jealousy and hatred began between Sarai and her servant. So much so that the young woman fled on a number of occasions.

He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.” “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” Genesis 16: 4-9

Sometimes you find you just don’t belong. Like a Scottish Thistle in a field at harvest time. You become a curse to everything around you. I remember as a young teenager walking a 50 acre field gathering every Scotch thistle plant that had been cut along with the grass. I had been offered $4 by the land owner to clear the field of every thistle. They no longer belonged with the harvest. So before the hay bailing tractor turned up it was my job to clear the field. It was hot and dry. The field seemed huge… but along with my brother and sister we got the work completed.

God had not forgotten or abandoned the young Egyptian slave girl. He had promises for her and her future. Just as He does for you and me.

Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:9 – 13

Even when you feel like you no longer belong… or fit in…. just hang in there and keep serving. God is faithful to you despite the agenda’s of others. God was faithful to Hagar, who ultimately kept serving despite the pain. Abram was 86 years old when his son Ishmael was born. And he loved him. It is an amazing story of God’s grace… despite our failures and feeble attempts in life at times.. God is full of grace towards us.

No matter what… You will always belong. Because of Jesus you belong. As Hagar spoke out.. “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Godspeed,

Pictured: The beautiful flower of a Scotch Thistle in a field ready for harvest.

The Garden in the Gutter

Christmas and New Year have been all about transforming a neglected house and yard into a home….

One of the downsides of itinerant travel and missions work is being away all the time. This past year I was on the road for over eight months and Kerrie was with me for much of that time…
So the little things… the details of home maintenance, the things that glare at you when you return home demanding to be repaired….all need to be done.

I was jet washing all the paving and footpaths around the house and came across a beautiful delicate flower growing in a storm drain. By night it is completely closed… but in the light of day it has its petals open to the fullness of the sunshine. What amazed me was why it was there?…. Why would a beautiful flower grow in a gutter? Then I opened my Bible to Genesis chapter one.

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. Genesis 1:11-13

The phenomenom  of God’s creation. Every living thing He has created is designed to reproduce by the seed of a new beginning. No matter where that seed is planted it will grow. A beautiful flower knows not where it is planted.. it will simply grow and flourish and look beautiful… even in a gutter.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1: 1-3

As we step into 2012, my prayer is this…. ” Lord I pray you will be glorified in all our lives… in all we do… in all we dream… in all we achieve. Let us reflect the wonder of your glory… just like a flower growing in a gutter. Wherever you choose to plant us let us radiate the majesty of God the creator who is revealed so amazingly through our Messiah, Jesus Christ.” Amen.

Godspeed,

Pictured: A beautiful flower growing in a storm drain.

SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT CHRISTMAS.

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4-5

There is a spirit of peace that surrounds the manic chaos we all make of the Christmas season. It is quite ironic that we become so anxious and stressed out about the crazy build up to Christmas Day. The decorations!! The shopping!! The food!! The preparations that take place in hopes of a wonderful memory making day!!  And yet the whole time is all about a peace that surpasses all understanding… a time when God became man in the most innocent way possible… as a baby. He did this just to remind us how precious we are and how amazing the gift of life can be. Jesus came to bring eternal peace to planet earth. He came to reconcile us with the Father and cancel out the curse of sin and death we were all living under. Christmas is ultimately about the most amazing peace we will ever know. The peace and the joy of knowing Jesus.

This time of the year can also become a time of uncertainty and confusion for many… as the year comes to a close and a new one begins we can be lured into the doubts and fears of the unknown. But let me assure you. When Jesus is your life there is no room for anxiety and intimidation. He fills us with faith, hope and love and a confidence to face tomorrow as we seek first His kingdom.

Set your heart on all He has intended for you at this time. His goodness and His purposes.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14

Praying your week is an amazing expression of the joy and giving that comes with Christmas!

It’s all about Jesus!

Godspeed,

Pictured: Decorations from the Grace family Tree