I have learned a lot of interesting things working the drive thru window, and one of them is this:  the population is divided into two different groups…people who love pennies, and people who hate them.  The first group (which I am part of) saves pennies, rolls them, gets excited when they see one in the parking lot, and not only picks them up but will walk out of their way to do it.  They carefully place those penny rolls in a special place, watch them pile up, and think about the things they will do with them.

 The other group will bypass 10 pennies laying on the ground and not think a thing about it.  They will also give me extra pennies at the register and say something equivalent to “just keep’em, not worth the trouble.” Or they will laugh and take them and say that maybe they will be worth something one day, but they doubt it.  They are also the ones that would vote every time for pennies to be discontinued.

But guess what?  Pennies are the very foundation of our money system. Of course we have nickels, dimes and quarters, but pennies are where it all starts.  Got a nickel?  That’s 5 pennies.  Quarter?  At it’s root, that’s 25 pennies.  Ten dollars? 1,00o pennies.  No matter how large the sum, it can ALWAYS be taken back to an equivalent in pennies!  So whether you have 10,000 pennies rolled up at home or a one hundred dollar bill in your pocket, you still have $100.  And while a $100 bill may look more impressive, it’s only an illusion…you can knock it back down by taking away just one penny, and you no longer have a complete bill.  That just happens to be a profound truth for God’s Kingdom as well.

God’s plan for His will being accomplished on earth, especially in a local church family, is based on “pennies”…His children as they are saved, one by one, and brought into the church.  While individually they may not SEEM very important, each one is worth exactly the same as any other one. Exactly.  And while one “penny” may not think they are as valuable, they definitely are.  As is true with money, the more of them you have, the richer you are!  Richer in Spirit, in fellowship, and in ability to accomplish things.  Richer in all the gifts of the Spirit, which brings to the world a more complete picture of Christ.  

Unfortunately in a church there is also an illusion that a shiny nickel (instrumental worship team member) dime (worship leader) or quarter (preacher) is more valuable than the other mere “pennies” in the fellowship. They are the ones on the stage, in front, and their silver is usually very, very shiny.  Pennies make up a lot of the congregation, and they can begin to feel less important.  After all, they are surrounded by other pennies, and not everyone knows their name.  They don’t necessarily stand out or have a “big” role to play.

So to reset the perspective, let’s take a closer look at the nickel (instrumentalist).  It is equal to five pennies, and here they are: Penny One gave to the building fund so the sanctuary could be built.  Penny Two gave his tithe so the church could buy the keyboard.  Penny Three is the actual instrumentalist.  Penny Four is the technical whiz who keeps the instruments and sound boards in perfect order so music is made and heard.  And Penny Five is the one who comes to church and worships the Lord to the music!  Isn’t that awesome??  And you can use that illustration for the dime, quarter, etc!  

In other words, there is a place of service and impact for every person that God chooses to save and bring into His Kingdom. No “penny” is useless or less valuable; and if there is an illusion of that, it is not of God.  AND there is power in pennies!  When Kingdom “pennies” get rolled together and accumulate, there are great things they can accomplish for the glory of God, and they all enjoy the reward.  Aren’t you ready to get your penny power going??  

When I was growing up, 100 years ago (lol), life appeared to be a lot more simple.  We were in the pre-computer age when the newspapers ruled and missing the nightly news would put you way behind on current events. If there was any manipulation of what we read or heard, we didn’t know it.  And plagerism and false reporting were scandals, followed by immediate, grave consequences.  The only other truth twisting…gossip…was frowned on, but generally tolerated. It was a time when you could pretty much trust what you saw and heard.

Fast forward to today, and an open world.  Every kind of media, including social media, makes the world a small, small place where you can find out what’s going on in Japan or South Africa as easily as what’s going on in your own neighborhood.  Have a disease?  100 sites with info at your fingertips.  Something wrong with your car?  Same thing.  Sports scores from around the world, and many rebroadcasts of events at your disposal.  Want to learn to cook or sew?  Again, classes right online.  These have also all made the workd a great place to live in right now!

Unfortunately, there is also a dark side to the internet, and we all know about the things you csn find there.  The one thing, however, that very few people anticipated was the power of what was on the internet.  Many people never realized that viewers would take so much of what they read and believe it like it was absolute truth.  No one envisioned people dying because they trusted medical internet advice and stayed away from doctors because they thought they had the answer.  No one envisioned that hundreds if people would have their lives destroyed because of untruths posted about them.  And certainly NO ONE thought that teenagers would commit suicide over posts about them implying all kinds of untrue things!  And now we currently have a crisis of “fake news” that is catching people of all ages believing outright lies simply because it was on a site that “seemed” reliable!

What a mess!  But here’s the point of this blog…the first fake news ever happened over thousands of years ago.  Yep!  And it went like this:  “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, has God indeed said ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’  Satan is reading the Garden Daily Times, he’s checking to see if Eve has too.

And Eve answers: “…but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’  And here’s what satan wants Eve to believe is the 2 inch headline for that day:  You will surely not die!  For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  And we know the rest of the story.

Amazing, isn’t it?  There is nothing man can dream up that is more false or dangerous than that first fake news..because that is the news that Eve believed, and all of humanity since then has suffered for it by being eternally separated from God, without the saving power of Jesus Christ!  There is nothing new about “fake news”!

Today’s alarms about fake news ARE important.  Believing even half of what you read or hear in media today can land you in all sorts of enbarrassment, trouble, strife, and even lead to fatalities…but eventually the perpetrators of that news are caught.  With satan, however, his fake news is way more deadly, and yet way less recognized by most people…and yet its consequences are far more destructive..they are ETERNAL if not realized by those who accept his message as real.

So next time you hear the topic of fake news in any of your conversations with friends, coworkers, etc, use it as an opportunity to evangelize!  Share with them about the Author of the Good News…Jesus Christ..and help them find their way to Him!

When you hear the words outreach or evangelism, what pops into your mind? Billy Graham and his organization and lots of money? Operation Christmas Child? Huge churches with mega resources?

While all of these are correct answers, so is the story you sre about to read below:

She is not one of the “favored” people in this world according to today’s society. Her face is square, her hair is a dull brown mullet style, and her eyeglasses are coke bottle thick. She is missing one or two side teeth, she rarely smiles, and she works very hard at a low-paying job. We’ll call her June.

When I first started waiting on her, she would drive up in her old beat up red truck, and not say two words to me. She always had a stern look on her face and would speed off with her food, which was usually only a butter biscuit. She did volunteer a complaint once or twice about the wait or how her biscuit tasted, but that was it.

This continued for almost 2 years, until just before Christmas when I had the overwhelming urge to buy her biscuit one day….a very small investment. As I told her that, she stared at me…and I just blurted out “early Merry Christmas!” She still stared and said “no one has ever done anything nice for me!” and she drove off. The next time she came, she said hello before I did, and after that we would occasionally also talk about the weather. Then finally the other day, I got the nerve up to ask her name, and she gave it to me. I began calling her by her first name, and giving a bigger smile each time. We even progressed to where she actually laughed two days ago.

And that’s where we’re at. No fireworks, no amazing testimony (yet), and no instant anything. AND YET! God is at work. A friendship is beginning, smiles have been exchanged, names are known, and what was not really an exciting experience for either one of us has become a day brightener for us both. Hopefully soon I can find out more about her family, and begin to deepen our bond. Is she ready for the entire Gospel yet? I’m not sure, but that’s not something I have to worry about. I am confident that God in His time will prompt me to share then. And I am praying for God to also begin to bring other people into her life that will positively impact her.

The point of this blog, however,is not what happens next. The point is just exactly what this evangelistic endeavor has cost to this point….ninety-five cents. Less than a dollar. That’s what a butter biscuit costs at Chickfila, and I’ve only bought hers one time. AND YET! Like the little boy with the five loaves and two fish in the Bible, God can do great things! Once she knows the true Lover of her soul, and becomes a child of His, there is a whole new group of people that she can reach that I may never meet. And if she does already know Him, then maybe just having a new sister in Christ will be what prompts her to grow in her faith and begin reaching out to others as well!

And all of that for ninety-five cents. As a very popular commercial asks, “what’s in your wallet??” And God further asks, “and what are you doing with it??” May He recieve all the glory as you begin to answer this question listen to His prompting!

I have been watching, along with the rest of the world, the violent reactions to our national election, and I too have been shaking my head at the lengths people have gone to to express their unhappiness.  However.  Big however.  As I was making a list of all the reasons “those people” were spoiled, irresponsible, and downright inmature, God shook my heart with this irrefutable fact:  I am one of those!  And so are you!

Ok, we are not out in the streets doing our protesting in public view against a human.  At least I don’t know anyone who is.  But I know SO many people…me included..who are spiritual protesters!  Over and over again, God addresses His people in Scripture about their hard hearts and stiff necks.  He rebukes them and corrects them, and sends judgment after judgment on them to cause them to repent.  And they do, but it is never permanent..there is always a relapse…and sometimes the relapse is to an even deeper and darker level of sin than before.

So ok, that was long ago, and what does that have to do with us?  We are the same people today as they were, lost and hopeless without Jesus, and even AS His children we still have that old nature that wants to assert itself and defy authority. We still, in spite of the Holy Spirit living within us and guiding us, want to take our own path..or have what we want..or just say, “I’ve got this one God, thanks.”

 Now this is not always the case. There are victories along the way, when we actually surrender to God’s plan, and live in the glory of being completely in His will.  Those are glorious times, and they can last for days, weeks, months, and even years.  But we too will still stumble and fail, and fight against God.

So what is the point of this blog?  It is this:  when you see people at their very worst, acting in complete defiance and demanding their way, even on national TV…stop!  Stop the judgmental thoughts and keep that finger from pointing! Listen and you wil hear God reminding you of all the recents acts of defiance against Him!  Yes they are in the streets, openly shouting and belittling the authority that was just placed over them.  But is that any different than your approach to God’s authority?  Which is SO much greater than any earthly man’s??  Edit

I shudder to think what the newest viral video post would look like if my response to some of God’s laws was made public!  And while His authority was established from the foundations of the earth, I ELECTED Him Lord of my life when I accepted His salvation.  Those protesting right now are against someone they did NOT elect.  How much worse then is MY protest?

I believe in free speech and the right to express disagreeing opinions is something I cherish as an American.  God believes in free will, too, because He gives everyone the chance to choose Him or reject Him.  But once tve decision is made…especially in accepting Him and HIS will, the protesting should be mostly over…and should grow less and less as we mature in Him!

Next broadcast you see, let this thought sink in:  “O Lord,great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, WE have sinned, and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your laws and Your judgments….O Lord, to US belongs shame of face…because we have sinned against You.”  Daniel 9:4-5, 8.  Amen.

Robert and I took a long weekend trip recently to north Georgia recently. When we travel, one of our favorite things is to eat in small town, locally owned restaurants. We had eaten a light breakfast in our room, but as we walked in a town square, he wanted to stop at a cafe for coffee. We sat outside drinking, people watching, having a great time and also talking to the young woman who was serving us. It was her and her friend’s business and their first time to open for breakfast, so they were delighted to have customers.

As we got ready to leave and get back on the motorcycle to ride some more, I decided a trip to the ladies room was a good idea, so I went inside the tiny building, saw the even tinier restroom, and made my way over to it. At that moment, the other owner came running (literally) toward me with her cellphone in hand saying “wait!” Of course I stopped, and she handed me her phone, which had the flashlight turned on, and she said, “you need this..the light quit working in there, and you need my light!  I don’t want you to be in the dark; or get hurt!” And when I closed the door, and covered the flashlight, I really understood..it was pitch black in there without it.

After I finished I returned her phone to her and thanked her, and we left. As we resumed riding, I kept hearing the Lord say, “what about your light??” In other words, this owner had touched me with her concern, and had kept me out of darkness and harm by giving me her light…and I was amazed by what God was showing me through that. I thought about all the verses that I know talking about Christians being the light of the world, and how light dispels darkness. I heard God asking me if I was happy with the way I was using MY light lately…and I was not.

What if the owner told herself that eveyone has a cell phone now, and I could figure it out for myself? Or what if she decided there was probably enough light in there anyway, and I’d be fine? Or…even worse…what if she said, “well serves her right! She should carry her own light?”

I sat on the back of that motorcycle and had confession and prayer right then! Because I know, as do all true believers, that I DO have a light that is even more important..a spiritual one! God has called His people to be light in this world, and in today’s world, that is a very, very dark place. We have to be like that owner, and care about what people are fixing to walk into! We have to remember what God has told us, and we have to be convinced that we are the answer. After all, she didn’t ask if I had my own light..she knew I didn’t. And she didn’t ask the other customer in there if she could borrow his light. No, she gave me HER light, and I was saved from darkness and potential danger because of it!

So? What if we all did that? what kind of world could we luve in then? And how many more prople would come to know THE Light of the world? Maybe you should turn on your cellphone flashlight, and watch it for a minute…then take it to a dark room and see what happens…it just may revive your heart too!

We have a texting group among about 40 women in our church, where a Scripture verse is mass texted every day, Monday through Friday.  I became the current sender for those texts about three months ago, and everything seemed to be going great.  Until.  I received a text at 4:48 am stating this: “ok, whoever you are, Sam (not the real name) has been living a lie, he let the devil get ahold of him”.  Now since the person’s name I thought I was sending texts to was Dana, I was stunned.  I replied to that text asking what they were referring to, and got this answer: “I was to be his wife next week but he cheats, lies, and isin illicit activities, and then I hear him mumbleI wish that woman would stop sending that stuff so I am letting u know”.

I read that and laughed out loud!  I thought I was texting a sweet fellow sister in Christ named Dana, when in fact I was texting a totally lost man named Sam, who wanted me to quit!  This man who cheats, lies, and lost his fiance the week before their wedding…who had also been receiving the Word of God by text 5 days a week!!  Do not tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor!  I did more research and realized that I had typed a 6 instead of a 9 for the last digit of the phone #, and that had caused the issue.

So what does that say about our God and His Word?  And His love for sinners?  The most amazing thing!  Scripture tells us that Jesus Himself addressed this in Isaiah 55:12:  So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth, it shall not return to me void.  But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”  Isn’t that awesome?  I picture in my mind Sam’s Mom, or grandmom, or someone else in his life, praying for weeks and months and probably years for his salvation. Someone who loves him very much, and desperately wants him to come to know the Lord.  And maybe it’s someone who doesn’t know what else to say, or who Sam has shut out of his life.

AND YET!  Along comes a dizzy blonde!  One who gets assigned to text Scripture and can’t type a phone # right, so through that God sends him His Word 60 different times over the course of three months!  Only God could make such a thing happen, love someone enough, and have mercy on someone to the point He would cause Scripture to flood his text inbox.

I shared not long ago about the person in my life that I and others prayed for 26 years before he found the Lord, and what a joy it was for us.  But I still don’t know what particular event led our persom to finally accept the Lord.  Just think…for the past 3 months God has been answering someone else’s prayers and they still don’t even know it yet.  Now I have joined them in prayer, as have others, and we are all praying that God will continue His great work!

And by the way, I did stop sending texts to him.  I had identified myself, and his was a local #, so for safety reasons I did quit.  And I may never know in this lifetime what decision he makes about what he read…but I pray that one day, when time has ended and we’re all before the Lord, that I will hear his name called and celebrate for all eternity with him! To God be the glory for His great salvation!

The other day I was getting gas and as I pumped it I actually looked at the sign board right above the tank.  It had a big “SAVE NOW” on it, followed by this blurb “Save $.10 per gallon!  Simply buy 4 of these (pictures of snacks and bottled drinks) for $4.50 and get 10 cents off every gallon!”  Because I was still pumping, I took a minute to do some quick math.  The average tank size is around 16 gallons, so saving ten cents a gallon would net you $1.60.  BUT!  You just spent $4.50 to save that!  In other words, while you did gain snacks and/or drinks, you actually LOST $2.90 on a 10 gallon purchase!  What the gas station is counting on is customers that are tired, hungry, in a hurry, with or without kids who are the same.  In other words, customers who are too distracted by other things to care about the validity of the offer. Things of no real value will temporarily solve a hunger issue (snacks) or energy need (caffeine drinks) in the heat of the moment, and seem entirely reasonable to purchase in return for the “reward”.

As I was reading this and congratulating myself for having figured out what a scam this was, I distinctly heard the Lord speaking to my heart, and here’s what He said:  don’t pat yourself on the back too soon!  And I immediately understood what He meant.  I might have escaped this scam, but I am not always that successful in the spiritual realm… and knowone knows that better than God Himself.

If you look at this event from a spiritual standpoint, you will see the exact design our enemy uses.  He loves to catch us in moments of weakness – when we’re tired, or hungry, or distracted, or discouraged.  The  He makes us an unbelievable offer.  “For just the cost of one lunch date a week, you can go to lunch with your opposite sex coworker, flirt, and feel good about yourself again!  Just one hour!”  Or, there’s “For just the cost of one bottle of ______ you can take the edge off your stress and be yourself again!” Or how about “For just the cost of Sunday morning church, you can work every Saturday, make tons of money, and still have a day all to yourself!”

The examples like this can go on forever, but I think the point is obvious..satan will never stop scheming to destroy us and our families by offering something SO good for more than we really meant to pay!  It’s only when the lives are ruined, the families torn apart, and financial gains are not realized that we stop and do the math, and realize what we fell for.

So how do we respond, including me?  Like this..when the offer is there, and you’re mentally not (tired, hungry, etc) just stop.  Stop and say no and move on, or just stop, think it through,and then SEE what’s really on the line!  Then God can move in, direct our steps, and keep us in His will..and we will live lives that glorify Him!

It was an ordinary day at work, waiting on customers in the drive through line, taking their money, handing out food, and talking and laughing with them.  I have a lot of regulars that come through often enough for me to recognize them, and to count many of them as very good friends.  However, that day, a new couple came to the window.  He was driving, and she was laying down in the passenger seat as best she could.  As I took his money, I noticed she had a hospital wristband on her arm, and when I handed their food back out to them, I mentioned it and told them I would be praying for her the rest of the day….something I do when I have time and God leads me to it.  I also told them they had a “bag of deliciousness” and to have a good rest of their day.  I did pray the rest of that day, and then it faded from my memory.

A few weeks later, Mom and I were eating at our local Applebee’s, and had a very friendly and wonderful waitress.  When she came back with our check, I was laughing with her and she stopped in her tracks and said, “I know you!  You’re my “bag of deliciousness” woman!”  I nodded yes, because I say that to a lot of customers, and looked confused.  She said, “You noticed my hospital band!  I am had just been released because of chemo complications, and felt horrible, but you noticed!”  She went on to explain that she is fighting cancer for the FOURTH time, takes chemo most mornings, and comes into work in the afternoons.  She went on to tell me again how much she appreciated that moment, and that every time since then when her husband brings her CFA, he says, “here’s your bag of deliciousness!”  I was really overwhelmed with her gratitude…and more overwhelmed that the Lord had taken a single moment out of both our days to show His love. She and I became FB friends after that, sharing about our lives and other stuff, and Mom and I continued eating at Applebee’s occasionally and always asking to be seated in her section.  It was a great thing that God had started.

AND YET!  He was not through!  Fast forward to last week’s hurricane, and my yard being a total disaster afterward.  We have many pine trees, and there were about a million pine cones and small limbs, and several HUGE limbs, all over our yard.  The heat and humidity also quickly cranked back up, and we were facing an impossible task in getting it cleaned up with just my hubby and myself, and my Mom.  I posted on FB about our need for help, and because it was Labor Day weekend I had very few offers.  UNTIL.  My new friend saw the post, and within minutes had her husband committed to the task!  He in turn brought their teenage son with him, and with the help of one other person, our yard was returned to beautiful condition after about 7 hours of work between them.  What a blessing that the very people God had brought to me a few months ago to encourage and uplift, now became the very same to us!  He is always the author of something more than what we see!

AND YET STILL!  The story is not finished.  Angel and I (isn’t that an appropriate name?) have discovered a joint love of crocheting and blanket making, and now we have an opportunity to join in ministry together with our talents!  She uses her crocheting to keep her from “going insane” when she’s housebound with chemo reactions, etc, and I have always loved it as a form of “therapy” because I can get lost in it, zone out the present, and allow my mind to roam and think about other, deeper issues while doing it.

The point of all this?  God, who is in charge of all our days, and minutes, and the very breaths that we take, is not a God limited to what WE see or what WE think.  He is always, always at work in greater, wider, deeper, and far more lasting ways than we will ever know.  I am SO eternally grateful that He spoke to me that morning, and that I listened, and that now He is going to use two very ordinary, struggling, in love with Him people to touch the lives of others through a brand new ministry opportunity!  Doesn’t it make you wonder what ELSE He’s up to?  Let this encourage you then…and make sure you don’t miss the next time He prompts you to have “a moment” for Him!

I had a friend share about a recent experience she and her fiance had at a Japenese restaurant.  They were sitting at a group table and since they were by themselves, they struck up a conversation with another couple sitting there.  After introducing themselves and taking about the wedding, the other woman asked her if they had any children.  My friend said no, and then the other woman asked if they were living together.  No, again.  This woman then exclaimed to my friend, “you guys are so old-fashioned, aren’t you! My friend graciously agreed and steered the conversation elsewhere.  She shared later that she was proud…grateful, really…to be old-fashioned!

I am too.  But let me explain.  It’s amazing to me how words can be so overused that they become almost meaningless, and old-fashioned is one of them.  In today’s world, it is a very negative term that means (1) uneducated opinion,(2) belief in outdated ideas or (3) one hopelessly lost in time and not with the modern culture.  However….it is a VERY positive word in the spiritual world, specifically in Christianity.  I am proud to say that I am so old-fashioned that I was, in the words of Scripture, formed many years ago:”You formed my inward parts, You covered me in my mother’s womb, I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”  (Psalm 139:13).  If you look up the word “fashioned” in the dictionary, one of the definitions uses the word “formed”.  So in other words, I was literally and physically fashioned 55 years ago.

AND YET!  Jeremiah 1:5 makes me even more OLD-fashioned!  “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…..”  Wow.  The world just THINKS they know what this word means!  What a blessing it is to know that God thought about me before I was formed, and then He fashioned me Himself into exactly the person He wanted me to be.   But it gets even better!  The very same God who created us has existed since before time began..and will continue to exist throughout all eternity.  He was NOT formed or fashioned by anyone, and without His creative power neither the Earth or anything in it or around it would be here.  So how does that tie in to our overused word?

Like this:  Because He has always existed, He is the supreme Authority for our world and our lives.  Period.  His laws and His plans for how we live and the harmony that brings to our lives as we are obedient to HIM is the only true way to live.  Which makes a true follower of God today a laughable, helpless, backwoods person, who is stuck in ancient times and culture, and who needs to be conformed to modern rules and thinking.  In other words, it makes us “old-fashioned”.  And dumb.  And useless for the future of newer, better, higher thinking and doing.  And SO out of harmony with the “movers and shakers” of today, that we will never be able to prosper.

You know what?  I am not worried about any of that.  Like my friend at the restaurant, I am content to live by the guidelines that a timeless God has set up for me, rather than try to adapt to every new thought that comes along.  I feel no pressure to watch every new whim of culture take effect, and rush out to join it.  There is deep peace and freedom in knowing that I live for the One that brought everything into being, and that HIS ways are the best.  May HE receive all the glory as all of His followers continue to do the same along with me!

I was struggling in one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.  I was snorkeling in the water of Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, and I could not seem to get the hang of it.  There was my major claustrophobia, and the uneasy feeling of having all kinds of fish (although gorgeous ones!) bumping into my legs.  And the object of my struggle at that moment was a medium sized coral reef that I couldn’t seem to maneuver around.  I saw Robert not too far from me with my stepson, and I called over to him to swim over and help me.  He told me “you can do it, you’re ok” and then I panicked again and called him again!  He then stopped what he was doing, and said, “Beth!  Stand up!!  You don’t have to swim around it, you can just WALK around it…you’re only in 3 feet of water!”  And you know what?  He was right!  Once I understood that I wasn’t stranded, I stood up, and realized I had WAY overestimated how deep the water was!  My view underneath the water, with my snorkeling gear on and looking around, was that I was in big trouble.  But guess what?  Once I stood up, and looked from the top down, it was a piece of cake!

I was thinking about this story the other morning, and I found myself laughing again, but also immediately reassured.  Sometimes living in a world where it really does seem that everything is wrong…murder, divorce, adultery, hate, break-ins and stealing, can skew the perspective of even the most positive of us.  It’s just not hard at times to think how awful it is, and to be scared of even more to come.  And while that’s true, that we are going downhill as a society, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, that’s the view from UNDERNEATH, not from the top.  Especially during this election season, it seems many people are proclaiming doom and gloom if Trump wins, and/or doom and gloom if Clinton wins, and some are even too discouraged to even consider voting.

AND YET!  God doesn’t want us to only look at our problems from OUR perspective!  When we are “underneath” or even “beside” a problem (like the water and the coral reef) we do not see an accurate picture.  My idea of getting away from the reef and to safety involved swimming, which was totally ridiculous since I could just stand up and walk there!  I was about to really embarrass myself by swimming and gasping and being afraid when I didn’t have to.  And the big bad reef was not nearly as intimidating when I found out it was only about 4 feet long and maybe a foot high.  Robert, however, who can never be compared with God, still had the “over” perspective..that the water was fine, the troubles easy to conquer, and the knowledge that I was going to be fine.

But I am not alone in this!  And neither are you.  The disciples even actually had Jesus ON THE BOAT with them, and still panicked at the storm that came up and the waves that appeared to be about to take them down.  They knew the Creator, and they knew His power, but they still were shaken with fear. In Matthew 8:25, they even called out to Him (much like I called out to Robert) “Lord, save us!  We are perishing!”  I can relate to that so well.  And just as Robert was saying, “just STAND up!”  Jesus asked His disciples, “Why are you fearful, oh ye of little faith?”  Because Jesus had the ultimate perspective..that all was really not lost…and He had the solution….”Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm”.

So, as we go through the rest of this election season, and times of uncertainty and unrest in our world, let’s make sure which picture we are seeing…ours, or God’s….and then act accordingly.  After all, sometimes you just have to STAND UP, and WALK, not panic!