All By Myself

A few days ago my wife took the kids on a short visit to see her cousin. Things haven't been normal since.

What I mean by that is that there is a noticeable difference when my family isn't around. The normal hustle and bustle of our house has ceased as I hang with our dog, not the best conversationalist.

It goes beyond that though. Somethings missing. I can feel it.

I am by myself.

I don' like it!

I crave relationship...the relationship with my family. I want to spend time with them and when we aren't together I feel off...like my world is not in sync.

I feel the same way when my relationship with God isn't where it should be. His Word says He will never leave us or forsake us.

Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

Joshua 1:5 - No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.

1 Kings 8:57 - May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us,

1 Chronicles 28:20 -And David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God-my God-will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

I am never truly alone...yet even though He doesn't leave us...If I don't spend time with Him, in His presence, communicating...then just like I feel with my wife being gone...I will notice something is off.

It's not a fun feeling. When I am not firing on all cylinders in my relationship with God I notice it...and it feels miserable.

Thankfully my wife is coming home soon....and one day I will go home to be with the Father...I look forward to both!

Facebook and Myspace and Twitter - Oh My!

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!" (Psalms 37:7)

Over the last 30 years our society has become more advanced, more technologically savvy, than any generation in history. Every year sees an increase in time saving devices. So why are we so busy?

Cell phones, Email, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and laptops mean that we never have to be out of touch for one moment of our day. Yet with all the ability to communicate we know each other, truly know each other, less than ever. Not to mention the distractions these devices bring us in our daily life. On the job, in the car, at the movies, our cellphones have become extensions of our hands as we text every minute detail of our existence to people around the world.

Can we not be still one minute? One hour? One day?

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psalms 46:10)

If God truly comes in a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12) than we are in danger of missing Him due to all the hustle and bustle around us. Don't me wrong. I love and USE tech myself. Yet I realize I spend more time teching out with others than chilling out with God!

SO I want to challenge you. Take a day of rest. Set aside 1 day and leave the technology alone. Stay off the cell phone, the computer, etc and re-connect with God. Spend time LISTENING for Him. I am going to give Sundays a try.

Anyone up for the challenge?

The Hummingbird Kid

It was a cool night in mid-May. My wife and I had just returned from the mission field just 2 weeks earlier. I had gone to a friend’s house for a meeting with other members of my church. We were there to discuss how we would follow up on recent converts from a local Billy Graham Evangelistic Association event. I never expected my friend’s daughter to remind me about our relationship with God.

As we sat in the kitchen before the meeting, drinking coffee and talking, I saw the young girl don a pair of gloves, hat and sweater and slip out onto the porch. She walked up to a hummingbird feeder, which was located on a deck off of the kitchen. What I saw after that left me amazed. I have loved hummingbirds since I was a child. I always thought they were so interesting and they remind me of the beauty of God’s creation. Maybe this is why the scene impacted me so much.

She reached the feeder and put a hand on either side of it. She then became completely still as a half dozen hummingbirds immediately flew up around her, with one getting mere inches from her face. They rested on her hand and were trying to get nectar from the buttons of her sweater. She did not blink or fidget as they buzzed around her head.

Her mother told us how the birds tend to walk up and down her hand when she doesn’t wear gloves. She then said how her daughter has mentioned that when she closes her eyes and listens that she can tell the difference between the male and females hummingbirds by their sound. Not by sight but by sound!

I was amazed. I went home that evening and told my wife and her parents, who we were staying with at the time, what I had seen. I have never seen this kind of interaction before between hummingbirds and people. As I was falling to sleep that night I was reflecting on the beauty of God’s creation and then it hit me. I saw a parallel between my friend’s daughter listening to the hummingbirds and a Christian listening for the Lord’s voice. I was reminded of 1 kings 19:11 –13, which talks about the Lord coming in a gentle whisper. Reflecting on this scripture I thought about how this little girl remained so still at the feeder and just listened to the sounds of the hummingbirds. This is exactly what we, as Christians, should be doing in our quiet times with God. Instead of coming to Him with a list of requests and saying amen, we need to take the time to be silent and listen to His voice. The Bible says we will know His voice. (John 10:4) We can only know it if we take time to listen.

I am glad I saw the “hummingbird kid” that day. God used her to teach me more about His character. I don’t know if hummingbirds will always fascinate her as she grows up but I am glad they did on that day. We accomplished a lot at this meeting but I think God taught me a whole lot more about Himself as well