Filled or Empty Series #2:Filled With Plenty, Filled with Famine

Empty

#2

    Today I am going to bring attention to a very dysfunctional family.  Most families are dysfunctional, some more than others.  Having an imperfect family does not disqualify a person from being valuable to God and capable of achieving great accomplishments.

   Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, is the father in this dysfunctional family.  He had twelve sons by four different women.  These twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.  After a heart wrenching competition of who can give the husband the most sons, the favorite wife, Rachel, finally gives Jacob two favored sons, Joseph and Benjamin.  Jealousy gets way out of hand and favored brother Joseph is sold into slavery by revengeful uncaring brothers.  Israel is allowed to believe that Joseph had died.  

   The days ahead are hard difficult days for Joseph, but God is with him.  We find him now in prison after being falsely accused of attacking his boss’s wife. While he was there, it was discovered among the prisoners that Joseph had the ability to interpret dreams.  He'd had this ability from childhood.  It got him in trouble with his jealous brothers.  They really didn't like his cocky prediction that someday they would bow down to him.

   In Genesis 41 we learn that the Pharaoh was troubled.  He had dreamed a dream that disturbed him. He learned that a man named Joseph in the prison could interpret dreams, so Joseph was cleaned up and brought to him. 

     It turned out that the Pharaoh's confusing dream about cows and corn was a prediction the years to come. There would be seven full years and seven empty years.  It starts to make sense why God allowed Joseph to be positioned where he was with all the ups and downs it took to get him in position.  We like the ups of life but not the downs, but maybe those downs are serving a purpose to position us.  Joseph was put in charge and he was able to store grain from the seven years of plenty so there would be food in the seven years of drought.

   I like the song the orphans sing in the movie Annie.  “It’s a hard knock life for us…Empty belly life…rotten smelly life.” Unfortunately there are children with empty bellies, empty futures. Maybe God has positioned you to bring relief to someone’s emptiness. Just a thought.

   The best part of this story is yet to come.  The drought and famine spread over a large area and people were forced to go to Egypt to buy grain.  Joseph’s brothers came looking for food unaware of who was in charge of food rations.  Another kind of emptiness was about to be filled.  Joseph had a very lonely empty home, empty of family.  God orchestrated a wonderful blessed reunion. Joseph forgave his brothers.  God cares about restoring relationships.  He went to great lengths to restore relationship with us. Forgiveness is powerful and reconciliation is sweet.  Blessings to you.

Filled or Empty Series #1: Empty Water Bottle

Empty

#1 in series

  It is not a good thing to have an empty gas tank on a remote road, or an empty pantry three days before payday. It is a nice thing to have an empty trash can under the kitchen sink and empty dirty clothes baskets in the laundry room. An empty bank account, that's not good. An empty "bills to be paid" basket, that's very good. (If you haven't thrown them all away that is.) 

  An empty tummy, not good.  An empty schedule, well that can be refreshing.  Empty headed, that's never a good thing.  I haven't decided yet if I want my bug traps empty or full.  Maybe empty means the bugs are somewhere else lurking and ready to attack, and maybe full means I have too many bugs to keep under control. Last week I saw a spider in the basement the size of a mouse.  It was a "get the gun and shoot it" variety.  And then, if you missed, it became the "run like crazy" variety.  I don't even want to think about that spider, so like Scarlet O'hare I will worry about such things another day.  Anyway, sometimes emptiness is good and sometimes emptiness is not so good. I know one thing, emptiness of spirit is never good. And I know, point # 1: God cares about emptiness.

Genesis 1:2 says:  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.NIV

   God did something miraculous and wonderful about this emptiness.  God said, "Let there be light" and there was light.  God said, "Let there be a firmament.  Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear. Let the earth bring forth plants. Let there be stars and a moon shining.  Let there be fish and birds. Let there be living creatures."

   

   And then finally God said, Let Us (notice that God refers to Himself in a plural form) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.  Then verse 28 says:  Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over it."

Voila; the emptiness was filled. Well, let me tell you, it didn't take long untill the earth was like my worrisome bug traps. God was asking Himself, "Is the earth being filled a good thing or a bad thing?"  Five chapters later, Genesis 6:11 we read: The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. The earth went from being filled with God's wonderful creation to being filled with violence. 

   Wow, five chapters, that didn't take long.  Well actually it was a matter of about one thousand six hundred and fifty six years, give or take a few years.  We can know this because God very wisely documented accurate linage records.  We don't know exact to the day because it is not documented in months and days, just years.  Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and begat Seth.  Seth lived one hundred and five years and begat Enosh.  Etc, etc.  Adam could have been 130 years and 4 months.  Seth could have been 105 years and 6 months. You get the picture.  Anyway, 1656 years is a very close estimate of time from Adam to the flood. I would say that demonstrates God's patience. 

   Point # two, God acts in response to emptiness and fullness.  Now instead of an "emptiness" problem there was a "filled" problem. The earth was filled with corruption and violence. Let's see what God did.  Back to Genesis 6 verses 12-13 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.  So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. NIV

   God could have hit a rewind button and gone back to total emptiness, but He did not.  He kept alive His creation even a tiny portion of His creation that had been made in His image. That is worth noting.

  Now, let's bring this in a little closer, like with a microscope.  In Genesis 16 we read about a woman in a sad predicament.  The humans in the story tried to do things their own way instead of trusting God and it didn't pan out too well.  It caused a lot of bad feelings for everyone.  This story is continued in Genesis chapter 21. At this point we find the woman and her son in the desert with an empty water skin waiting to die. verse 19 says: Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.  So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.NIV

   God always sees our areas of emptiness and need.  He always knows when we sit in despair with empty water skins.  Sometimes God has to do for us what He did for this woman, He opened her eyes and showed her the well. What a beautiful picture this is. We are very much like this woman.  We need our eyes opened to see the well of living water that quenches the thirst of our souls.

   John 4:14 says: but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water  I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." NIV 

  God cares about every kind of emptiness we endure. Empty arms, empty places at the table, empty wallets, but  I believe His highest priority is to take care of our spiritual emptiness. God wants to do something miraculous and wonderful about our emptiness.  He wants to say, "Let there be light." The Holy Spirit will open our spiritual eyes so we can see the water that God provides that will quench the thirst for forgiveness and love and acceptance.  Open our eyes Lord.

Mama’s Christmas Pin

     I remember a certain Christmas when I was a child. I’m not sure just how old I was, maybe six or seven. The holiday was fast approaching and gift giving was on my mind. My older brother and I had trudged through the snow down the big hill to the Five and Dime Store in the small Northern Michigan town I grew up in. I can by imagination visualize the scene from that day. I’m sure I had soggy hand knitted mittens hanging from my pockets, stringy blond hair poking out from under a sock hat and rubber boots with metal latches on my cold feet. I recall that I had to stand on my tip toes to see into the big display at the front of the store full of various trinkets marked down to entice thrifty Christmas shoppers looking for stocking stuffers.

     I sorted through many pieces of cheap costume jewelry hunting for the perfect gift for Mama. I wanted the best one. With about fifty cents to spend it narrowed down the choices. But then after much sorting, there it was. It was so beautiful. I had found it, the best one. How shall I describe it? It was an oval shaped pin that was about an inch by an inch and a half with white plastic petals spraying out from the center. At the end of each petal was a small pink glass jewel. On top of that layer was an inner row of smaller delicate petals (also plastic) and then in the very center was a larger pink jewel surrounded by five more pink jewels all encased in plastic settings. To anyone with any fashion sense at all this pin would probably be described in one word, “cheesy”. But to me it was an absolute treasure and my fifty cents would buy it. It may have even been a toy meant for playing dress up I’m not sure.

     I purchased the pin took it home and wrapped it and couldn’t wait for Mama to open it. Christmas morning came and sure enough Mama oohed and ahhhed over the pin. She liked it as much as I did. But that’s not all she did. She wore it. She wore it often. She even wore it out, to work and to church. She wore it proudly as though the stones were diamonds set in gold instead of glass set in plastic.

     After she passed away the pin came back to me. I'm holding it now in my hand. It is still beautiful to me but for different reasons. To treasure the pin in the way that she did was to treasure me.

     We have a heavenly Father who treasures us. Psalms 29:2 says: Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord In the beauty of holiness. My gifts of worship are much like the plastic and glass pin. I have no holiness on my own. But long ago one morning in Bethlehem Town a Savior was born who would carry all my imperfections, all my sin, all my plastic and glass to an old rugged cross and in trade would give to me a robe of righteousness that would turn my plastic and glass worship into the beauty of holiness. God now (because of Jesus Christ) accepts my humble gift of worship as though it were a treasure.




Magnolia Gardens, one of my favorite places.

 

God Hears Our Prayers

2 Chronicles Chapter 6

   A few days ago I was reading in 2 Chronicles and noticed something that warmed my heart. Solomon had finished building the temple and had a dedication celebration for it. He prayed a prayer of dedication to the Lord asking that prayers spoken in this temple be heard. He said: “Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You: that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplication of Your servant of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.

   Solomon then goes on bringing up different possibilities, If anyone sins against his neighbor, then hear…if your people are defeated before an enemy, then hear…when the heavens are shut up, then hear…when there is famine, then hear, and on and on asking God to hear in all these instances, then he says, “Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ear be attentive to the prayer made in this place.

   Then, reading on into chapter 7 God confirms His acceptance of the temple by way of fire coming down from heaven and consuming the offerings and sacrifices. It says that the glory of the Lord filled the temple. It must have been an overwhelmingly wonderful thing to witness. After this the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and said this to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

   These are verses that are quite familiar.  They are verses that we think about often as we think about the condition of our country, but it is what the Lord said next that warmed my heart. He then said, “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.

   Solomon prayed for God’s eyes to be open and His ears attentive. God answered him specifically My eyes will be open and My ears attentive.

   My heart is warmed because I know that God hears the details of my prayers just as he heard Solomon's prayer. This week I have been picking peaches from my two little peach trees. They are loaded with scrumptious sweet peaches. I’ve been canning a few, freezing a few, and sharing a lot.

   There is a story behind these peach trees that reminds me that just like Solomon’s prayer, God hears my prayers also. The first year I planted them they were just large twigs sticking out of the ground with a few branches. I babied them and worried over them like a mother hen.

    It was my husband Vic’s job to weed eat around the house and trees. In the past many of my trees have suffered and died at the hands of a not very careful weed eater. Sure enough, one day there it was... a huge gash from the weed eater line. I just knew that my little tree was going to die like other trees that had suffered from the same fate. Anger doesn’t adequately describe what I was feeling. It was a bit beyond anger. I know Vic felt bad, but I was still angry. I sat down by the trees and prayed. I said something like this, “Lord, I don’t want to be this angry at Vic, but I am. Would you please heal my tree so that I won’t be angry at him?” I then let go of the anger, forgave Vic and trusted that God would take care of my tree. God took very good care of my tree. This is the first year to harvest peaches from my two trees. Both trees have an equal bountiful supply of luscious fruit.

   God’s eyes and ears are open to the concerns of His children. I love being His child. If you are not His child, you can be.  Watching over and healing my tree was a small thing for God.  He also watches over me, my family, my church family, my friends, I have seen His hand of healing in many ways.  I know He hears my prayers.

Bought With A Price

First Corinthians 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Sometimes as we struggle along through life and wade through the waters of difficult challenges, and complicated relationships, there can be times that we feel that others don’t value us as they should or as much as we would like for them to. In our relationship with God, we need never be concerned that we don’t have value. We were bought with a very high price.

I have a possession that is very special to me. It is my Chickering grand piano. It is well over 100 years old, and it is a very beautiful instrument. I have spent hours and hours pouring my heart out through the piano keys. Nearly every day I spend time on that old bench communing with God.

A local man who is an expert in restoring old pianos found it for me and did the restoration. I had to wait several years for the whole process to be completed. I don’t remember exactly what I paid for the instrument and restoration, but it has been worth every penny. I love that piano. It has value to me. It was bought with a price.

It is mind boggling to think that I mattered enough, that I had value enough to God that He would allow his Son to suffer a horrible death to redeem my soul. I must have much value, you must have much value. God must love us dearly and at a level beyond our comprehension. We should never act like we own ourselves. God paid a price for us.

Getting back to my piano, because it has much value to me, I have it tuned when it gets out of tune, I wipe the dust off, and clean the ivory keys.

I think God looks at His valued ones and finds the areas that need to be tuned up, the places that have dust that needs to be wiped off, and all of the keys that need to be polished. We are valuable to Him, We were bought with a price. He wants our lives to make beautiful music. He can make it happen.

Immeasurably More

Immeasurably More

My all time favorite TV ad is the one where the little boy makes his way onto the stage and up to the grand piano and begins to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Quietly behind him approaches the music master and joins him making his childish effort sound professional. The parents sitting in the audience morph from humiliation to pride.

Something in me swells every time I see that video clip stressing the importance of encouragement. I think I see much more in that tiny one minute story. That little boy is all of us. That little boy is me and you. I think about my meager efforts to accomplish some good thing and I picture in my mind my Heavenly Father approaching quietly from behind and turning my elementary efforts into blessings. My wonderful God is like that. Maybe that is why I am so drawn to the ad.

Ephesians 3:30 says, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!

I know that the purpose of the ad is to encourage people to be like the musician, willing to come alongside a child with encouragement and understanding and patience. I didn’t miss that. It just seemed to speak louder to me that at times, I am the child. I am in need of something bigger than myself. What a comfort to think of God’s big, powerful arms reaching around me turning my efforts into something worthwhile. It reminds me of when He turned water into wine.

Water Into Wine

Every week she made her way to the rest home on the hill,

And played the old piano, their lonely hours to fill.

She hit wrong notes, and sang off key, but no one seemed to mind.

They recognized the gospel tunes and often you would find,

Some would clap their hands, or hum, and some might sing a line.

Some would wipe a tear as Jesus turned this water into wine.

Jesus changes water into wine,

He can make the simple into fine.

You may feel you haven’t much,

but it becomes a treasure at his touch,

Yes, Jesus changes water into wine.

Nervously with trembling hand taking guitar from its case,

He began to strum the chords, and sing Amazing Grace.

His wife and little boy joined in as he sang and played.

A first time gift of love was at the throne then laid.

You could hear Amen! Amen! For all had thought it fine.

And all were blessed to hear as Jesus turned this water into wine.

Jesus changes water into wine,

He can make the simple into fine.

You may feel you haven’t much,

but it becomes a treasure at his touch,

Yes, Jesus changes water into wine.

Each week he sat and waited in his wheelchair at the gate,

For his Sunday morning ride, never was he late.

Neighbors watched and wondered, where does he go each week?

Must be to church, buy why, oh why? They’d wonder as they’d peek.

What has he to give thanks for, what can he do confined?

But his neighbors did not know the Lord was turning water into wine.

Jesus changes water into wine,

He can make the simple into fine.

You may feel you haven’t much,

but it becomes a treasure at his touch,

Yes, Jesus changes water into wine.