Squawking Ravens

It was one of those perfect sunrises. Gentle waves whispering to the sandy beach, puffy clouds clinging to the blue turning pink horizon. Tiny orange and yellow fingers rising silently above the clouds reaching upward in hopes of the sunburst yet to come. A couple of anchored sailboats rocked to slow rhythms in the distance but not a soul in sight to spoil the beauty of my perfect sunrise and communion with the Creator of this masterpiece. With my eyes and heart fixed on the eastern spectacle, a peace overflowed what seemed to be the whole world. Not living at the coast, an ocean sunrise is a rare joy for me and I breathed in every atom of the whole scene. .....And then.... SQUAWK! SQUAWK! On the pier light above me sat an ugly raven. "Shew!" I cried, waving my arms. Not sure why God created these things to interrupt His beauty. "Shew!!" I cried and waved my arms again, this time dropping my open Bible. By now I had decided that Satan was on the prowl and was in the form of a raven. A big, ugly, bill-to-big-for-his-head raven. Why wouldn't he fly away? I was determined now - the Mama bear in me took over and this creature was going to leave this scene if I had to climb that pole and knock him off. "Shew!" I continued to cry to no avail. Then I noticed it. The sun had risen, even chased away all the puffy, foggy wispy clouds and was continuing its journey. And the point of my joy - watching for the burst of sun onto the blue ocean - had been missed. But it was not the raven who had spoiled the sunrise. It was me. My thoughts, my focus, my attention had been on "my" experience and not the rising of the sun. How often, how very often, God has provided beauty and joy and peace and I have blamed the ravens for missing His blessings. How many times have I lost sight of THE light because I've been so focused on the world's distractions, my own perfectionist expectations of what it "will be"? I focus on the squawks of the world instead of the glow of God's presence and miss His glorious gifts right in front of me. Proverbs 4:25 "Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you." PRAYER: Fix my eyes on Your Glory, O Savior, and flood my soul with the Light of Your Presence. Keep my gaze straight, and deafen my heart to the distractions of this world, knowing that even the "ravens" are in Your control and for Your purpose. Remind me to rejoice always in Your creation, Your beauty and Your blessings all around me. Amen.

Sorrow and Joy. Me too.

Ruth and Naomi. What a paradox, what a story. Recently our Pastor preached from Ruth 1 with perspectives and insights that shook me. A father leading his family away from the promised land because things got hard. 2020 was hard. Then so was 2021. In fact, other years have been hard, some much harder for us personally. How easy to turn away from God's promises and look for worldly solutions when times are hard. Been there, done that. Naomi calulated her self-worth based on her role as a wife, mother to her children, instead of the exquisite value of God's creation as part of HIS special plan for her. When her expectations of what "should be", what she was worth in her own eyes, fell apart, she was filled with bitterness. "Naomi" - bitter. How very much of my life I've done the same. Bitter - me too. Orpah listened to logic and turned back to see if she could find a better solution. This is what the world, relatives, your own heart and mind tell us is the "right" thing to do. Yep, me too. Only Ruth stuck it out and claimed "my God" before she even knew if she would die of hunger and how severe she might be persecuted in a community that she knew would hate her. The heartache of poverty, losing loved ones, moving from home, ring as only distant truths in the depths of sorrow in my soul so I cannot fully understand the hardness of her decision but only know a shadow of it. The joy of knowing that the Lord is in control, has an eternal plan and remains sovereign even in sorrow... I also know only as shadows not having to personally endure such deep sorrow of loss. But still her faith in the midst of severe unknown trials while grieving the loss of a spouse and dire famine yet choosing to remain faithful to rely on, trust in God, those are mountains and valleys that I can see through Ruth's eyes, or in my sisters who have - or right now are - enduring pain of the deepest kind. These circumstances are creating severe sorrow, but also I see their joy in the LORD multiplied through that sorrow. Ruth is mirrored in each of us. And as family, we share these sorrows and these joys. Me too. If we let the Lord water our sorrow with HIS love and words, it will blossom into joy. And we will be part of HIS story - like Ruth - whose hard decisions, love of her family, willingness to trust the Lord - was blessed as one who was an ancestor of the King of Kings Himself! How good the Lord is to take our small lives and use them for HIS eternal, unending glory. Today - right now - let every decision I make be in trust of Your faithfullness like Ruth - let me too.