Pure Gold

My heart ached this past week as I read a colleague's latest Care Page. In his update he shared a worry that his six year old son's cancer may have returned. His son has battled and conquered a years long cycle of cancer and remission, cancer and remission. Looming before them is the prospect of yet another round of chemotherapy. Too much pain for a precious child. So much heart wrenching grief for parents and siblings.

We look to the right and see sickness. We look to the left and see pain. We look straight ahead and see broken relationships. Hardship seems to lurk around every corner. Yet somehow, God is always at work, strengthening those who endure these trials in amazing, miraculous ways. We watch close friends persevere through serious illness. We witness the rock solid strength God provides following a husband's death.

My devotions this past week brought me to these verses in I Peter, chapter One, here from the Message:

"What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven - and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all - life healed and whole.

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put into the fire comes out of it proved pure, genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory."

My simple mind would never compare suffering to gold. But there it is. Written down in black and white. In God's Word. The simple truth of this Scripture paints a beautiful picture of suffering. Out of curiosity, I needed to know more, so naturally I researched gold's refining process. Here's what I learned.

Refining gold by flame is one of the earliest known methods, used back in Bible times. A craftsman would sit near an intense fire and tend to the molten gold, stirring and skimming off the impurities that rose to the top. Think of God as the craftsman, the fire as sufferings and trials, and the gold as our spiritual selves. Here's where the beautiful picture part comes in. If we realize that God is right there, sitting alongside the intense fire, carefully skimming the impurities from our molten gold, we might begin to understand the importance of trials in our lives. Follow along a little further.

We have to be careful not to fall for Pyrite, or Fool's Gold. Fool's Gold looks so much like real gold that it's easy to be duped. But there is a simple test to tell the difference between the two. Take a hammer to Pyrite and it shatters. Take a hammer to pure gold and it flattens or expands. So there you have it! Simply stated; if we trust only in ourselves and not in God, life shatters under the pressure of its trials and sufferings. But a life lived in proved faith only flattens or expands under the pounding pressure of sickness, devastation and loss.

You may be experiencing the hammering of life's circumstances right now. You may feel you've been handed the short stick. But know this: you will not shatter. You will not break. YOU are the real deal.

Intense heat will be painful. Refining will be necessary. Proved gold is priceless.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. Turkey Day. Food fest. November 22, 2012. The day before Black Friday. A day off from work. Just plain Thursday. Whatever you choose to call it, we celebrate a national holiday this week that causes us to reflect on thankfulness.

For a couple of years in a row, I kept a Thanksgiving journal. Paging through those journals was fun because I got a chance to see what I was thankful for in 2008 and 2009. Interestingly enough, I am thankful for many of those same things today. I hope you don't mind if I share a few of my journal entries with you.

11/5/08: 1- A GREAT God! 2-Cookie Dough 3- Reliable transportation

11/11/08: 1- Life! 2-Natalie's life!! Thanks be to God for sparing her life after carbon monoxide poisoning! 3-Carbon monoxide detectors.

11/21/08: 1-Morning hugs 2-The Bible 3-Hope basketball

11/23/09: "I am thankful for a warm November! 50s and sunny lots of days is a treat I don't take for granted."  Hmmmm sounds familiar this year!

11/24/09: "Oh, I'm so thankful for those good ole' thrift shops. Bibles for Mexico was great! Spending two hours nosing through clothes and 'junk' is a blast! Now I can make a Christmas trinket for all my Business Services friends for cheap. If that's not grand, I don't know what is. :)"

12/26/09: "I am thankful for JPs and coffee! What a great place to go with Randy. We can be together, people-watch, and stroll downtown together. It's one of my favorite things to do!"

As you can see, it doesn't take much to amuse me. I always want to be thankful and aware of the simple things in life. I want to cherish the most random things in life and never take them for granted. Thanksgiving helps me remember all the things, big and small, that make my life wonderful. From cookie dough to the Bible, God has given me incredible blessings.

During the rest of this month, I encourage you to reflect on those things for which you are thankful.  If you feel so moved, please share your thoughts and comments.

Psalm 136: 1-3:
"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His love endures forever."

Praise God for his forever love. Thanks be to God!

Gadgets, electrodes and cameras

I snore. I also have impressive tonsils. I learned the first to be true from my husband and the second from my otolaryngologist. Because I’d like to have a rested, happy hubby, and because I’d also like to be healthy, we decided it best for me to seek out a solution. The first step toward a solution is an appointment at the sleep clinic. This is not a “visit” to the sleep clinic. This is not a few hour nap at the sleep clinic. This is an ENTIRE night at the sleep clinic. My night occurred on Thursday of this week.

 I arrived at the clinic with a positive attitude...an “I can sleep anywhere” attitude. Well, here's how the night went. Arrived 8:30. Filled paperwork and then had about 45 minutes of electrode attachment. Legs. Chest. Head. Then a gadget was inserted into my nose with a stiff attachment that hung over my mouth. A microphone attached to my throat. After this procedure, the technician disappeared to test out the devices. Over the intercom he gave me commands to follow. “Close your eyes for 30 seconds.” “Blink five times.” “Look left. Look right. Look up. Look down.” Wiggle your right leg. Now your left.” Throughout the night, I was told I would be monitored. Cameras were focused on the bed to record my movements. The microphone recorded my every noise. The electrodes recorded my eye movement and brain activity. Even my pulse and breathing were monitored. If I needed anything during the night, I only had to speak and the technician would hear and accommodate my request.

When I went to the bathroom before bedtime, I looked like a person on life support! Anyway, I decided I was tired at 10:30, so the technician plugged me in and turned the lights out. Amazingly, it took only about 15 minutes to fall sleep. And then...ZINGA...at 11:45 I woke up like a lightning bolt had jolted me awake. And so it was for 3 hours. Wide awake! Mr. Sandman was in my eyes, but could I find a way to fall back asleep? Not a chance. When I did finally fall asleep somewhere near 3 a.m. it felt like a really light sleep.

During that entire three hours I did not ask for assistance. I did not speak out other than to mutter an expletive in frustration at about 2:30 a.m. Even though I knew I was in good hands, with someone watching over me for the duration, I chose to work it out on my own. Those were three mighty long hours. Looking back, I wonder how things might have gone if I’d only asked for help. Had I asked for lights, I might have been able to get sleepy by reading. Had I asked for the tv, maybe I would have fallen asleep to a boring program. Did I ask the expert who could have offered assistance? No. I had to do it my way. And so it was that I chose to suffer alone, in silence.

You and I share a great technician. Sometimes it’s hard for us to remember that we  have someone who is totally plugged into our lives. Someone who knows about our movements and our brain activities. Someone who cares about our struggles and our sufferings. Someone who is waiting for us to whisper his name and ask for assistance. He does not want us to suffer alone. In fact, God waits for us to seek him out. He tells us if we seek him, we will find him. In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus says, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

In one of the most beautiful Psalms, David tells of God’s constant presence, everywhere! I encourage you to read the whole of Psalm 139, but I’ve shared selected verses below.

1 O Lord, you have searched me
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Comfort. Assistance. Love. All it takes is a whisper. He is waiting.

Who was voted in?

Yesterday I worked the General Election. I spent fifteen plus hours working at our township's Precinct #1. Call me twisted, but I thoroughly enjoy being an election worker! There's something truly patriotic about learning the intricacies of the voting process and following the strict rules set in place before, during and after an election.

As my fellow workers and I went through pre-opening procedures, a growing crowd gathered outside in the chilly darkness. Following the, "Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are now open" command, it was exciting to see folks pour through the doors at the early hour of 7:00 a.m. A static energy filled the air. I felt proud to be an American. The steady stream of humanity continued all day and made it apparent that voters were passionate about their candidates.

By the time I arrived home just before ten, it was apparent that a victor was ready to be announced. The media simply waited for Pacific coast polls to close before "calling" the presidential race. With the country equally divided between the candidates, I realized that a full one-half of Americans would wake to disappointment in the morning. The passion of Election Day would be followed by either celebration or disbelief.

Regardless of how you cast your vote, I'm positive you chose the candidate you felt was right to lead our country. You may have done some research. You may have sought advice from your family. You may have chatted with your friends. In the end, you selected your candidate based on his words, his actions, his convictions, his platform, or maybe even his appearance. But in spite of our best efforts, we really don't know the true state of our candidate's heart.

The opposite is true of our Elector. In case you need clarification, our Elector is God! Now I know with certainty that I am not a candidate worthy to be listed on God's ballot! My words, my actions and my thoughts do not warrant a selection on his slate. But I am blessed! You are blessed. WE are blessed. For God does not choose us based on our merit, but rather through his mercy, his grace and his love. He checks our name and records it in his Book of Life. The polls are closed and we have been chosen as God's elect!

Skeptical? Don't take my word for it. Read it here from the Scriptures:

2 Thessalonians 2:13-16

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."

1 Peter 2:9-12

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Fall back...

Tonight we change our clocks back an hour to mark the end of Daylight Savings time. I don't know about you, but I LOVE this night of the year. I appreciate the extra hour of sleep and I almost always go to bed my normal time so that I really do get the benefit from the extra hour. I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it!  ;)

You would think we have a time addiction at our house, given the number of clocks we own. We have wall clocks, a mantel clock, alarm clocks, an oven clock, a microwave clock and even a cuckoo clock. Add to that our cell phones and my handy Indiglo Timex watch and we definitely should have no problem being on time. Yet for some reason we seldom are.

Time matters in our society. Employees punch time clocks. Business men set meeting times. Athletes strive for record times. Parents set nap times for their babies, bedtimes for their toddlers, and curfew times for their teenagers. We frown on being tardy for school. We are glared at for being late to church, to weddings and for funerals.

And then comes the question of spare time. How do I, how do we, fill our spare time? Housework? T.V.? Facebook? XBox? With Friends? With Family? Alone? With God? Quiet time with God is important for seeking and understanding his will. If I fill every moment of every day with activity,  I have a good chance of missing God's voice in my life. Why would I risk losing his extraordinary presence in my seemingly very ordinary life?

The answer is simple. For the most part, I choose my plans over God's plans. My God eyes get blurry because I'm focused solely on my earthly needs and wants. I need to remind myself that he desires to meet with me every day. I just need to choose him. I simply need to leave my housework and listen to Jesus.

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV):

At the Home of Martha and Mary

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feetlistening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but only one thing is needed.^[a]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

What will you do with your time today? I choose to be a Mary. Will you join me?