That Which is Not as Though It be! 

ju

Have you ever wished you could live your life backwards and avoid all the pitfalls and regretful decisions you made?  Sadly, it isn't possible of course. 

Our kitchen patio door blinds broke and we needed to get new ones.  The problem was the patio door blinds and the other 3 kitchen windows all match, so buying one new meant buying new for all four windows.  That was okay because I really wanted to get rid of the window mini blinds and was happy to have an excuse. 
We found blinds we were happy with at Home Depot and placed the order.  We were told because they were custom blinds the waiting time would be 6-8 weeks, no rush orders.  Okay, if that's the way it was, we would just 'wait'. 

The day before we left for our vacation I got a call from Home Depot to let us know the blinds had been shipped and were in transit. 

The phone call came only a few days after the order was placed and I was rather dumbfounded!  I asked the sales person on the phone when they were sent out for delivery.  He replied that he would check and came back to me saying they had been shipped on July the 29th.  After I hung up, I thought, 'something doesn't make sense' and I checked the invoice for when we placed the order ,  July 31st.  What?  Time warp?? 

When we came back home, I called Home Depot,  curious to know what was going on.  I talked to a friendly staff member and commented on their 'efficiency' after I explained my confusion.  He laughed and said he hoped that was all it was, he would get back to me.   Yes, that was the case, for some reason, our order was filled weeks before the promised date, and the 'shipping date'  had for some reason been given in error.  

I enjoyed sharing our experience regarding the 'efficiency'  of Home Depot that they could ship blinds before they were ordered and get it right!!  

But then I thought,  isn't that what God does for us all the time?  

He says in Isaiah 46:9b,10 - "I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure!" 

This thought is repeated in Romans 4:17 that reads, "God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did !!" 

God can send out for delivery what we have not yet asked for or even before we recognize a need for it!   In Isaiah 65:24 we read , "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear!" 

Why do we 'doubt' a God as amazing as our God? He knows what we will need tomorrow, or next week, or next year, or fifty years from now, and sends it out 'beforehand'.  

In the context of the Romans verse quoted above, Paul refers to the experience of Abraham.  As far as he knew, the possibility of him having a son was beyond ever happening!  It was impossible.  Yet, God declared that the 'son' was on his way and would arrive in due time!   And so it was!  

We are inundated  today by men/women, 'self-proclaimed' prophets who believe they can 'see' the future and predict what is going to happen.  Yes, some of them get some of  it right some of the time, but God gets it right every single time!  He has not ever missed, not a single detail !  

So why do we doubt??  Why do we worry and drown in our anxious thoughts?   Why don't we believe the track-record of an infallible God and rest, knowing everything is taken care of ? 

Yes, I know...  easier said than done! 

Our grand-girls used to love to go to Castle Fun Park to play the games in the arcade.  One of the games involved hitting pins with a hammer when they popped up, but they didn't stay down.  When you hit them they went down, but popped right up again.   I often think that is how our thoughts are, we see them when they form and know they are wrong -- we hit them with our 'faith-hammer' and they go down, but rarely stay down. They pop back up again if we don't stay vigilant! 

But the more we focus our thoughts and minds on God and  study His word, the more our 'trust' in Him grows  the 'pins' of doubt lose their ability to pop up again when they are knocked down. 

We can look ahead and see nothing but cause for fear to fill our hearts  for what is happening in our world - wars and rumors of wars are a reality in our world, but God said it would happen, Jesus warned us.  So if He knew what would happen and has already prepared what we will need, we have no reason to fear !  We just need to stay hidden under His wings where we are safe, and He will provide according to what He already knows we will need .

Story out of this year's Olympics in Paris. 
High Jump  Champion Gianmaro Tamkeri  had one passion and love - high jumping.  He was dedicated, pouring himself into disciplined training, preparing for the most important race of his life!  His dream was about to unfold.  He was at the Olympics in Paris, one day away from fulfilling his dream! 

  In his words, "Tomorrow at 7:00 pm the race of my life. All for one day. Everything for the moment. A little more than 24hours to the one I wish with all my heart I will remember for the rest of my life as one of the best nights ever !!!"

But, all his dreams were about to crumble. Five hours before his race he was in agony, kidney stones.  He was vomiting blood and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he lay as the race he had spent years training for was run without him.  Everything  - the years of training, his hopes , his dreams , his future - all crumbled at his feet. 

I feel the agony, the devastation, the loss that athletes like Kamkeri must feel , when they pour everything they have into the anticipation of one moment when everything will be won or lost.
 It's like someone who invests every dollar they have into what is presented to them as 'a sure thing' and then they find out it is a Ponzi scheme and they lose every dollar..  There is no recourse, no re-do, no way to regain what they have lost, or even redeem the time that they spent on their pursuit. 

I feel so 'helpless' for them because they must feel like they are living their worst nightmare and know they will never wake up. 

How stark a contrast this is to the child of God.  We know that when we trust Him and follow our Shepherd, even if we encounter difficulties or pain, it will NEVER be for naught, it will never leave us devastated, it will never leave us at a dead-end.  God looks ahead, has already planned the 'way-through' any difficulty to the 'good' that He has waiting for us !  

A Mango Seed

Faith is not an emotion, nor is it a head-belief. Faith is an action word.

Here is a photo of my mango tree.

 Do I see mangoes hanging from the tender leaves? No!! Does it look possible? NO!!

I love mangos and being fascinated with the strange center "bone" that hides the seed, I decided to try to grow it. My faith was not in my ability to grow things, I do not have a green thumb!! My Faith was in the seed. I have faith that in each seed is a promised mango tree!!

And so my action was motivated by what I believed.  I wrapped the seed in damp paper towel in a zip lock bag until it began to sprout and then I planted it in a pot.

It doesn't look like a mango, it doesn't smell like a mango and I know it wouldn't taste like a mango, but I know if I water it it will grow into a mango tree and bear fruit.  It is actually easier to believe it WILL grow to produce mangos than to believe it won't. (aside from my lack of gardening skill).

 So again, my faith is not in my green thumb, it is in the seed!! I have no doubt at all that there is a mango tree in that seed - not an apple tree, not a grape vine, not a peach tree. I don't have to be convinced by some agricultural scientist. I took the seed out of a mango therefore I know it will grow into a mango tree. No one can tell me otherwise.

We know the promises of God, but we listen to contrary voices  including our own, and we begin to doubt   We doubt when our faith shifts from the 'Seed'  to ourself, trusting in our own ability to make something happen!  We will struggle and fail if we try to make faith effective through our own efforts or strength. We simply need to focus our faith in the 'Seed' , Jesus, who cannot fail to do all that He promised. If it comes from God, it is true! It is a given as surely as the mango seed promises a tree. Every time! 

There is another thing the mango plant has taught me. It takes 5 - 10 years before the mango plant will bear fruit. That is a long time...but the 'time' doesn't hinder or diminish my faith. I don't give up and think it won't happen. 

I know that is simply how long it takes!

So also our faith in God...we pray , we ask, and nothing happens! Do we give up? Think God hasn't heard?  Why do we not give up on the mango plant, but we give up on God?

Is He not the creator of the mango seed , with the lesson that if God doesn't immediately answer our prayers it is simply because 'time' is carefully calculated to be dependent on God's perfect answer - always worth waiting for!

"For the vision [answer] is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries wait for it because it will surely come,  it will not tarry"

Habakkuk 2:3

Have faith in God, my friends!! He cannot fail!