Will It Matter?

On Sunday afternoon , Vic and I went for a hike up our mountain. It was a beautiful day and we hiked for a couple of hours. I was sooo pleased that I was able to do it virtually without pain ! (for those of you who may wonder, I have rheumatoid arthritis - it makes me grateful for things you may take for granted !)
Come see .... through my eyes .... the mountain path....

the wild flowers......


the wooden stairs......


and the view of the valley through the trees.
It was cool when we started and so I took my favorite light jacket. I soon took it off and Vic carried it tucked into the back of his back pack.
It was only after we got home and I wanted to hang up my jacket that we realized it was gone - it must have slipped out of the backpack strap and fallen onto the path. Although my husband immediately backtracked our hike and went back again the next day ... it was no where to be found.
It was strange , since we had not seen a single other person on the mountain. We knew the last place we had seen it - he moved it to get at his camera.
Maybe an animal took it home to their nest or den?

I was sorry to lose my jacket but it was just a jacket.

Yesterday I was talking to a lady from our complex and in our conversation she told me about her close friend who had lost her dog. This friend had never had children and she loved her dog. One day it was accidently killed by a passing car. She was devestated and declared her life was over! She fell apart and sought the care of a psychologist. It took her 15 long years to get over the loss of her dog.

I was thinking about the loss of my jacket , this woman's loss of her dog and I thought about how people prioritize the events of their lives. I thought about some people we knew who were recently enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon. Their teenage son went out to ride his dirt bike and he never came home. He was accidentally hit and killed by a passing vehicle.

We have all heard the catch phrase "don't sweat the small stuff". Did you ever consider that that phrase is really non-sensical in itself ?
What constitutes 'small stuff' ? What is small stuff to one person may be life or death to another. I once had a friend who could magnify the smallest problem into a major catastrophe !

Without a standard of measurement, the importance or triviality of our experiences are relevant to what extent we react emotionally. Someone may say, "As long as my family is together nothing else is important." or "As long as I have enough money I am OK."

Is that good enough? or is there a better way to measure and evaluate our experiences ?

I was reminded of Paul and the standard he lived by.
He said,
1Co 2:2 "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
Paul's standard of measurement was ... "How does it compare to what I have in Christ? How will it affect eternity ? "

I often ask myself the question when something goes contrary to my expectations.... "Will it matter a year from now ? a month from now? "

A better question would be "How will this affect eternity ? Will it matter? What will I feel like 10 or 50 years from now when I stand on the other side of life? Will I be filled with joy or will I regret my standard of measure? "

It is sooo easy to be caught up in the things of this life, but we have another life waiting for us .. and if we belong to the family of God ... the best is yet to come !!

How much time do you spend getting ready ? How much energy or emotion is wasted on packing trivial daily 'stuff' that you will never need or value in eternity ?

Mat 6:19 -21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

"Why Flowers, God ?"

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and my husband and I went for a lovely walk up in the wild forested park on our backyard mountain. On our way up to the preserved park land we went through the old homestead farm . The house and barn have been torn down to ready the property for more development . The farm acreage now looks sooo sad and deserted .. mourning the years past that enjoyed peaceful rural beauty.
But this HUGE blooming bush seemed unaware that soon a bull dozer would ruthlessly destroy it . It was blooming within every inch of itself, even though no one was there to enjoy it , and it is probably the last summer of its life.. Ohh ! would that we were so faithful and so oblivious to the threats around us !! Just to keep blooming as long as we have life !

and I was thinking .... as I looked at this bush and at some of my favorite flowers blooming in my baskets and flower beds.........

.... I was thinking ...... WHY did God make flowers?? They really have no practical purpose for life.....we can't eat them.

It seems they were created simply for us to enjoy !! And isn't it interesting ? That people who have had vegetable gardens all their life...even after they give up growing food .. they hold on to their flower beds and pots.

Why did God make flowers? here are the reasons that came to my mind.

1. He loves the perfection of beauty.

2. He loves infinite detail.

3. He loves variety.

4. He delights in their beautiful faces held up to Him in simple worship !

and I thought... there is a fifth reason.....

I think God made the flowers to remind us that His very favorite flowers are the people He created for His glory -- infinite in detail, unlimited in variety and in unique perfection of beauty. BUT ... do WE delight to hold up our faces to Him in worship? and do we bloom to glorify Him where ever we are ?

Psalm 86:12 says,

"I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore."

As we enjoy our season of endless flowering beauty around us, let us be reminded of how much God loves us . He created each one of us, fashioned with the same infinite care as the smallest flower... each of us unique - created for His purposes and delight !

Rose-Coloured Glasses

For most of my life I have been accused of viewing my world through rose-coloured glasses…. especially by my husband who by his own admission is a ‘realist’ – meaning he purposely views his cup half full so he won’t be disappointed! (smile)

My favourite sun glasses ARE rose tinted .. and you know !! The world DOES look prettier through them. So I love to wear my sun glasses and enjoy the rose-enhanced beauty around me.

I was thinking about this today since it was a ‘sun-glasses’ kind of day !

And I thought about how differently people view their world… some people look for the clouds, the rain, the dismal skies… while others seem to always find a cheery outlook, able to see ‘liquid sunshine’ in the raindrops.

Sometimes it is simply the temperament they were born with, sometimes it may be a conscious choice about how they perceive their day’s contents… but for the Christian, I believe, there is a higher road in the spiritual Kingdom.

The bible encourages us to wear ‘rose-colored’ glasses …. They are called Thankfulness lenses.
Stop and think… how hard is it to be glum or disappointed or angry or disgruntled when you are feeling thankful !
Which comes first … the thing for which you are thankful ? or the choice you make to find it ?
No matter how bad things look… no matter how easy it would be to just tumble into Gloomville….. is there not always something that fills your heart with thankfulness if you just let your thoughts focus on it ?

Whether it is little annoying things that are messing up your day or whether it is bigger problems that threaten to overwhelm you … thankfulness can lift the weight of the burden and shrink it down to something you can barely feel on your shoulders.

There is an interesting passage --- or path --- laid out in Romans 1.

The destination this path leads to is described in verses 29,30 – “ filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God , violent , proud, boasters, inventors of evil things , disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful…”

WOW! who would EVER chose to take one step along a path leading to that place??

Work back to the beginning of the path in verse 21 and you will see that the very first step is unthankfulness which is linked to not glorifying God !
Once this step has been taken the others follow step after step… unthankfulness leads to futile thinking … which leads to … foolish hearts that become dark…. And in the dark it is hard to see where one is going !!!

How often we are tempted to be unthankful. If we find our foot poised to take this first step …. let us consider where the path ultimately leads….and quickly turn our feet back to reflect on the many things in our life we can be so thankful for and let us lift our voices to God in praise!!

And let us also encourage others around us toward thankfulness !

Psa 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Abraham and Abimelech

When I was a child I often pulled out one of the volumes of our encyclopaedia -- the one that had the clear plastic pages that revealed the layers of the human body. Looking at the first page you saw the body with its skin on … but turning the pages revealed the hidden layers… the muscles, the organs , the bones. An MRI in a very primitive stage !

The bible is like that . We can look at the Word ‘with its skin’ on’ … seeing the obvious. But if we peal back the layers we see much more. The hidden layers reveal types, and shadows and prophecies – all making scripture infinitely fascinating.

I looked at one passage this week. The story of Abraham and Abimelech.

The ‘skin’ layer of the story we are all familiar with as it is told in Gen. 20.

Abraham, in obedience to God’s command to leave his homeland journeys to a far off land. He comes to Gerar and settles there. Gerar was a Philistine city ruled over by a king named Abimelech.
Abraham, not trusting this king, told Sarah to say that she was his sister. While Sarah was indeed Abraham’s half-sister, it was not the whole truth as Sarah was also Abraham’s wife.

Abraham’s fears were not unfounded, as we find out when Abimelech , taking one look at Sarah, desires her and takes her !
But God warnes Abimelech in a dream that if he touches Sarah he is a dead man…because Sarah belongs to Abraham.
Abimilech arises in the morning a very troubled man and immediately calls Abraham to inquire of him why he had deceived him. He blames Abraham for bringing upon him and his country a great sin !
Abraham finally tells the truth … and the story ends with Abimelech giving Abraham gifts and in return Abraham prays for Abimelech and God restores fertility to Abimelech’s household.

We can look at this story in another way - looking a little deeper and seeing another layer of meaning come into focus.

Abraham represents ‘faith’. In Gal. 3:7 we read “…know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”

Abimelech is a Philistine. A Philistine represents carnal knowledge. A Philistine appears to be attractive, powerful and in authority , but a Philistine never thinks like God. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:7)


Faith …. is the only way to know God, to be related to God, to enjoy the things of God.
“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6)

Carnal knowledge cannot understand the things of God.. nor can it attain to Him, nor can it grasp at or take the things that belong to Faith.
Rom 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Rom.8:6)
Abraham feared Abimelech because he represented all that is appealing to the natural man as well as the human desire to please man.
Are we not often like Abraham in our view of the wisdom that is of this world?
How often do we compromise our faith by accepting the thinking of this world ?
However, we need to remember ! - the mind set of this world can never possess the things that belong to faith !

Even though Abimelech tried to take what belonged to Abraham , God prevented him.
God will never allow man , through his carnal intelligence, to find a way to possess the things that belong to ‘faith’, the things of God.
Mar 4:12 “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”

And yet…by preventing Abimelech from carnally taking Sarah… God was being gracious to him by reproving him through a dream.
Does that not reveal the tender heart of God ? God is always willing to seek those who are lost… and is ever willing to save.
He sends His Holy Spirit into the world to .. “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8) because it is the desire of His heart that none “should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)


This sin of Abraham is a sad blotch on his record. Not only did it affect him, but his sin affected Abimelech and his people ( who represent the non-faith community) .
In verse 9 Abimelech accuses Abraham “What have you done to us? How have I offended you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.”

Abimelech was right to accuse Abraham. We see this accusation echoed in Romans 2:24. “ For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”
When we do not live out our faith .. when we are not faith-ful in our expression of God's truth, we are held accountable for the unsaved not knowing the truth .. and in that we become responsible for their sin !

Abimelech was under God’s curse… there was only one way to be free !
Through faith !
Abraham prayed to God for Abimelech and God answered his prayer.

God has given the keys of His kingdom to Abraham’s children .. the children of faith.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt.16:19)

It is also interesting to note that after Abraham spoke the truth … then Abimelech gave gifts to Abraham. Even though ‘knowledge’ itself can never possess the things of faith, when faith is true - then knowledge can strengthen and encourage faith.
Knowledge must always be submissive to the things of faith. How often do we see science have to bow its head because what it proclaimed as truth at one time is discovered to be in error.

God’s Truth and our Faith in Him will never fail us - let us be FAITHFUL !!
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