Spring Forth

Scripture:  Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18-18

I'm not sure if you've ever had the privilege to travel in the high deserts of Utah, Arizona or New Mexico, but the thing that I find most fascinating is the fact the layers of rock reveal that at one time a great deal of that desert area was under water!  It boggles my mind and reminds me of how small I really am.

Our vision is so limited by our perspective.  If all we see is the same environment every day, then we think that is all there is.  That movie "Horton Hears a Who" is the perfect example of that.  If you haven't watched it, you should.  I mean who dreamed up some of our most recent modern inventions?  Had I been born in the early 1800's could I have even imagined a cell phone?

God sees it all.  God's perspective is all encompassing.  Although we see life through a small portal of time, God does not.  God was there at the beginning and in God and through Christ all things were made!  We are told this in the gospels, and it often takes something beyond my understanding to remind me of how very little I actually can conceive or understand.

This is where faith comes to me.  In moments where things do not make sense to my mortal mind.  It's like taking the Nestea Plunge into the arms of God in the desert.  I fall back trusting that the God that dried up waters in New Mexico to reveal the beauty in rocks, plants and nourishes ferns hanging upside down from a rock in Tennessee.  How much more then will God cultivate and nourish me and my faith?

When was the last time you found wonder and beauty in something way beyond your control or scope of understanding?  Seek out a place where you can be reminded that God doesn't need you, but instead chooses to invite you into being part of what God has created just for His pleasure and for relationship.

Leslie Stephens

Winchester, TN by way of San Bernadino, CA

Prayer:  Maker of Heaven and Earth, thank you for not overlooking any tiny detail in the world today, including my life and the meaning of it.  Teach me to trust you with all the little details.  Amen.

Prayer Tip:  Stand in awe of something only God could have created.  Let it wash over you!

photo credit: Sandy Dodson

God's Wheel

Scripture:  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.  Jeremiah 18:4 ESV

Lent is a time of spiritual reflection.  I found that Lent should have 3 focuses: prayer, fasting and charity.  Lent is a time for us to repent and redirect our focus on God.  I recognize that I am not always as devoted as some others might be.  I sometimes fast, but not always.  I have certainly done some of my faith practices half-heartedly and end up disappointed in myself more often than not.  In 2021 a good friend of mine encouraged me to start a program to read the bible through in year.  I'm still working on it (insert eye roll).  I haven't given up, but again I am disappointed in myself.

No doubt you also can self-examine and find things not to your liking.  I have previously expressed that I wanted to focus on contentment and yet here I am discontent.  I want to be honest with you; even though I have found my faith tested most recently in personal trials and in general, I still find the daily grind in faith practices most challenging.  Therefore, I set out this year to reset during Lent.  2 days ago.  I'm doing ok for now, but I can't really boast in that, give me a week or so, I'm sure I'll forget my commitment.

I wish I had good news to share at age 51.  News that I had reached my best spiritual self, but I haven't.  I guess maybe I had hoped I would arrive at some great spiritual level of enlightenment by age 50, but I haven't.  So today during my Lentin reflection I came upon this scripture and was deeply relieved.  

I'm mostly a giant lump of clay and as God begins to shape and squeeze my life, I lose form.  I squish through God's fingers trying to escape to a more familiar shape.  I know I have said it before, but allow me to say it again, change is so hard!!  Yet The Potter never grows tired of the craft.  God simply reworks us, as long as we get on the wheel.  What a relief!  

I do not know if you practice Lent or maybe you just want to try and find your best self.  I would like to ask you to join me and simply envision yourself climbing onto a potter's wheel.  Relax.  It's warm and you are pliable.  Relax. Let go of your thoughts and expectations for a minute.  Feel the touch of the hands of God, gently yet firmly wrapping around you.  Relax.  Do not resist as the wheel gently begins to spin, you see the potter's foot controls how fast the wheel spins.  Entrust yourself to The One shaping you into your new self.  

Changing yourself on your own is impossible.  Yet, you can't change without desiring for change to take place.  No work of art is without flaw.  The subtle imperfections are what make each piece unique.  I know I haven't arrived.  In fact, the more I learn the less I feel that I understand.  I just know that my Creator is not finished with me.  The Potter keeps on reworking me and for that I am truly thankful.

Leslie Stephens

Winchester, TN by way of California

Prayer:  God help me to always surrender to your wheel (will) and do not let me go my own way.  Draw me into deeper fellowship with You and bring me to repentance, so that I look more like the vessel you desire for me to be.  Thank you for not giving up on me.  Amen.

Prayer Tip:  Visualization is a powerful tool.  The bible paints many pictures of God's character.  Visualize God in what you feel you understand and you will certainly come know God more.

Missing Pieces 

Scripture:  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  

1 Corinthians 13: 9-10

Winter and Covid has yielded being shut in at home more than usual.  I don't really mind it.  In fact, I live with a bunch of homebodies who prefer home over any other place.  We watch movies.  We play games.  We read books.  We laugh and we look at screens.  I however, I am the only one at my house who likes to work puzzles.  I sit among them and do my thang!

My parents always loved working puzzles and I guess it reminds me of them.   I find it strangely entertaining and comforting.  I also analyzed it and realize that it is a personality thing too.  You have a goal.  It has many ways to solve it, but ultimately you work persistently until the task is done.  It has a satisfying end.  It is a very controlled outcome!  Us goal-oriented people like puzzles!  Puzzles are predictable.

My family has started poking at me every time I sit down.  Someone will come over and look for like 5 seconds and immediately say, "The piece I need is missing."  Then they quit and walk away!  LOL  It always makes me laugh and at times makes me wonder if maybe there is a piece that could be missing.

Life is no less puzzling; pardon the pun.  When we pause to look around there is always room for feeling like there is a piece missing.  Largely because when we see the tiny pieces, it is hard to imagine what the bigger picture might look like.  God has no doubt proven to me over the years, that I do not need to know or see everything.  Life can be so overwhelming!

I really need only to see enough to take the next step.  If 15 years ago you had told me you will lose both your parents, have another baby, your husband will go into ministry, you will get a Masters degree and teach school, then resume an aviation career.  If any human had said to me in 2007 by 2020 you will be an airline pilot, I would have laughed at them.

Now I see much more clearly that I didn't need to know all that.  I can only look at one little piece at a time.  The big picture is God's to see.  Faith is about what is unseen.  It is when life feels beyond your control that you should rejoice!  For it is in those times when we see the glory of God.  It is when there is nothing we can do but pray and trust, that faith draws the missing pieces together to make an amazing scene.

My aunt always taps on the piece she places into the puzzle.  It is as if she is saying look, I found a piece!  I do it too!  Place the piece and tap on it!  God is aware of our need for control and even more aware of our desperate need for dependance upon Him.  Sit still and feel God tap the piece He just placed.  If you look too closely it might not even look like anything at all, a blob of color or sometimes no color at all.  But when you draw back and view the faithfulness of God over a lifetime, you will stand amazed at the scene God is piecing together.

Leslie Stephens

Winchester, TN

Prayer:  Creator God, I am thankful that you are the great designer and that you see the big picture.  Help me to have faith and trust in your design.  Teach me to find rest in the unknowing.  Amen.

Prayer Tip:  Take inventory.  Revisit the times in your life in which you have seen the faithfulness of God.  It will be a big source of encouragement for you during difficulties.