Follow Ups

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation 22:13

OK, a couple of follow ups. First, from my blog dated 9/13/06 entitled "The Enforcer". It had to do with "my" hummingbirds, one in particular, the tough guy, guarding the feeders with great ebullience, chasing the others away at every opportunity. I wrote:

The spiritual analogy here is quite easy to see; like that dominant hummingbird and his feeders, the love of God, through Christ Jesus our Lord, keeps us, protects us, and is possessive of us over a host of enemies. Knowing He cares for us like this breathes life into Mike Yaconelli’s term "God’s annoying love".

The above picture was taken yesterday, its the same tough guy, believe me, I have enjoyed their prescence in my backyard for many years and know their habits. All the other birds have started their migration, yet he remains. First to arrive, last to leave. A friend sent this poignant promise to me recently:

I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever.
Ps 52:8b

Fits nicely, eh?

My next follow up has to do with the major pruning I did on our lantana garden from the blog dated 9/9/06 called:

"Broken is Good". I stated:

It appears to me that being a broken man, being a broken woman, is EXACTLY where He wants us to be. Ps. 51:17: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. Think about your "heros" in the Bible. Now find one who wasn’t flawed, some with MAJOR flaws! Did these flaws prevent God from using them? No!

Continuing, I wrote:

I can predict with a great deal of certainty, that with a little love and Miracle Grow, I will have a pretty garden in about a month.


Here they are today, just starting to show some flowers. We seem to trust our Father more in times when we are flourishing, but I think He wants us to experience Him even more when we are bare stalks. He’ll bring us back, just like the little lantana blooms.

I will close with this beautiful and graceful passage from Psalm 96: 11-12:

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the fields exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.

On my walk today, the last line of this passage came alive, as I noticed a beautiful old oak swaying in the wind. I was taken back to past years, remembering one of those saints in my life who "propped up my arms", Rev (Col) E.L. Shirey, Head Chaplain at Ft Rucker. I can still remember his booming, yet loving voice at the Post Chapel growing up. After he retired from the Army, he continued to preach the gospel until the Lord called him home. I had the privilege to hear him frequently at the church Annie and I attended in Enterprise, AL, somewhere around 1976-77.

During this time, I was also privileged to witness an incident that was ineradicably etched in my heart. A young girl, around 10, told him that her heart got "all jumpy" when she heard him speak. Chaplain Shirey told her that it was the Holy Spirit drawing her near to God. Like most kids, the concept of the "Holy Ghost" is either vague or scary. Her perplexed look gave him the right words for a child.

"Karen, he asked, "Can you see the wind?’
"No sir", she replied, lip quivering.
"Now picture in your mind a huge oak tree and the breeze blowing through the branches and the leaves. You still can’t see the wind, but you can see what it is doing. That is what the Holy Spirit is doing in your heart", he explained.

Her face brightened and at the same time tears streamed down her little cheeks. I watched that old saint, who had ministered to so many grizzled servicemen over the years, gently point that little girl toward the spiritual road of an eternal journey with Christ. It was a pretty darn good explanation to me, too, by the way.

In my modest world, the chorus from the trees will also include harmonies from a tiny bird and some tender blooms. He shows Himself to me in many ways, I just need to take the time and see it with my eyes—and my heart.

Mark
Prov 17:22






Follow up: 10/30/06 Look at em now!