Shells

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Matt 7:24-25
You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.
Max Lucado
http://www.maxlucado.com/
(Check out Max Lucado’s website, he has a simple and powerful message of hope and grace for the church today.)

I brought home some shells from our last beach trip, something I would not normally do. I felt like a kid exploring the sands of my youth, looking for a jewel of color and symmetry. Frankly, they were hard to find. I noticed something almost immediately when collecting these shells; the smaller, plainer ones were always intact, while the larger, more colorful ones were frequently broken. I began to examine the texture of these different sized shells. I found that I could easily break the larger ones with my hands as they were brittle and thin. But the small ones…wow! I could not even chip them. They were thick, hard, and tough as nails.

I gazed at the breakers, especially in spots where a large deposit of shells had gathered on the beach. I could actually see the larger more fragile shells tumbling in the foamy mixture, riding violently to the beach sand. There was no way they were going to make it to the shore intact, the churning waves saw to that. The smaller ones, almost impossible to see in the turbid tide, magically appeared on the sand, intact, none worse for the wear.

In my years as a believer, I have seen plenty of the big beautiful shells, those people who make sure the attention is drawn to themselves…but who just seem to have big chunks cracked off from a character standpoint. Yet, church folks seem to not only tolerate some of these so called leaders, they treat them like rock stars, embracing any ‘revelation’ that comes forth from their mouths. The crowd actually feeds those character flaws. I have said this before, when I see a ‘ministry’ that is named after the particular leader of that organization, I have a tendency to stay away. There is usually some chunk missing. Not always, but most of the time.

In my later years as a Christian, I have noticed many more of the smaller shells with the tough hides. They are the people who magically appear in my life. They are the saints who have weathered the waves over the years. They are those, who like the small shells, are hard to identify in the breakers. And frankly, they don’t want to be recognized. They are the people who I have written about frequently in my blog; all one has to do is take a quick review of my pasts musings to see that the small shells with the tough hides are the ones that have meant the most to me.

And I have found characters in the Bible who jump out at me but are generally overlooked. For instance, Ananias, in Acts 9, is a great man of faith, and doesn’t get a lot of airplay.

Think about it. God tells him to go to a specific street, and lay hands on one of the worst persecutors of the faith so he will receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

So Ananias, after a healthy bit of skepticism, says, "Yes Sir, I will go."

When he encounters Paul, he does something amazing. He addresses him as ‘brother’. (Paul later mentions him in his great defense and testimony in Acts 22 as a devout man who was well spoken of by all who lived in Damascus.) This guy was a small shell. One who magically appeared at the right time, obeyed God, fed and strengthened his new brother, and just as quickly disappeared back into the sand.

He probably had more satisfaction in being someone who was well spoken of by his neighbors, than wanting to be known as the man who healed Paul from his blindness. He was a small shell with his Godly character intact, no chunks missing in this guy!

I thank you Lord, for the 'small shells' in my life who have done big things.

Mark