Time, Oh, God's Good Time!

Back in the late 1960's, there was a folk music group called the Pozo Seco Singers. They started out in Corpus Christi, Texas, and their first hit song was called "Time". They later signed with Capital Records, made three albums, and then disappeared from the scene. One of the members later gained fame in the country music field and you know him as Don Williams. The last line of the chorus was, "Time, oh good, good time, where have you gone?" If you would like to hear it, both the song and the group are out on YouTube. That song was later recorded by other artists, but never made it to the million seller list.

Is that theme, though, not one we have all mentioned or moaned at one time or another? Then there is the good old saying about not having enough time to do it right the first time, but having time to make the corrections. Time is either our friend or enemy, depending on how we are captured in it at the moment. It is ours to use or to waste. The catch, of course, is that it never comes around again. There are no instant replays or do-overs in the real thing.

Most of us who are adults do our eight hours a day, or more, at work. Then we parcel out time with spouses, kids, friends, that hobby or other entertainment. Sometimes we even remember to take a few minutes for ourselves. How about God in that mix? Does he get priority or just the leftovers?
When we were growing up, most of us had family rituals we went through. There was grace before meals, bedtime prayers, maybe family prayer time. Now, in this rush-rush world, we tend to drop some of those. Do you still pray before meals? I see people taking that few seconds in restaurants and cafeterias sometimes. Do you tell God "Good morning" when you first open your eyes and ask him for his blessings on your day? When day is over and you finally stretch out on that mattress, do you thank him whatever you experienced that day?

Those are all small snippets of time, just a few minutes or even seconds. How about the longer view? How about the times we want to do something or want something in our lives and it just seems to take forever? We know God is all-powerful and he answers our requests. So, why doesn't he just give us what we want when we ask for it? Again an answer we have all heard before: because he knows we aren't ready for what we ask. Sometimes he knows that what we want is not in our best interest. Have you not asked for something, didn't get it, assumed God didn't hear you or was ignoring you, and did it or got it anyway? Blew up in your face, didn't it?

In this high-speed world, we want what we want and want it now. Instant gratification is the order of the day. Waiting is no longer the virtue it once was. So, we expect the same from God just for the asking. God hasn't changed and he isn't up on the modern ways. He still does things in his time, not ours. He does it, not in our time, but in God's Good Time.

P.S. How much of God's time did you give back to him today?

Icy Roads

It doesn’t seem to matter where you lived last winter, whether it is up north in New England, the Midwest, or the Deep South, ice and snow have been recurring guests, and not welcome ones when we have to go out and drive. Some areas of the country are well equipped to plow the roads and sprinkle salt to make the roads safe to drive. Other areas aren’t quite as ready and take longer to make the road passable.

As part of my work, I end up driving quite a bit, and those winter roads are tricky when there is ice and snow on them. The Interstates and major highways get cleared quickly, but the county roads and residential streets are another story. It takes a high level of concentration to navigate those roads and ice can be there when I least expect it. There is nothing like the excitement of feeling the wheels slip just a little when they hit a slick spot. It doesn’t take much to start sliding and there is no telling whether I will get control back or end up sliding someplace I don’t want to be.

Life it just like those roads I travel. We all know the cliché about following the “straight and narrow.” Life isn’t made of the straight and narrow, however, and there are all sorts of bends and curves, hills and dips, and don’t forget the potholes. This, however, is about the ice and snow and the slipping and sliding that goes with it. It can sneak up on you, just starting with a slight slip, maybe just one or two wheels, and if you recover properly, then you are okay. What happens if you don’t do it right? You can take one heck of a ride. If you lose all of the traction at the same time, and can’t get to an area when you can regain it, then you know what is going to happen next. What you know is you don’t know what is going to happen next. Are you going to slide off of the side of the road or are you going to be playing “bumper cars” with another vehicle? Whatever it is, you don’t have any control. That is when you start blaming yourself for getting into the situation in the first place.

Driving on ice and snow is just one example of how life can surprise you. How about your spiritual life? It is easy to slip just a little bit, and recover and go on. The source of the slip may not be ice; it may just be the Enemy up to his old tricks. It may be just a little temptation, something that causes just a little slip, one from which you can recognize and recover from easily. The Devil is a tricky guy, however, and once he figures out the kind of ice to put on your road, he can keep adding to it. So, you get better at either recognizing his temptations and avoiding them, or maybe you slip a little more the next time, and then more the next. What is going to happen next? Are you going to lose control completely and fall victim to the devil’s ice on life’s road, or are you going to see it in time and either avoid it completely or recover from the slide and get back on the good road surface? It depends on you, doesn’t it? Remember, little slides graduate to larger slides, and those end up in a total loss of control.

Now there is one recovery technique that works every time. You may just need someone to direct you to the good road. That someone has published a great book that has all of the directions you need, a verbal road map of sorts. The book is the Bible and the author and publisher is God. Regardless of how far or how badly you have slipped, He can direct you to the good ground. Will you read those directions?

The Bouncing Ball

Have you ever been to a sing-along where the words are projected on the screen and there is a bouncing ball that moves from word to word so you can sing along with the music? Maybe you are more modern and you have seen that on a karaoke machine. Many years ago, there was a program on television called Mitch Miller's Sing Along and as the orchestra and singers performed, the words were on the bottom of the screen along with the bouncing ball so you could join in with them in the comfort of your own living room. There were even some records put out with the music and words. I am talking about the vinyl LP records, not CD's, in case you were wondering.

It was always interesting to see how quickly we were trained to follow a ball that bounced from word to word, just leading us from one point or word to the next. The people who programmed that assumed we couldn't figure it out for ourselves which word to sing or say next. I guess if someone didn't know the music or words, had never heard it before, then it would be handy. Still, it was an easy habit to learn and since it brought fun and enjoyment, we all did it.

There are bouncing balls in our everyday lives as well. They lead us in different directions to different things. Sometimes the balls are people we know or meet. Sometimes they are things and sights that attract our attention. That ball has to start someplace and catch us, draw us to whatever is the real attraction. Our eyes and brains are attracted by motion and what moves will turn us to it. So, what was it that first caught your attention and brought you to God? Maybe you have always had him in your life because your parents made him a part of it from the very beginning. On the other hand, if you came to God as an adult, what attracted you? Who or what was it that brought you here? That event, that person, was your bouncing ball. It lead you one step at a time to where you are today. It wasn't luck or random chance; it was God calling you by catching your attention first.

Balls are meant to be thrown or rolled or bounced. Have you ever lead someone to God, to his Son, Jesus Christ? You were their bouncing ball. How have you been doing lately? Do you still bouce or are you just sitting on the ground. Balls are meant to be thrown, so have you told God to throw you back into the game so you can lead someone else to him? He will! So, get out there and start bouncing and see how many more people who can lead to his choir, to sing to his music, to follow the words in his book.

The Beat Of The Drum

The drum. Certainly one of the most basic of musical instruments. Possibly one of the first ever played by Man. It could have been a hollow log that some man in pre-history hit one day and found it made a unique sound. Perhaps a neighbor came over to find out what it was that he heard and the idea of sound travel was discovered. Was it for entertainment? Probably. Modern day movie makers like to entertain us with the picture of our ancient ancestors moving to the beat around a fire. It may have even happened. At some point, someone decided it was a great way to send a signal to someone else at a distance and signal drumming was born.

Jump forward in time a few millennia and see the evolution of the drum in religion, celebration and warfare. No longer a hollow log, it is now the snare drum of the drummer boy keeping time for the Redcoats marching to Concord or Lexington. It is the kettle drum on a Roman galley beating out time for the rowers. It is the bass drum keeping time for your high school band that entertains you at half time on a Friday night. It is a marvelous musical instrument weaving magic at the command of the legendary Buddy Rich. It is the nearly silent sound of your heart beating in perfect time hidden inside your chest.

We often talk about someone's vocation, avocation, job, hobby or interest in terms of marching to a drum. Someone who steps outside the norm is spoken of as marching to a different drummer, sometimes in derision and sometimes in admiration. All too often, we find ourselves marching in time to a drumbeat that we don't really like but have found ourselves stuck in that rhythm, like a job we no longer enjoy but can't leave for one reason or another. We have all heard the stories of the executive who leaves the corner office behind to take up something totally different and far less financially rewarding, simply because it felt good to do what fed the heart and soul and not necessarily the wallet.

What leads people to suddenly decide to change what they are doing and go off in a different direction? I've known people who have gone from serving themselves to serving others. Why did they change so radically? Who changed the beat of their personal drum to lead them off on a different path? If you talk to them, they will all say something along the lines that they just felt it was time to change. Many can't tell you why. I once knew a combat Marine who became a Catholic priest, a house painter who is a pastor of a successful church, and others who have made a turn and now serve a new need, whether in the ministry or elsewhere. Who could issue such a call except the Master Drummer, our God who calls us to assist him in all of the works he has planned for us. He sets the pace and the beat, the best rhythm for us at different times in our life. Some change their path and follow that new beat and some don't. We know that he calls many and chooses the few to do his work who answer that call. The rewards are special for those who do.

How about you? Which drumbeat are you following? It may be the one God picked out for you many years ago and you are where he wants you to be, doing what he needs you to do. Have you been hearing the faint sound of something else, some strange thrumming that temps you to make a turn, to change something in your life? It may be that he is telling you that it is time to do something he needs you to do and you are now ready to do just that.

Are you listening? And what will you do?

Salting The Oats

There is a very old cliché that says you can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink. You can stake that horse next to the water trough, fill it with fresh water, and it won't matter a bit. If that horse doesn't want to drink, it won't. However, several years ago, I heard an ending to that statement that makes sense: "...unless you add salt to the oats." We have all experienced that sensation of eating something salty and then looking for something to drink and quench that thirst. That salt just keeps the taste buds humming and keeps us coming back for more. It is like they say about peanuts, you can't eat just one...the salted ones, anyway. The unsalted ones just don't have that tang, that flavor, that makes us reach for another one, or a handful.

For most of us, we have a flavorful life. We have spouses, children, family, and friends. We have a job or maybe are into the retirement years. There are hobbies and other activities to round out the days and hours. Many of us are content with our life or a portion of it. Whether we like our job or just go to it because it is what we have to do, we still get a measure of satisfaction from it. There may be some salt that gets sprinkled on us that urges us to do new things, whether a different job or a new hobby or a trip to someplace we have never been. The people who migrated from the east to the west in the late 1800's were lead to that move by something that touched their lives. Many others had the urge to drink the waters from strange lakes and rivers, but while they had been lead that way by their curiosity, they lacked that last dash of salt in their lives that drove them to leave everything behind and take that drink.

How many other things have you encountered in your life that causes you to be curious, to wonder about the things you don't understand or know? Maybe you are a Christian, but one who knows not much more than the fact that at some point in your life you were baptized. Perhaps you aren't one and find yourself in the company, social or professional, of those who are Christians. So, what are you going to do next? Maybe the answer to that is "nothing". Those of us who know God and want to have him in our lives in an active way, know also that he may nudge or shove or arrange life so it follows his plans, but he also allows us to have the free will to choose. He can lead us to his living water, but it is up to us to want to drink it. So, he adds the salt to our lives to make us a little thirsty. That salt may be a friend, an event, or even a total stranger who crosses our path in such a way as to make us want to take a sip. You may be the salt for someone else's life, to create that thirst for more knowledge of God, to get to know him or to know him better than they did before.

Do you have a thirst for knowledge, more knowledge of God, of his son, Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit? So, God salted your oats. Perhaps there is someone you know or have met who starts asking you questions about God. How do you feel about being the salt God sprinkled on that person's oats? Maybe someone saw you and the way you believe and talk and act, and all of that was the salt on the oats. No matter, the solutions are to quench that thirst. So, go ahead and drink in his knowledge and love.

The Cracked Door

Imagine for a moment that you have inherited an old house, something that has been in your family for generations. It is a house you have not visited in the past and have seen only old photos of it, the faded black-and-white kind. Now is it yours. You have received a set of keys in the mail along with directions on how to get there and a title with your name on it. With a mixture of trepidation and eagerness, at least a small amount of it, you set out on the quest to visit this dubious surprise which was left to you by an unknown relative.

Think old Southern mansion, with the tall white columns, wrap around porch, old dirt driveway winding up through the trees. The paint is cracked and faded, a couple of windows have plywood instead of glass, and it is definitely less than inviting on the first look. When you look through the dirty windows, you half expect to see a ghost or two coming down the staircase to greet you at the door. So, what you do is put that key into the lock, twist it, and push on the door. It opens, but just a crack. Here is your opportunity to get inside, to see what is waiting for you, and the door is barely open and won't budge any further. What you do next will determine whether you discover what trash or treasures are waiting for you inside.

As I am sure you have figured out, the mansion is life. It is full of surprises, good and bad, and just when you think you have it all figured out, you realize you don't. Some surprises are good ones, like gifts for Christmas or your birthday. Others are not so nice, like the pink slip you received when you held that dream job that was going to last all the way to retirement. So, what next, you ask? Maybe it depends on who you ask. Maybe the "who" is God, the creator of all surprises. The trick is recognizing the answer and deciding what you are going to do with it.

Many times when we ask God for something, we have a specific something in mind. Just because it is in our mind, does not mean it is also in God's mind. Sometimes what God gives us is an opportunity. Like that stuck door above, it is up to us to figure out the opportunity and then to pry open that door. Sometimes God's plan comes in several steps or stages and we just have to figure them out or to take advantage of them, even when we don't recognize them for what they are. Many years ago, I told God the kind of woman I wanted to marry. I had in mind what she should look like, her personality, and other characteristics. No one I was dating at the time fit into that mold. So, I told God what I had in mind and asked for his help. Some time after that, I was laid off from my job. After months of looking and interviewing, I landed a job with a government contractor and shortly after starting, I had to go to a conference in San Diego. I thought about whom I still knew there and came up with a couple I hadn't talked to in years, so I called them just to say hello. When the lady answered the phone, she told me they had separated. So, I suggested we get together. We did. One thing led to another and 11 months later to the day, we were married. She was just the lady I had asked God to find for me! He cracked opened the door for the opportunity for us to get back together and I pried it open to find the treasure behind.

All too often, we ask God for something and expect it to come completely assembled and gift wrapped. In my experience, it doesn't usually happen that way. God offers the opportunity and it is up to me to see it and take advantage of it. Sometimes I have seen it and other times I have not, usually to my misfortune. I am sure you have had the same experience of asking and not seeing the cracked open door he has created. He doesn't usually put a big sign out there with an arrow pointing the way.

What are you asking for? What are you expecting God to give to you or do to you? Are you ready for his response? Are you ready for the unexpected answer? Remember, he operates on his rules, not ours, and he knows the best way to give the best things and opportunities to you. It is up to you to accept his gifts.

The Golf Cart

I was walking through the parking lot this morning on the way to my office and saw a golf cart pull into the parking lot. It was the roving patrol guy driving through to check out the cars and people to make sure everything was okay and safe. It is part of his job to make sure there are no problems or threats to our cars and to us. It is just a quiet, and I am sure, boring job, just driving from parking lot to parking lot in this business complex, to see what there is to see. The owners of the complex pay him to do his lonely job for our benefit. I haven't been working in this complex for very long, but have not heard any rumors or stories of car vandalism or other problems with people who do not belong there. He is there to protect us and our cars, just another silent sentinel going about his job.

God has his own silent sentinels who also watch over us and protect us. He has his angels who take care of us. Sometimes it is something that happens directly to someone, like the baby who falls out of a multiple story building and lands on concrete without an injury. Maybe you start to make a turn or drive forward in your car and suddenly pause for some reason, just in time to see another car that would have hit you. Are you tempted to do something you should not do and something or someone else is there which causes you to rethink that action?

God realizes that we don't always listen to those subtle cues, so he may take an indirect route by using someone else to be there at the right time to save us or stop us or make us pause to reconsider what we are about to do. He is not only the supreme being in whose image we were made, he is also our greatest protector. After all, we are his greatest creation and he has a definite vested interest in making sure we are safe so we can eventually spend the rest of eternity with him.

You are probably wondering why bad things happen to either you or someone else if God is there to protect us. Bad things do happen. Sometimes it is just random chance; sometimes it is due to someone else's actions; and sometimes it is just God's way to help us to grow. If you have read many of my prior writings, you know I bring up Job and the trials he went through. God does allow us to be tempted and tried. It is part of his plan to help us grow and develop our spiritual strength. Not only does that serve us, but it puts us in the position of helping and protecting others with what we have learned. In that sense, God uses us to drive his golf cart around on our journey through life. We get to be the ones who watch out for threats to the rest of his people. We get to patrol God's parking lot and make safe those who visit there. We, you and I, get to be God's silent sentinels.

Bacon And Eggs

When I was growing up at home, my dad had the same breakfast several times a week. Mom would put some bacon in the frying pan and cook that. Then she took a couple of eggs, put them into the bacon grease and basted the eggs with the hot grease: sunny side up and basted. I can still smell them in my memory and see Dad sitting there enjoying it. Many years later, that pleasure had to change due to some health concerns, but he would still indulge from time to time. I don't cook them that way for myself, but the microwave does bacon just fine and zapped scrambled eggs are an acceptable substitute, especially between a couple of flour tortillas.

I am sure you have your favorite way to start the day with your favorite foods. When I was flying Navy airplanes, we kidded that the Naval aviator's breakfast was a cup of coffee and a couple of doughnuts. What is your favorite way to start the day? Maybe you are one of the oatmeal crowd or fruit is your thing. Perhaps you are one of those people who skip breakfast despite the medical advice that it is the most important meal of the day because it gives you the energy to make it through the day. How do you start your day in the food department?

How do you start your spiritual day? You know, the part that includes God. Some folks read a passage in the bible or they get a daily devotional on their cell phone. Others listen to a preacher on television or attend a study group at their church once or twice a week. Maybe you spend some time on your knees just talking to God about what you are going to be doing today or some of the victories or concerns you may have. Or, maybe you are like the people who skip a food breakfast and you skip the spiritual one as well. Just like starting the day with food, starting the day with God gives you the spiritual energy to get through the day.

So far, I have just talked about you as the individual. How about anyone else in your household? Jesus told us that wherever two or more are gathered in his name, he is there. Do you gather together and pray together? Do you let each one share with the family or group the joys and problems of the coming day? What can you do or what can you change to better start your day?

The Jigsaw Puzzle

Are you a big fan of jigsaw puzzles? Many people enjoy taking a box full of cut up pieces of cardboard with a part of a picture on it and figuring out how they fit together to form a complete picture. The ones we give to our little kids may have ten or twenty pieces so they can get a concept of shape and completion recognition. Then there are the ones for the adults, which can range from little ones with 500 pieces up to complicated monsters with thousands. Personally, they are not my friends. I have put them together with helping friends and by myself. As far as I am concerned, I don’t have to submit myself to that level of frustration again. I remember the last one I tried to work. It was a photo of a bunch of eggs in an incubator with a heat lamp shining down on them. The only variation was the amount of red light on the eggs from the heat lamp. After three weeks, I gave up in utter frustration at a puzzle not even a third completed, boxed it up and gave it to a friend. A few days later, she told me she really enjoyed the puzzle and it was difficult. She said it took her almost four hours to complete!

Life is like those jigsaw puzzles. Now, isn’t that a nice-sounding, obvious cliché? When we get dumped into this world, we are a loose collection of pieces, somehow moving in the same direction and at the same time. Over time, the pieces start to be arranged to make the beginnings of the picture. When we learn to walk, some of the pieces are set; when we start to talk, still more. As we begin our education, more pieces are added to the whole. Down through the years, more and more of the puzzle is added. The puzzle may not be completed until the very end, but as we look over the puzzle, we may see that a piece of it is missing. It is piece near the center and it is vital to the formation of the picture. A search through the other pieces on the table does not find it and neither does a search of the floor and under the furniture. An exhaustive search still yields the same result: it is missing. Without it, the puzzle can never be completed. At last, a search of the box itself shows that it was intentionally stuck to the interior of the box. It was not designed to fall out with the other pieces of the puzzle, but to be added deliberately. It is only after that piece is inserted, that the center is finished.

So what is that piece that was so special, so unique? Remembering that the puzzle represents our life, that piece represents the presence of God in our life. While God is part of us from the moment of our conception, it is he who breathes life into us; it is still a part that has not been recognized for its utter importance. Until we find God for ourselves and intentionally insert him into our lives, we cannot be complete. Without God in our lives, the picture is flawed and there is a hole that can be felt.

How about you? Have you searched and found that central piece? Have you maneuvered it and set it firmly into the center of your being, or have you just kind of nudged it around so that it sort of fits. Have you made God a snug fit in the way you conduct yourself and your relationship with him, or have you left it haphazardly alone?

Less Than A Whisper

We have worshiped and talked to God in all manners of ways down through the thousands of years of knowing him. Some, like Trappist Monks, do it with a vow of silence. Some do it in contemplative prayer. Still others do it through song, dance, and words. However we choose to do it, the bottom line is the same: we are worshiping and talking to the creator of all things, including those who were created in his image and likeness.

In that same span on time, God has talked to us, communicating in a variety of different ways and through a wide number of people he has picked out to be his messengers. You would think that God would pick out the high-born, the best educated, to bring his words and wishes to his best creation. Even a brief review of the bible shows this is not true. True, some were. Moses, for instance, was raised as a prince and given an education designed to help him be a leader among the Egyptian people. God made sure he was in the right place, with the right training, to lead the people out of Egypt, through the desert for 40 years, and up to the edge of the promise land.

Then there was this sheep rancher who had seven sons. The youngest used to sit up in the hills with the sheep and write songs and poems to God. Eventually, he rose from humbleness to greatness and the things he wrote were collected in the book we call Psalms.

There aren't too many equivalents to Moses and David these days. God does still talk to us as individuals and all of us who believe in him talk to him. Sometimes when someone listens, it becomes life changing. Perhaps someone changes from substance abuse to something else. Maybe someone else leaves one way of life behind and goes on to do some other occupation or vocation. Whatever it is, sometimes we listen to God and, even if it doesn't make sense at the time, we move on to the direction he needs us to go to serve him better. We don't always do that when he calls and then it becomes a contest of who has the most patience or stubbornness. I'll give you the word on that right now: he does.

The bible tells us that God doesn't come looking for us with marching bands and loudspeakers, but in the quietest of times. He may talk to us directly or he may use someone else to carry the message to us. He may just create a situation to tell us to stop our rapid rush through life and enjoy a quiet moment, such as a beautiful sunset. He has all sorts of ways, even to sounds in our minds that are quieter than a whisper.

Have you taken the time to listen for him today? Do you keep hearing a thought that doesn't really belong to you, over and over like a song that won't leave you alone? Maybe it is just God trying to get your attention to do something he needs you to do. What do you think the result will be if you just stop for a moment and ...

I'm Coming Back

The last writing I posted was back in November, except for the Easter message.  I took some time off from posting for personal reasons but will start posting articles again soon.  As always, if you see something you like and want to share it, you are free to do so.  If you know someone who would like to read what I have posted, then please give the website to them.

For those of you who have checked the site from time to time to see if I have added anything, thank you for your attention and patience.

Happy Easter!

Matthew 28:6:  He is not here; he is risen, just as he said.