Hanging Around Helping Others

Have you considered that God might have called you to move, positioning you to be a welcomer and a helper to others?

I have to admit that the part of moving I find hard to face is the loneliness that consumes me once I arrive at my destination. I often move hoping that my new neighborhood will be a family friendly place, with sidewalks that connect people to each other, streets that meander around from hospitable houses to involved neighbors, and parks that unite friends. Sadly I have stumbled through most of my moves alone.

This has not been a bad thing, though. I simply came to the conclusion that I could make a difference in others’ lives. So I became diligent to observe newcomers and welcome them into my life.

Have you read the story of Rahab? She wisely welcomed a couple of wandering pilgrims into her home. She protected them and in so doing her life was spared when the conquerors arrived to take Jericho. Her amazing story of bravery and unparallel hospitality is filled with intrigue. Read about her in Joshua 2 and 6.

It has been a long while since I moved and it could certainly be easy to sit idly by allowing newcomers to find their own way.

God encourages us to welcome strangers into our circles. Who knows how we can help them and in turn what they can bring into our lives.

This is a new season. In your children’s schools or in your church, maybe down the street, or in the office next door there may be a newcomer looking for a place to hide from the world’s tough pursuit.

Why not reach out, make a new move and invite the newcomer to join you and your friends.

God will be sure to bless you!

Where has your life’s journey placed you right now?

This time yesterday I found myself in the water, under a raft, on a desperate journey seeking air!

Yesterday my husband and I and our two friends who came to visit us for the weekend decided to go white water rafting. Oh-we didn’t go to the mountains where wild and rough rivers meander around huge boulders and drop down steep shoots. Although I have taken some rough rides through deep canyons past incredible sights, yesterday was not that day.

Thirty minutes from my house a U.S. National Whitewater course opened up for the public to enjoy controlled rafting.

Looking for a little fun, the four of us decided to take advantage of what was left of the summer and participate in the local water sport.

We signed up, sat through the orientation, met our guide, and climbed into our raft. Immediately Carol, my friend, told Rafio our rafter – you let the raft flip, don’t expect a tip. In other words – “no tip if we flip.”

Guess what? That is when Rafio decided he would see to it that we flipped. He was a fun guide. Immediately we went out into the channel with a sea full of other rafts full of suckers just like us – families and friends looking for a cool adventure on the last day of summer.

We laughed, screamed, and paddled our way over rapids and around man made boulders. Rafio made sure we got wet. After taking us through the class 1 and 2 channel, he turned us toward the more advanced course. Of course it never was the advanced course because we paid for the intermediate trip.

He yelled two strokes, we all obeyed. We found ourselves turned around traveling down the river backward, he yelled one stroke backward and we all did as we were told. We made a good team.

Although we bumped, rolled, lost our balance, and became soaked in the course of our journey, by the last leg of our journey we felt invigorated. Our choice to go to the USNWC had been a good decision.

Yahooooooo we cheered as we shot through the rapids.

And then suddenly from out of nowhere our raft slowed down, pitched forward, and reared up. We hung above the waves for a split second and one by one tumbled out of the raft. I remember thinking, “I am not supposed to let go of my paddle. Don’t let go of the paddle, Don’t let go of the paddle.” I succeeded in that area.

Then with one hand I grabbed my sunglasses. For a moment I thought I had them. But I realized a more pressing problem presented itself.

I needed to take a breath! I mean- I really needed to take a breath! My lungs were screaming. Letting go of my glasses I reached for the bottom of the raft and began to feel my way to the edge…

“I need to breathe! Where is the air? I am not afraid of water. I am a confident swimmer. I just can’t seem to find any air!”

Reaching the point of desperation, I knew I had to make a MOVE…

I realized I was in the water, under the raft, swirling around in an eddy…

Of course this was not the time to contemplate life’s challenges-although the challenge facing me had me in a hard place.

Looking back, I realize that when we find ourselves in tough circumstances, facing testy trials, we may be forced to make a desperate move in order to survive.

I let go of my glasses, opened my eyes, even though it meant possibly losing my contact lenses, and I pushed off from the raft in the direction of the light.

My head bobbed up above the water an I took a breath. AHHH air, sweet life giving air.

I had made a desperate move and it paid off.

Let go the unimportant.

Open my eyes.

Seek the light.

Take a breath.

Is God calling you to make a desperate move? Go for it.

LISTENING WHILE I WAIT

I may not want to listen. I may be too busy to stop and listen. I may not know how to listen.

Doesn’t matter… this morning the thunder that rolled over my neighborhood forced me to sit up and listen. In fact, before the first light of day, before the first chirp of feathered friend, I crept downstairs to watch the display of lightening and listen…

“Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right and righteous people live by walking in them.” Hosea 14:9

I finished reading Hosea this morning. I chose to read Hosea because this prophet of God prophesied to the people of Israel during King Hezekiah’s reign. If you have been following along with my Wednesdays are for Waiting posts, you know that King Hezekiah was the ultimate Wait Trainer.

So… what to do while we wait?

Listen to God, that’s what!

Besides rain drops, I hear God’s encouraging words- “stay on my path.”

His path calls me to repent, return to Him, and receive His blessings.
(Hosea 14:1-2)

So-in addition to standing with outstretched arms, praising God for the so-badly-needed-falling-rain-on-our-parched-state blessing, I pour over the amazing chapters of Hosea and listen to God’s words:

“I will be like a refreshing dew from heaven.” Hosea 14:5

During our draught, we have not been able to water our lawns or wash cars. This has been going on for almost a year! I watch literally as my garden turns into a desert. I see with my very eyes how God’s Word and His discipline works its way thorough my life, illustrating what life looks like without God.

If I would have listened I would have been wise, “understood” and
“discerned.”

It’s no surprise that I find myself back in God’s Wait Room. There God reminds me to repent, return, and receive more of Him.

Then I hear God telling me:
“I will heal you.”
“My love will know no bounds.”
“I am the one who answers all your prayers and cares for you.”

Next time you want to hear from God, read a chapter or two from the book of Hosea. What do you hear Him telling you while you wait?

Slowly… I have learned that waiting does not have to be a waste of time.

While I wait, I can use my time wisely. In fact I can take the most important opportunity of my life during this time. I can become more intimately acquainted with God.

If you have read any of my entries on waiting, you know I learned to wait by studying the life of King Hezekiah.

His biography in Chronicles and Kings reminds us of his greatness. He clung to the Lord. As I pour over his life, I learn that one of his activities while he waited was to dig deep. He dug deep under the city of Jerusalem channeling water from outside the city to a place inside the city so its citizens had a steady supply of water.

Digging deep, finding springs of living water. That is what my role model, wait trainer King Hezekiah did while he waited.

So I spend my time, while I wait, digging deep, deep into God’s Word.

Lately I am driven by Hosea’s prophecy. I read what God told him to tell the people in Hezekiah’s time and I relate it to me, today, in the United States. What I find, loud and clear is God’s desire for His people to know Him.

Hosea 4:6: “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.”

As I sit in God’s Wait Room, I have a choice: either train and grow spiritually stronger or allow my circumstances to destroy me. It is a battle. Sometimes the waits are so heavy, they threaten to crush me.

That does not have to be the case, though! If I spend my time becoming more intimately and deeply acquainted with God, my Father, I will not be destroyed.

So… I read on in Hosea and learn so much about the God of the universe.

First lesson I learn about God I find in Hosea 1:2. He goes to great lengths to show us how much he loves. He uses an illustration that grabs our attention. He says we have acted like a prostitute!

Instead of remaining faithful to our Creator and worshipping Him, we have turned away, focusing on the blessings He showered upon us. Most of chapter 2 lists the gifts God gave us and then points out how we have misused everything He gave us, “the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, silver and gold…” (Hosea 2:8)

I think, “ How do I feel when my gifts to others are not appreaciated?” No wonder God is angry and seeks to discipline me. I need to be taken to His Wait Room where He can get my attention, teach me to grow stronger so I am not swayed and tempted by the world’s ways.

God doesn’t stop by merely calling us names. At the end of chapter 2 He calls out to us:

“But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gatewy of hope. She will give herself to me there…” (vs 14-15)

God’s Wait Room may seem like a desert, but it is there in that dry and desolate, lonely place where He knows, we will finally listen.

I need to stop and listen to his tender words.

While in God’s Wait Room, I am becoming acquainted with my God.

What have I learned about him as I grow to know him? He wants me to know that He is a husband to me.

What do you know about God?

Be warned, the world's depiction of God does not necesarily agree with The Word's description of God.

So, let’s talk about Him. What is your favorite fact about God? You confidence in Him will only grow stronger if you, not only list His attributes but, site the location in the Bible where you found that portrayal of God to be true.

BTW- Why not begin an exercise with your children! As you read with them from the Bible have them make a list of God’s attributes. What a way to build a child’s confidence!