Lately I’ve been amazed at how God “speaks” to me and shows Himself through the mundane, the small and the ordinary. What do I mean?
Just some random thoughts and incidents with nature leave me in awe of our mighty Creator who shows His creativity and magnificence at every turn.
I’ve been in awe for years when I cut into a bell pepper. Just seeing the hundreds of seeds contained within, but noticing that they are all arranged in a symmetrical pattern makes me realize and remember that God is a creator who doesn’t operate randomly. He has a purpose in everything and is a planner. Stop the next time to cut into that red, yellow, green or orange bell pepper and just look at the myriad of seeds! Any God who can arrange seeds like that in an orderly fashion certainly can handle the details of my life and yours.
I was about to chop up carrots the other day. As I scraped off the junk off the top layer, I was reminded that God does that for us. Once we believe and confess His Son, Jesus, as our Savior and Lord, He comes in to reside within us. But as we grow…read the Word, serve Him, listen to the Holy Spirit, He shows us what areas of our lives need to be “scraped away”. Maybe it’s a bad habit, perhaps it’s just flat out a sinful attitude or even more, it might be idols in our life that are trying to take His rightful place of being on the throne. When we allow Jesus to peel off the ugly brown stuff and the fleshy, sinful parts of us, then what people see is Jesus. They see a “new” creation that’s just like the carrot when it’s peeled. It’s bright, refreshing, clean, new and so appealing.
With spring making its entrance just a few weeks ago, the weather has been so pleasant! I love to open the door to our deck in the mornings so I can clearly hear the birds chirp and feel the fresh air flow into our house. The other day when I had the door wide open, a huge fly flew in to the house. Somehow, he managed to find his way to the master bathroom. He was so gigantic that I heard him buzzing around in there and saw him. I opened the window in hopes he would find his way out. Believe it or not, he did. I was so relieved for him. In the process of having the bathroom window open, a wasp flew in! I didn’t want to kill him; no need for that. Instead, I grabbed my rectangular duster that I use for my hardwood floors. I thought I could coax the wasp to land on the duster. My plan was to get him on the end of the duster, and then I’d gently move the duster over to the open window. Sounds like an easy and simple plan, right? Well, I forgot one thing. That wasp was so frantic! He was flitting from one surface to the next. The gigantic cream-colored monster (my duster) coming at him scared him to death! I kept talking to him and telling him that I was trying to help him…help him escape and get to a better place. I even told him at one point, “Just trust me, buddy. I’m not trying to hurt you.” Even as I spoke those words, it dawned on me. God does that exact thing for us. He sends circumstances and what we perceive to be giants or monsters to move us towards a different direction. He’s not trying to hurt us, but we get so afraid and frantic that we don’t pause to recognize His purpose in our lives.
I eventually got that wasp going in the right direction, and he finally flew out the window. I was overjoyed! Don’t you know God is delighted when He is able to get our attention and move us in the right direction! I was reminded again to “trust Him” and know that what the Father allows in my life is for my own good. He’s not trying to harm me, just like I wasn’t trying to hurt that poor, misguided and terrified wasp.
I close with this one. My husband and I were talking on the phone the other day to our adult son. We had him on speaker, and both of us were trying to listen and talk. Norman and I were in the living room as we communicated with our son. Our living room has a huge picture window that runs almost the width of the wall. It’s one of my most favorite parts of our house as you can see a sea of green out that window as there are pines, oaks, maples and dogwood trees, not to mention the colorful plants we have on the deck. But as we looked out, two squirrels had climbed on to the railing of our deck. I was watching them like a hawk as some squirrel had gotten into one of my plants a couple weeks prior and had a field day digging! I was ready to knock on the window hard to prevent that from happening. But that didn’t occur. Norman and I stood very still. Those squirrels started grooming themselves, just like a dog would. But what happened next was a rare site. One squirrel went over to the other one and licked it…then he began grooming and picking stuff off the other one. It was so sweet and kind; this routine went on for several minutes. It was so apparent that it was a sign of affection from one squirrel to the other. The squirrel getting the royal spa treatment closed his eyes at one point as if to say, “Ah, this feels sooo good!” It was amazing to watch. Then the squirrel giving the bath and treatment even lifted the other one’s tail and rubbed it to get bugs, debris and whatever off. In all my years on this earth, I have never witnessed such a display of affection between two creatures. Norman said the same thing. They were on the rail of the deck for at least 5-7 minutes, engaged with one another. Norman and I didn’t dare move. We sure didn’t want to disrupt them and this ritual.
Both of us tried to listen to our son, but I have to say at this point, we were greatly distracted.
The old adage says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I’m including a picture that Norman snapped quickly of these two precious creatures. I hope it gives you an image of what was taking place.
Even more than that, I think there are many spiritual connections we can make to this image of the squirrels.
God loves us so much. He sent Jesus to earth to die in our place. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and into our hearts and lives, He becomes that “friend that sticks closer than a brother”. Just like that little pal squirrel who came alongside his buddy, Jesus comes alongside of us (if we allow Him) and “cleans us off”. Through His Word, the Holy Spirit, friends, church and circumstances, Jesus removes the gnats, fleas, and varmints that are causing us to stumble.
Just a few weeks ago, I went to my friend, Jesus, to ask Him to help me clean up an attitude I had about a situation at church. It took several days, but He did just that. I couldn’t do it on my own. My attitude stunk, and I knew I needed His help to get past it. After He spoke to my heart and did a number on me, I was like that little squirrel getting the spa treatment. “Oh, thank you, Father. Nothing feels so good as your conviction, cleansing and healing power! You and only you know how to free up!”
Look around you, friends. God is constantly “speaking” through all types of things!
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