31 Days: The rest of wild flowers

Yesterday I wrote about the Sabbath being a day of delight in the Lord. And one way I experienced that delight was to explore and photograph wild flowers growing by the side of the road. These tiny flowers are quite something in their unique detail and beauty.

It’s late in the season and some of the native orchids have already sprung up and died off. There’s only a small window of opportunity to see them before they’re gone and you have to wait for another year.

It reminds me that we are far more precious to God than the wild flowers, so if he cares for them enough to dress them so beautifully, how much more will he take care of our needs.

If we trust him instead of worrying about where and how we’re going to get our needs met, our trust leads us into rest.

Matthew 6:25-30

“… I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

This is Day 19 of The Rhthym of Rest series (the Write 31 Days challenge).

What I learned from a 2 1/2 year-old about asking for help

“Can you please help me?”

As I bend down, my 2 1/2 year-old niece hands me a lollipop in a plastic wrapper.

It’s my 5 year-old niece’s birthday and the girls and their cousins have just beaten a piñata to pieces, liberating all the lollies onto the concrete slab of the carport. The piñata started out as a large number five covered in a rainbow of coloured paper strips, and ended in a mangle of torn cardboard quickly forgotten in the scramble for sugared treasure.

The lollipop comes from my young niece’s treasure hoard.

Tearing from the top, I peel back the plastic skin and place the glistening lollipop back into her waiting hand.

There’s something precious in her question. She believed and trusted that I was willing and able to give the help that she needed.

It is one of my favourite auntie moments, being asked for help.

And I can’t help but wonder if that’s a little how God feels when I come to him, asking for help and trusting him to answer.

But so often I try to do things on my own. So often I tell myself that I should be able to do something without having to ask for help.

Even when I really need it.

So often I’m that other version of a two year-old: “I can do it myself.”

Despite all evidence to the contrary.

So often I’m afraid that I really am on my own.

“Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”
Isaiah 41:10, NASB

As I was my niece’s helper, so God is my helper.

I don’t need to beg or whine or demand his help. God is my helper, and he is delighted when I trust him to take care of me.

Monthly Musings – January

It’s a new year, and I’m trying something new here with a monthly round-up I’m calling Monthly Musings (unless I – or you – come up with a catchier title). So what did I discover, experience, try, or learn in January? Here are a few things I’d like to share with you:

• #OneWord365 – my word for this year is TRUST. I’ve felt the Lord whispering in the quiet corners of my mind, nudging me when the muscles in my neck, shoulders and back have begun to tighten with worry or stress.  Being naturally inclined to want things under control, trust and I don’t have a good history. One of my prayers for this year is to walk more closely with the Lord, learning to trust him with the large and the small things of life; to rest in him. Let’s face it, rest is not really an option without trust. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

• Frozen (the movie) – Granted, I’ve been a little slow to discover this one, but better late than never. Along with the music (and Olaf the snowman), I loved how it dealt with the theme of fear creating barriers that shut people out, isolating us from those we might love instead. As an introvert who struggles with fear, it was good to be reminded that isolation is not the answer.

• The One Year Hearing His Voice Devotional by Chris Tiegreen. I’ve been appreciating the wisdom in these pages all through January. Here’s a little taste from the entry on 15 January: “…listening to God’s voice moment by moment is necessary for our spiritual lives and growth. If we don’t hear Him, we don’t thrive.”

• Bethel Music has just released a new worship CD/DVD: We will not be shaken. I’m currently playing it on repeat at home and in the car, so it’s safe to say I’m loving it. The opening lines to the title track (which is also the first song on the CD) are: “For we trust in our God, and through his unfailing love, we will not be shaken.” That’s a good start right there.

What did you discover in January?