People who live in the desert speak of the flowering of the desert that takes place practically overnight.
Often we are forced to go through desert times where there doesn’t seem to be any possibility of flowering. Religiously intentional people will do so purposely and consciously, but most people are drawn through it quite against their will.
I knew a woman who endured a terrible depression. Depression is something of an epidemic in our country. There are all sorts of reasons for it: physiological, psychological, experiential, spiritual—but however it is produced, it is awful.
This woman was in that sort of state for an extended period of time. She came to see me and asked what it could possibly mean. I encouraged her to read the great desert texts of the Bible, especially Isaiah, that tell us flowers bloom precisely in the desert.
In time, and after much study, she became a therapist and now helps to guide others through their deserts.
The apostle James also talks about waiting for new life to spring forth: “Be patient, my brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer awaits the precious yield of the soil. He looks forward to it patiently while the soil receives the winter and the spring rains” (James 5:7).
There is so much packed into that image. The farmer watches the plants and crops grow, but he doesn’t fully grasp how this happens. The gestation takes place silently and in secret, below the ground. There is a time when a beautiful plant, exultant in the sun, is nothing more than a seed, buried under a foot of earth. There’s nothing beautiful about it, nothing impressive when it is buried in the earth.
So too are we during our desert periods.
What is the worst thing that a farmer could do? Pick at the plant impatiently, trying to hurry its growth. It takes just as much time as it takes. And what else is required? Winter and spring rains. What is more obnoxious, more disagreeable than winter rain? But without it, there will be no growth.
So the depressions, setbacks, failures, sufferings of our lives are like winter rains.
Do we trust in the work of the divine cultivator?
Blessings of the Day I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much. I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment. There is but one love of Jesus, as there is but one person in the poor -- Jesus. We take vows of chastity to love Christ with undivided love; to be able to love him with undivided love we take a vow of poverty which frees us from all material possessions, and with that freedom we can love him with undivided love, and from this vow of undivided love we surrender ourselves totally to him in the person who takes his place. Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living _expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. When Christ said: ''I was hungry and you fed me,'' he didn't mean only the hunger for bread and for food; he also meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst his own and his own received him not, and it hurt him then and it has kept on hurting him. The same hunger, the same loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and to be loved and wanted by. Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness; and that is the hardest part, that's real hunger. Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta The Lord keeps a clean house
I heard someone knocking at my heart´s door,
and I looked to see that it was Jesus the Lord.
I knew right away that I couldn´t let him in, because my heart was too dirty from the stains of sin.
Jealousy and strife hung on the walls Lying and cheating litered the halls
Envy and lust hung on the shelf Along with alcohol and drugs that I had put there myself.
Hatred and malice was scattered all around. Murder and robbery could even be found. Fornication and adultery were plentiful too. Jesus kept knocking, but what could I do?
I said, "Lord, it´s too dirty for you to come in. Wait another day, and come back again. Let me clean it up the best that I can, so that when you return, I´ll be a better man".
But the Lord said, "Child, you listen to me. There´s no possible way you can get it clean. You´ve tried and you´ve tried, but it still looks the same. But I´ll clean it for you by the power of my name. It´s something that you just cannot do alone. But I´ll wash it with my blood, because it is my home. So open the door and let me come in. I´ll clean up those dirty stains of sin".
I opened the door and he was faithful and true. He cleaned it right up, now everything´s new. Now when my heart gets dirty, it doesn´t stay for long.
Because Jesus, my Lord, keeps a very clean home.
Anonymous writer Take Me Too
I was driving to the grocery store just thinking of everything on
my list to do today. Taking the kids to soccer practice, cleaning the
house, getting groceries, getting the oil changed in the car, the list
went on and on. I was feeling overwhelmed and was already tired
before I had even gotten started.
On my way to the store I saw something horrible happen, a
train had run into a car that was crossing the tracks. I thought
"Oh no! This is horrible, there is no way the driver of that car
could have lived!!"
I was the closest car to the tracks so I put my car in
park and got out. I ran over to the car and looked in and could
not believe what I was seeing. Tears came to my eyes and I
just couldn't take it. Inside the car was a woman driving that
was obviously dead. In the backseat was a baby in it's car
seat bleeding everywhere and next to the baby was a little
girl who I guessed to be about 4 years old and she was bleeding also.
Just then the little girl spoke. She said, "Is my mommy and
baby sister okay?" I just looked at her and said, "Honey I
don't know. There is a doctor on his way right now."
Just then the little girl started crying saying, "Don't take my mommy
and my baby sister. Take me with you too!! Please!!" She was
pleading at who knows what to take her - but take her where???
I asked the little girl who she was talking to and she said,
"Don't you see? That Angel is taking my mommy and my baby
sister! I want to go with them too! My mommy is waving goodbye
to me and she is holding my baby sister and she is smiling!"
The little girl started to cry because she did not want to
stay, she wanted to go with her mommy and her baby sister.
I felt so sorry for her. I didn't believe in God and I thought to
myself, where did an Angel come from? What kind of God would
take a mommy and a baby but not the little sister?
At that moment I saw the little girl start to smile so big
as she held her arms out to something, someone to pick
her up. I thought to myself that she must be delirious and
maybe she is hurt worse than I thought. Just then the little girl
closed her eyes and slumped over in her seat. She was dead!
I couldn't be sad even though this was a 4-year-old little
girl that had just died. You wouldn't be sad either if you could see that beautiful smile on her face! I guess her mommy and baby
sister came back to get her. That was also the day that God
came to get me - as that was the day that I became a
believer and turned my life over to the Living God.
Jesus said, " if you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed
of you before my Father."
Yes, I do love God.
He is my source of existence and Savior and
keeps me functioning each and
everyday. Without Him, I will be nothing.
Without Him, I am nothing but with Him
I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)
Lenten PrayerFather, you have taught us to overcome our sins by prayer, fasting and works of mercy. When we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Verse of the Day "The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings." Jeremiah 17:9-10 March 16 - Jesus Calling It is good that you recognize your weakness. That keeps you looking to Me, your Strength. Abundant life is not necessarily health and wealth; it is living in continual dependence on Me. Instead of trying to fit this day into a preconceived mold, relax and be on the lookout for what I am doing. This mind-set will free you to enjoy Me and to find what I have planned for you to do. This is far better than trying to make things go according to your own plan. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Lighten up and laugh with Me. You have Me on your side, so what are you worried about? I can equip you to do absolutely anything, as long as it is My will. The more difficult your day, the more I yearn to help you. Anxiety wraps you up in yourself, trapping you in your own thoughts. When you look to Me and whisper My Name, you break free and receive My help. Focus on Me, and you will find Peace in My Presence. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
—Philippians 4:13 amp A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
—Proverbs 17:22 |
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