Under His Wings

For several years now, I've been participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I heard about it from a fellow bird lover, and it's been a highlight of my February ever since. I have bird feeders in front and in back of my house, so I get a lot of opportunity to see several species up close. (In case you want to participate, the Cornell people welcome bird counts at any time but do a dedicated count on Presidents' Day weekend every year.)

This week I have been struck by the numerous references to birds in scripture. Of course, there are the Old Testament stories that involve birds: Noah's use of the raven and the dove, God's supply of quail for food in the desert, Elijah's daily food delivery via raven.

There's also the teaching of Jesus in which he calls attention to birds to make a point about God's care. "Look at the birds of the air," he says. "[T]hey do not sow, . . . neither do they gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" (Matthew 6:26)  And again in Matthew 10: 29-31: "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. . . . "Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows." Comforting words indeed.

What strikes me most, however, are the metaphorical references. Psalm 36:7 says this about God: "[T]he children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings." So often when I see a majestic bird fly overhead, I think of this passage and others like it. Those birds sail on the wind as if they have not a care in the world. They appear so sure, so undisturbed. This is a picture of God's overseeing nature and work in my life. Then in Matthew 23, Jesus says he "would have gathered" the people of Jerusalem "as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings." This image is one of close protection and tenderness. How precious to know that Jesus loves us this much.

I love it that God used something so universal to help us understand him. Birds are everywhere! This time of year, we hear them when we step outside in the morning. They gather in crowds around the feeder and twitter in the bushes, ubiquitous reminders of God's goodness, provision, and love.

--Sherry Poff

The Measure of Our Lives

Over many years, my husband, Paul, has often spoken to children or teen groups in churches, children’s homes, and prison about his life testimony.  He sometimes used a yardstick as one of his illustrations. He told them that if the yardstick can represent the length of a “normal” life, each half inch represents a year. He marked off nine inches, one quarter of a “life,” representing 18 years. He talked to the youngsters about the fact that in this first quarter of their lives, many of them would make decisions that would affect them for their entire lives, for good or bad. He told them of his own poor decisions and good decisons and encouraged them to make Godly choices.

Most of us are well past that first quarter of our yardstick, and we have, indeed, made many choices that will affect our lives forever. When we were young, we may have thought our decisions affected only ourselves. But now we see that our choices have affected and will affect many other people -- parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, spouses, children, or the children of others.

Every birthday offers us a new half inch of time. Some of us are in the middle of our yardstick, and some are nearing those very last half inches – and a few have even added some inches to the yardstick! Regardless, this year is our one half inch in which to make decisions that affect us and everyone we know (and, perhaps, many we don’t know) for our lives here and for eternity. The half inch seems so small, the yardstick so long. My entire collection of remaining half inches seems very small! But as long as we are on this side of the end of the measuring stick, we have opportunity to “lay up treasure in heaven.”

Chris Tomlin’s song, “All to Us,” has the line, “Let the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives.” Is it? Press on.

--Lynda Shenefield

Every Quarter Counts

I was recently listening to a message entitled “The Christian Life, Twenty-Five Cents at a Time,” preached by a pastor in California named Ric Rodeheaver. His main point was that much of the Christian life doesn’t look miraculous or extraordinary. It’s mostly lived in the midst of the mundane, in ordinary day-to-day life. This can seem hard in a culture that overemphasizes the sensational.  Rodeheaver used the following illustration which I have continued to ponder in the weeks since listening to the message:

  “We think giving our life to the Lord is like taking a $1000 bill, laying it on the table, and saying, ‘Here’s my life, Lord, I’m giving it all.’ But the reality is, He sends most of us to the bank to cash in that $1000 dollars for a bunch of quarters. And He asks us to go through our lives, just putting out 25 cents here, maybe 50 cents there: listen to the neighbor kids’ troubles instead of telling them to get off my lawn, go to a committee meeting, give a cup of water to a shaky old man’s hand in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love – 25 cents at a time. It would be easier to go out in a flash of glory. It’s harder to live the Christian life 25 cents at a time over the long haul. … For most of us, it [the Christian life] means faithfully depositing/ investing 25 cents of our lives in simple humble acts, unknown acts of obedience and faithfulness, over the long haul in these practical works of service.”

We all tend to admire the sensational, don’t we? Those are the stories from the Bible that children love: Daniel in the lion’s den, Jonah in the fish, Esther before the king. Those are the missionary stories about which books are written: Amy Carmichael, George Mueller, Gladys Aylward. And we rightfully love those stories. But what about those in the Bible who were simply called to obey ‘one quarter’ at a time: the Shunammite woman who opened her home to Elisha the prophet, the four men who lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof to see Jesus, the believers who gathered together to pray for Peter when the doors of his cell were miraculously opened. And I can’t help but think of my parents and the missionary families that I grew up around whose names will never appear in a missionary biography, but who faithfully served, one quarter at a time, in the places to which God called them. Those stories, the mundane and ordinary ones, are just as important as the sensational ones.

And I ask myself, in the midst of my own seemingly mundane life, how am I spending my quarters? C.S. Lewis once wrote that “the present is all lit up with eternal rays.” In other words, right now, today, I can make a difference for eternity. In the midst of cleaning house, making meals, and raising children, in the mundane day-to-day of work or grocery shopping or eating out, we have quarters to offer to God: a joyful attitude on display for others to see, an encouraging word, a listening ear, a warm meal, a card, a prayer. It is not simply the sensational acts that God rewards. It is faithfulness to whatever God calls us to do minute-by-minute, day-by-day. And while to the rest of the world, it may look like a boring and dull life, it is the kind of life to which Christ refers in the parable in Matthew 25, when the master responds, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Sisters, let’s be encouraged as we go into our ordinary lives this week. Let’s look for opportunities to spend the quarters of our time, energy, and finances in service to our King. And let’s trust God to bring extraordinary results out of our faithfulness to Him in the ordinary.

Amy O'Rear

Learning to Walk!

            I am learning to walk!  Yes, I know a woman my age should already know how, should have learned decades ago, and I did know how.  I even taught thousands of students how to walk while teaching them how to be effective speakers from the moment they stood up until the moment they sat back down.  But since I had my knee replacement two months ago, walking has not been the same.  I have had to concentrate on every step.  I’m learning to walk again.

            And I’m reminded that we must concentrate on our spiritual walk.  There is a proper spiritual walk.

            When I was a young teen spending time with my grandmother in Murfreesboro, Gram would assign me a hymn for the week.  I was to learn how to play that song on the piano in “evangelistic style”—octave in the soprano with tenor and alto in the chord, octave in the bass.  It had to be done just right.

            One of the hymns she assigned me was “Footsteps of Jesus” by Mary B. C. Slade.  The last few days I have heard Him calling me through that song.

                        Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling, “Come, follow Me!”

                        And we see where Thy footprints falling lead us to Thee.

                        Though they lead o’er the cold dark mountains seeking His sheep,

                        Or along by Siloam’s fountains, helping the weak.

           

Sometimes we must follow where there is no one else to walk with us.  Sometimes we are in the public square with people surrounding us.

                        If they lead through the temple holy, preaching the Word,

                        Or in homes of the poor and lowly, serving the Lord.

            Sometimes we have a prominent role.  Other times we may be in quiet obscure places.

                        Then, at last, when on high He sees us, our journey done,

                        We will rest where the steps of Jesus end at His throne.

            Someday we will no longer be walking, but resting at His throne.

                        Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow.

                        We will follow the steps of Jesus where’er they go.

           

            In I Corinthians 11:1, Paul said, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.”  I cannot hear or think of that song without thinking of my grandmother and the example she gave me of walking in Jesus’ steps.  I want others to see such an example in me that they could follow Christ as they follow me.

                                                                        ~~Faith Himes Lamb