Half a Rainbow

Awoke to a sunny but blustery day, a hint of the summer which is fast fading mixed with the unmistakable announcement that autumn is round the corner.

Down the bottom of the field outside of the living room window, half a rainbow sprouted from the ground. I love rainbows. One of the best things about Scottish weather is the frequency of rainbows.

Inevitably the song is in my head. Somewhere over the Rainbow. The words betray such a poignant longing for a better place, beyond reach, out of sight, hoped for desperately.

I thought of my wee anxieties and they pale into insignificance next to the terrifying situations in much of the Middle East right now. How the displaced, bereaved, wounded and frightened people there must long for ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ as they run for safety and often find nothing but barrenness and emptiness, no shelter, no food, no water. 

Jesus told his friends, that in this world there would be trouble, but not to lose heart because he has overcome the world. Encouraging words to hold on to in times of trouble, but I’m thinking that people in these Middle Eastern catastrophes may well be unable to hold on to any words, even if they do know them. What they really need is the Word to hold on to them. 

When we have times of illness or loss, there can be a numbness that prevents us from remaining faithful even to daily reading and prayer habits. In those times, it is the church gathering round whose prayers uphold the sufferer. 

May we, the church universal, be gathered round those suffering appalling pain and loss and do the praying for them. There is a place, over the rainbow so to speak, and Jesus has gone there before us to prepare it. May the people in dire need today have their hearts comforted by the peace which passes all understanding, so that they may rest and be cared for by the God of the poor.

Give them a full rainbow today, Lord, to remind them of your faithfulness.

Glut or Scarcity

Suddenly the ‘crops’ in the veggie patch are ready to eat, and like a two-year-old seeking attention, they want attention NOW or they will bolt. 

The lettuce and spinach will bolt, that is. The peas will swell until there is no room in the pod and then they will wither. The fruit will be pecked by birds or shrivel. The green beans will grow longer and longer until they are as tough as the sole of a shoe.

Moving from the veggie patch to the bus stop, it’s like the saying that you wait an hour for a bus and finally three come along at the same time. 

Why don’t they space themselves out? (as they’re supposed to do) Why don’t the veggies ripen at varying times? 

Makes me wonder about other aspects of living. Are we allowed only a few precious moments to flower and bloom, and then wither and droop and become useless to others?

I don’t think so. I’m thinking about the fruits of the Spirit. They grow in each of our lives, some slowly and imperceptibly (like patience!) and others in spurts and very noticeably. I believe that as we allow these fruits to ripen and then nourish those around us, new fruits ‘set’ and perhaps have a sweeter or more mellow taste. 

I believe that the climate in the Promised Land allows for three crops / harvests a year. Continuous growing at varying speeds of development. Unlike Scotland’s short sharp growing season, our lives are like the seasons in the Promised Land. If we give ourselves to God, we will bear successive crops of fruit to nourish those souls whose spirits hunger and thirst for they know not what.

To bear such crops, though, we must remain rooted in Jesus. Refreshed in him. Fed and watered by him. Trusting wholeheartedly in him.

Jesus is the real source of nourishment and fruitfulness. Abide in me, he said. Not a suggestion. A command.

Peas in a Pod

Hurricane winds have calmed and, though the temps have cooled and it feels as if summer is on the wane, it is pleasant enough to get out into the veggie patch and bring in some of the harvest.

Yesterday I scooped up peas, spinach, lettuce, rasps and blueberries (any wonder my back was sore?) but there is more out there just waiting to be brought in and dealt with. 

It’s so wonderful having food fresh from the garden, free of any sorts of chemicals or sprays, but ... It is a lot of work. Because I haven’t been out there checking daily, many of the peas I brought in were swollen against each other in the pods, coming out nearly square in shape because they had run out of room to grow. They are still delicious to eat, but not as delicious as the smaller, sweeter ones.

Jesus looked out at a field and declared to his friends that the fields were ready to be harvested but there were too few workers. (sounds familiar...) He, of course, wasn’t talking about the wheat or grain harvest but the spiritual harvest.

We look round our world today, in such throes of agony and despair, and see so much need. People in trouble don’t need a sermon, they need a hand. They need a listening ear and a compassionate heart and then some practical help. 

Peas only grow in the pod during the short (in Scotland) growing season before the plant begins to brown and wither. Then, whatever the size of the pea, the pod begins to wrinkle and dry up and the peas inside grow inedible.

The fields are ripe. Where can I be productive today in a practical way?

Promised Land

We have a colloquial phrase about ‘going into the Promised Land’. I suppose we think of such a place akin to heaven itself, a place of perfection and peace. 

The Israelites certainly thought of the Promised Land as a place blessed by God in which they could live in peace and prosper. They had a few problems going into it, associated mostly with their lack of faith in God to deliver.

I read the other day that whatever we focus our eyes on grows bigger in our sight. As we focus on our fears, they inflate until they totally overwhelm us. Many are the stories of agonising childbirth experiences which are told to expectant mothers, drawing them to consider elective C sections rather than endure the horrors recounted to them. Others like to inflate the difficulties associated with a probationary teaching year until those embarking on this second part of their teacher training feel overwhelmed and totally intimidated. Just two examples of ways in which what we focus on turns into a giant which can paralyse us in anxiety and initiate self-doubt and fear.

We need to train our eyes to focus on God and to stay there, not to wander. I don’t imagine that David’s gaze shifted from the target of Goliath’s forehead as he slung his rock. But his inner eye would have been totally trained on God, who he knew was mighty to save and to deliver. 

Giants prevent us from entering all that God has for us. We are easily stalled by fears imagined by us or fed us by others. I know that God has a promised land he dreams that each of us will step in to. 

Today I want to extend the borders by focusing on God and trusting him for what he has promised.

Years ago, he promised that he would find the publisher for one of the books I have written. I am waiting for the fulfilment of that promise, but I am aware that over the years I’ve not so much shifted my gaze on to giants as let my eyelids droop and fall asleep. In other words, I’ve kind of given up on the fulfilment of that promise. But today, publicly and deliberately, I am going to refocus my gaze on God to deliver on this promise, and move forward into a new writing project.

I am going into a new neighbourhood of my promised land, trusting in God all the way. How about you?

Wholehearted enthusiasm

There is nothing commendable about being half-hearted. When we are lukewarm towards a project, we are unlikely to excel at it or perhaps even to complete it. 

By contrast, when we wholeheartedly pursue a project or a leader, our enthusiasm and vision can draw others into the goal and achieve much more than we might have even imagined. 

People who are sold out for a cause ignore obstacles and overcome setbacks because their belief in the rectitude of their action propels them forward. 

People who are sold out for God trust in him implicitly. The obstacles and pitfalls may be there but with their eyes focused on God and his promises, they soar over the mountains and vault over the pitfalls. 

As I hung the clothes out this morning, my eye was drawn to a hawk soaring above the field. It reminded me of the eagle, riding on the air currents, expending very little energy as it adjusts its feathery wings perfectly in order to continue to soar effortlessly above the ground. 

Isaiah wrote, thousands of years ago, that ‘those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’

Caleb trusted God wholeheartedly. He saw the same giants and desert that his fellow scouts did, but he knew that with God’s help they were no obstacle. He hoped in the Lord, and the Lord enabled him to soar on wings like eagles.

Today I am trusting God wholeheartedly despite the giants I see on the horizon. I am not going to run around like a headless chicken, but rather I am going to soar on wings like eagles. 

Half-heartedness never achieved a thing.