Walk on the Wild Side

We have been away for the weekend. We went south to a family wedding. 

We rented a very comfortable cottage on the island where all the celebrations were going on, sharing the house with Don's brother, sister and brother-in-law. There was the seaside atmosphere of a place the family used to own on the west coast of Scotland, with the same convivial family times, shared meals, good fish to eat and wine to wash it down. 

We were there for three days, and as we head back north now, I am reflecting on the fact that I only opened my Bible twice, never prayed with Don, missed church, and didn't say grace before meals. We slipped into the routines of those around us, those with whom Don grew up, and who don't share our faith.

It has made me think of the descriptions in the Bible about who we are...that we have been grafted in to the true vine, which is Jesus. I grow roses at home, and I know it doesn't take long for cultivated roses to revert to their wild state. Seven leaves instead of five. Different flowers. The grafting-in can revert to wildness.

I am the vine, Jesus said. You are the branches. Grafted in. If we don't stay in him, we revert to our default mode, our natural, wild state.

It takes thought and effort to remain grafted in. We can't assume anything. We can't presume to remain in Christ if we make no effort to remain in him, through building up our relationship with him in Bible reading and prayer.

I remember what I was like before I was grafted in. I remember the sense of emptiness and sometimes hopelessness. 

I don't want to go back there again. I want to remain grafted in. 

Glad to be heading north now, back to my own routine, my own wee prayer window. My routine walks with Dusty, which draw my thoughts to God. 

But I wonder, how long will it take before my default mode will always be with face turned upwards in worship, no matter the circumstances.

Of course I did pray. I did thank God for the food silently before I ate. I did pray for people and situations that I know of right now. So maybe I didn't so much revert to wild, to seven leaves, as just express my faith in a different way. Or am I just kidding myself?

Hmm.

Early Birds

As the welcome sun slides north, raising hopes of warmth coming with it soon, the days stretch out and that means there’s no sleeping late unless you have black out curtains. I didn’t even have the shade down last night so was wide awake just after 5 am. 

It’s a nice time to be awake, listening to the birds singing and the silence not yet broken by others in the house. But this morning I allowed it to be wrecked by worry.

Once it starts, it’s so hard to control. The worries proliferate as you tick your way through them. I should have done what Jesus did. The Bible says he got up while it was still dark, many a morning, and went out on the hills to be alone with his Father in heaven.

I didn’t get out to the paths to be alone with my Father and Dusty until after 8, but what a difference it made. God helped me to get things into perspective. He highlighted my own predilection to avoid confrontation and conflict and nudged me to hang in there, promising a blessing as we see him work in various situations right now. 

Even our Bible reading exhorted us to persevere. Hebrews chapter 12 begins with a crowd of witnesses cheering us on to keep doing the good things that we are trying to do, despite set-backs, and not to be discouraged or ‘grow weary’.

So, praise God for the early morning. Praise him for the reminder that he is in control and there is no need to be anxious about anything or anyone. And I thank him for being with me today.

He’s with you too, you know, urging you on, in your corner. Listen out for him.