In harmony with His world

Near our home is a wildlife sanctuary. It isn’t famous nor does anyone charge admission. Instead, it is a deep coulee, heavily treed that runs from a highway on the south toward a main avenue on the north. This subdivision was purchased and built from a man who insisted these several acres be left in their natural state. Some have seen moose in this wild and tangled place, but it is inhabited mostly by birds and smaller animals.

The park has two paved trails going in opposite directions from the entrance across the street. I often ride my bike on these trails and am amazed that I can go from city traffic into a forest containing no motors and little noise. The most delightful treasures are the smells. I detect the perfume of clover, wild roses, tree leaves, mushrooms, mown grass (from homes on the park’s perimeter), and wild flowers. These will change as summer progresses, but return in every spring in May and June.

These stressful days under the discipline of God and the pressures of life, I am blessed when I get outside under blue skies and bright sun. His care seems nearer, easier to experience when the leaves rustle and birds sing. Today’s devotional reminds me of the power of wandering in a park even as God is working to change my life…

Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. (Job 5:17–23)

God’s blessings, even in His discipline are genius. He works to change my life, but in the working, He also brings great joy and peace. I can count on Him to bring June every year, with these aromas, the sights and sounds of renewing growth and nature’s pleasures, yet in Him they never become ordinary. These simple pleasures delight every heart that gives them attention. It is God hugging me with His great love. Is that what it means to “have a covenant with the stones of the field”?

The speaker in these verses is talking of those who trust in God, who are at peace with Him and entered into a covenant with Him. He is saying that if I am in league with heaven, then I will also be in league with the very stones of the earth.

I know that is true. Peace with God changes my relationship to the birds, beasts and flowers around me. Just as those in love say the sky is a brighter blue, being in a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ changes the attitude I have toward the world around me, even changes the way nature blesses me.

Those whose spiritual and moral state is base and in defiance of God tend to mock His laws and His person. They see no reason why they should not toss their garbage on the earth. While some of them hug trees and defend seals, they do it because they worship those created things rather than the One who created them. Godlessness puts the human heart out of harmony with tree and flower and summer delights. When I am at odds with the Lord, I am the same and do not even notice sunsets and gentle breezes.

Being at peace with God, even when God is reproving and wounding me, means having a comradeship with the created world. It means reading sermons in the trees of the forest, the grass of the plains, the stones of the field. This is not about the beauty of an artistic scene, but the morality and rightness of God’s handiwork that becomes a ministry to my heart, that blesses me and restores a deeper sense of His love for me.

Sadly, to be out of touch with God puts me out of touch with God’s ideal in all that He has made. Yet to be in tune with Him joyfully puts me in league with even the stones of the field.

This journey includes wilderness

Most have read the familiar poem, “Footprints” that describes the discovery of how God carried the author through the rough spots of life. Certainly those times are when we most feel the need to be carried. However, the longer I am a follower of Jesus Christ, the more I realize that being carried is for every day and every situation.

The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever. (Psalm 28:8–9)

David wrote these words. He was a capable leader and King, yet he knew that God was his source of strength and his hiding place in trouble. He also knew how badly all God’s people need His salvation and shepherding. Without Him, we are like sheep that have gone astray.

David also knew that sometimes a shepherd must also pick up His sheep and carry them to safety. Some are injured and cannot move without help. Some become afraid and in fear cannot get where they need to go. Some sheep seem downright ornery and refuse to go in the right direction. These too need to be picked up and carried.

Sheep haven’t been considered the smartest beast in the farmyard, but recent studies reveal that they are more intelligent than anyone thought. Whatever their IQ, God’s Word uses them as metaphor for His people. Having had some experience with these smelly, silly and easily frightened animals, I didn’t like that comparison, yet, I realize it is valid, and some days the carrying part is very comforting.

As one of God’s sheep, I am feeling my weaknesses and inabilities today. I need God’s strength. I’m not sure of what to do next and need His shepherding. Lost and alone, I need Him to carry me.

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Lord, You know my struggles today. I feel like a sheep out in the wilderness, far from where I want to be and far from Your care and attention. I feel like the “Footsteps” author with one set of prints that tell me You have not forsaken me. You do lift me up. You are my strength and my saving refuge. You bless me as my Shepherd too. Carry me through this barren place to green pastures, but first show me what You want me to learn here. Your Word says You use all things for my good — to make me more like You. I don’t like this sense of being in a wilderness, but will stay here until You carry me out.

To Live is Christ — even in the wilderness

God has a habit of luring His people into the wilderness. He did it when He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. They were glad to get out, but when they discovered they needed to obey the Lord as they once obeyed their Egyptian taskmasters, they became rebellious. They wound up wandering in the wilderness forty years.

Later, the people again became rebellious and were chastened by God. This time He also gave them a promise, but the blessings He offered also would come through a wilderness experience.

Israel, I, the Lord, will lure you into the wilderness and speak gently to you. I will return your vineyards, and then Trouble Valley will become Hopeful Valley. You will say “Yes” to me as you did in your youth, when leaving Egypt. I promise that from that day on, you will call me your husband instead of your master. I will no longer even let you mention the names of those pagan gods that you called “Master.” And I will agree to let you live in peace—you will no longer be attacked by wild animals and birds or by weapons of war. I will accept you as my wife forever, and instead of a bride price I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness, and faithfulness. Then you will truly know who I am. I will command the sky to send rain on the earth, and it will produce grain, grapes, and olives in Jezreel Valley. I will scatter the seeds and show mercy to Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.” (Hosea 2:14–23, CEV)

Still later, Christ came to seek and to save those who are lost in sin. This time, the wilderness experience God set up was not for sinners, but for His very own Son. Matthew 4:1 says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Most Christians that I’ve talked to experience some sort of wilderness test. I’ve had a few too. In them, God seemed to pull away everything else that was important to me, and plunked me into helplessness. He wanted to bless me, but in the beginning and during every test, it seemed the opposite. Nothing feels so hopeless as to have all the props pulled away.

Yet I learned through all of them that God’s intention was to try me and make me stronger, not try me so that I fell apart. He is always with me and always brings me through. I need to rely on Him.

Right now, I am in a literal wilderness, that is if a well-equipped resort in the middle of nowhere qualifies as that. We have more than the necessities, but are miles from normal life. This experience does offer some tests. One small one is that I cannot connect to the Internet easily as is my custom. Just posting this blog is a challenge and at first I became agitated. There are other small things too, and none of them seem a big deal, but God has shown me all sorts of ways where I am relying on things other than Him.

When Jesus was tested, the devil offered Him gigantic temptations. My tests are not close to that scope. Nonetheless, Satan constantly tries to make me do things his way instead of God’s way. He even whispers, “You are on vacation so it doesn’t matter if you slip a little.”

I know better. Following Jesus means imitating what He did when led into the wilderness. He paid attention to the enemy’s suggestions, but said no by answering each one of them with Scripture. He knew the will of God and never altered His determination to obey His heavenly Father.

I know the will of God too. I’m to love Him and do what He says. This isn’t about slacking off because no one is looking. It is about passing the wilderness tests, no matter what size they are.

Listening

Last night I peeked at today’s devotional verse to give me something to think about this morning. I had to be up and leave the house too early for my usual routine. The verse seemed appropriate for what I was about to experience.

Hosea 2:14 says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.”

In the Bible, wilderness can be about escaping from enemies, or it can be about God taking me somewhere where I am alone so He can speak to my heart. In my case, perhaps my wilderness was going to be in that dental surgeon’s chair and I certainly wanted God to speak comfort to me; however, such an interpretation would take the verse entirely out of context.

Hosea is a prophet from God who is speaking to a rebellious nation. He tells them the words of God and God’s intentions toward them. For these rebels, the wilderness was a place where He could get their attention and correct their behavior.

As scary as that sounds, for them and for me, this verse does say something about God. Even in correcting His people, God speaks comfort. He also speaks to the heart.

The author of my devotional says, “Men may speak to the ear, and they can do no more, but God speaks to the heart, for it is there that His voice alone is heard.”

He goes on to explain that all religion first and last lies in the human heart. I could have my head filled with good, even godly ideas, but my heart could be destitute of grace. Yet because I am a vessel of God’s Mercy, I have “believed with the heart unto righteousness” and I can hear the voice of God speaking to my heart. What a wonderful gift!

The devotional author adds that it is in the wilderness where I can learn the deep necessity that God should speak to my heart. In ordinary life, busyness and distractions, even serving the Lord, can keep me from hearing Him speak even though I want Him to talk to me and speak those words that reach my heart. I know that if He takes me away from those distractions to a place where there is no friend, no help, no worldly comfort, then I am more apt to hear Him.

When a Christian is separated from the world by trials and afflictions or experiencing an onslaught of temptations, God is at work showing us that nothing but His voice speaking with power will give any solid ground for rest or peace. It may be painful, but it is profitable because such experiences teach us to look to the Lord and the Lord alone.

This morning I felt as if He carried me through my surgery. I had a bridge removed, a tooth pulled, a massive infection cleaned from under it, extensive bone grafts, and two implants inserted into my jaw, all in about an hour. The freezing is just starting to come out.

Will the pain that I feel coming be a wilderness experience? Maybe. But even if it is, I am counting on God. If He takes me into the wilderness, He will also bring me out, yet while I am there, He promises to speak comfort to me.