Michele Huey's Blog: God, Me, and a Cup of Tea, page 37

Wanna Get Away?

 

[image error]Mount Horeb
Photo courtesy of Getty Center [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsHe traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. –1 Kings 19:8 NIV

Twice in my adult life I ran away from home. I just needed to get away by myself for a while and hide from the disappointments, ongoing issues, life pressures, and perceived failure that had driven me to an all-time low. The issues, I knew, wouldn’t magically disappear when I returned, but a time-out, I hoped, would refresh, renew, and restore my energy, enthusiasm, and dreams.

The first time I went to my brother’s home in Alabama for a week. There I read, rested, ate nutritional food (the only kind they keep in the house), prayed, and rested … oh, wait, I said that. But resting my body, mind, and soul were vital to recovery, restoration, and renewal.

The second time I fled to a mountain cabin that was a special place when I was growing up. Now owned by close friends, the cabin is a healing place. There I rested, sat on the porch swing and listened to the wind in the trees and the birds squawking, put together a jigsaw puzzle, read, and ate microwave meals because I didn’t want to cook. After only three days, I was ready to return home.

The thing about running away: there’s something you’re running away from and something you’re running to.

I wonder—when Elijah fled Queen Jezebel, did he consciously set out for Mount Horeb?

Also known as the mountain of God, Horeb, better known as Mount Sinai, was the place where God called to Moses out of the burning bush with a challenging assignment and where, not too long after, He gave Moses the Ten Commandments. And it was here He met Elijah.

He was gentle with his overwrought, exhausted servant.

Exhaustion affects us not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Exhaustion skews our perspective and judgment. So God addressed Elijah’s exhaustion first by giving him rest and refreshment.

Then He asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Note that when Elijah answered God, he magnified the problem and minimized the good. Isn’t that what we tend to do when we’re exhausted and overwhelmed?

Then God gently corrected him, instructed him to return to his ministry, and gave him a helper.

Notice what God didn’t do:

He didn’t desert him.
He didn’t chastise him for lack of faith.
He didn’t tell him to man up.
He didn’t preach a sermon.
He didn’t tell him that things weren’t as bad as he thought, that he had a lot to be thankful for, that he should be ashamed of himself . . . yadda, yadda, yadda.
He didn’t release him from his calling.

What God did do was nourish him, sustain him, counsel him, and instruct him.

Just as God met Elijah at his point of deepest need, He’ll meet you at yours.

What are you running from? Who are you running to?

Where is your Mount Horeb?

Thank You, loving God, for meeting me at my point of deepest need. Amen.

Read and meditate on 1 Kings 19:1–18.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Cast or Carry?

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Cast your burden on the LORD , and he will sustain you. –Psalm 55:22 ESV

I recently read about a 25-year-old Army veteran suffering from degenerative arthritis.

“Arthritis is supposed to happen when you get old,” he told a Seattle Times reporter. “What’s it going to be like when I’m 50 or 60?”

The arthritis has caused painful bone spurs in the vertebrae in his neck and can be traced to carrying 70 to 80 pounds of equipment when he served in Iraq.

The human body is just not made to lift and carry heavy loads. Even with training, you can only carry so much.

Likewise, the human spirit can only carry so much for so long.

Burdens. Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. We all have to deal with them. It comes with living in this world.

How do we deal with burdens?

According to my Bible, we either carry them or cast them.

Take Moses, for example. He carried the burden of leading the contrary, complaining people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land.

“You lay the burden of all these people on me,” he said to God at one point.

So God told him to select 70 men from the elders. “I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone” (Numbers 11:17).

We are not meant to bear our burdens alone.

“Bear one another’s burdens,” God’s Word instructs us, “and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Isn’t it so much easier when even one person comes alongside us and helps us? The thing about helping others is that when we get our minds off our own burdens and help someone else with theirs, ours don’t seem to be as heavy.

And then there’s Jesus. “Come to me,” He says, “all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

How do we give Jesus our burdens to carry?

We cast them on Him.

“Cast your burden on the Lord,” David tells us, “and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22).

And if anyone had burdens to bear, it was him. Anointed king over Israel, David spent years in the wilderness, hiding in caves, fleeing from the murderous King Saul. And when he did become king, his own son attempted to usurp the throne. Yet read the psalms of David, and you’ll see he learned to cast his burdens on the Lord.

Peter tells us to “cast all your anxieties (cares, worries) on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

How do you cast your worries on God, give your burden to Jesus to carry?

First, refuse to allow your mind to dwell on your anxieties. Acknowledge them, don’t deny them, and release them through prayer (see Philippians 4:6–7). Imagine them soaring up to heaven, where God will take care of them, in His way and in His time.

Replace your worried thoughts with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).

Celebrate the good things in your life. Keep a gratitude journal and write in it every day. And rejoice!

I’m still working on learning how to cast my cares on God, completely.

What burdens do you need to release to Him?

Help me, Lord, to cast all my care on You every moment of every day. Show me someone who needs help carrying their burden. Amen.

Read and meditate on Matthew 11:28–29.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

 

Upheaval!

[image error]Stuff from two bedrooms, my study, and the hall jam-packs the dining room in preparation for new carpeting.

Let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. –2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT

 My entire house is in a state of upheaval.

Blame it on the much-needed new carpeting. While I knew everything – and I mean everything – had to be removed from the three rooms and hall, I was clueless how much stuff we’d accumulated over the years.

My study was the worst. A year ago I started cleaning and organizing it. I got as far as packing things in boxes and creating a pile of I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with, I’ll-get-to-it-later stuff. The disorganized mess got so bad I closed the door when company came and ignored it the rest of the time. Which was getting harder to do since the only clear floor space was a narrow walkway from the door to my computer desk, a distance of three steps.

When the time came to prepare for the new carpeting, I simply dumped the stuff into boxes and bins and transferred the chaos to the dining room.

I know it’ll take time to go through it all, so I’m practicing patience. After all, it was impatience that bred the mess. Little by little, box by box, bin by bin, day by day, I’m sorting through everything – and asking myself why I held on to all that stuff. Most of the items I’d forgotten I had.

We all have areas like that, don’t we? A closet, a room, an attic or basement (or both), a garage, a shed . . . we squirrel things away thinking we may need them some day. Or we hold on for sentimental reasons. But either we forget we have it or by the time we get around to pulling it out of storage, it’s outdated, rusted, or otherwise useless. Or we’ve forgotten why we saved it.

Our spiritual houses need regular cleaning, too. How often we hang onto things better let go: a twinge of envy, a smattering of jealousy, a thoughtless remark, a moment of discontent, an act of selfishness, a surge of anger, a word of gossip, a root of bitterness, an unforgiving attitude, an exaggerated truth, a time of disappointment, discouragement, doubt. In and of themselves, they hardly take up room. But added together, compounded day after day, year after year, they usurp the room we have in our hearts and souls, leaving little space for the good stuff.

Like kindness, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, gentleness, humility.

How to tackle such a colossal task?

First, decide to do it. Determine, “I don’t want to be this way any longer.”

Then dig in. Confess your shortcomings, weaknesses, and failures to the One who knows all you can be, who created you to be far more than you can imagine, who’s waiting to fulfill His purpose for you.

Accept His forgiveness and cleansing and let go of every ugly thing, every wart, every blemish. And don’t go back to the garbage heap and pull them out again.

Finally, know this will take time. God isn’t going to wave His hand over you and poof! all your imperfections disappear immediately.

Little by little, day by day, let Him change you, purify you, transform you into the person He created you to be, into the image of His Son. Remember, He who began this good work in you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished (Philippians 1:6 GNT).

Yes, it’s a time of upheaval. But like the road construction sign says, “Temporary inconvenience. Permanent improvement.”

[image error]A clean and organized study/writing room gives my muse room to dance!

Dear God, grant me the ruthlessness to pitch what I don’t and won’t need, the insight to discern what to keep, and the long-suffering and energy to sort through it all. Amen.

Read and meditate on Ephesians 4:23–32.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

 

When God Says “No”

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Trust in the  Lord  with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.   Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take . ­–Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

When we lived in town and our oldest was still a baby, we rented a second-floor apartment but yearned for a house of our own. When the house across the street – one I’d admired since we’d moved in two years earlier – came up for sale, we applied for a mortgage. And were turned down.

No surprise. We didn’t have the finances and weren’t in any position to buy a house.

But I was angry. Angry at God. I wanted that house in the worst way. So what if it was practically on the street and had a postage-stamp backyard?

I threw a royal hissy fit.

In time, God worked with me, softening my spirit so I could hear His voice. Psalm 37 spoke to me, especially verses 3 and 4: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (RSV)

I took this as God’s promise to me that Dean and I would someday have a house of our own, with plenty of land around it. In times of doubt I’d read the psalm over again, clinging to verses 9, 11, and 34, believing against circumstances that we would one day “possess the land.”

I’d always dreamed of a house in the country, but I’d wanted that house in town so badly, I was willing to forego my dream home.

As I look back – that was over 40 years ago – I see how events played out, orchestrated by Almighty God, who had something better in mind when He said “no” to the house in town. We have our dream home in the country, with 13 acres surrounding it.

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When King David planned to build a temple for God in Jerusalem, God said “no”: “You shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight” (1 Chronicles 22:8 NKJV).

Talk about a slap in the face! The wars David fought were so Israel, God’s people, would have peace. The blood he shed was Israel’s enemies’ blood. And this was the thanks he got? David wouldn’t get to build the Temple, but his son Solomon would.

If that were me, I’d have a hissy fit, whining and complaining and reminding God of all the good things I’d done for Him, and why I deserved a “yes.”

But David accepted God’s “no” and got everything ready for Solomon. He drew up the building plans, gathered materials, developed a schedule for the priests and singers once the temple was completed. No wonder God called David a “man after My own heart.”

Then there was the Apostle Paul, the great force behind the explosion of the first century church. He was whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and jailed, all for Christ. Three times he asked God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” which added suffered on to suffering. Three times God said “no.”

Like David, Paul accepted God’s answer, realizing that God’s “no” meant something better: His grace.

Prayer is not a vending machine. You don’t plunk in your request and wait for your selection to drop down from heaven.

But rest assured: God hears and He will answer: yes, not now, or “I have something better in mind.”

When God says “no,” how do you react? Do you pout, get angry, doubt God, lose your faith? Go after what you want anyway, and make yourself miserable?

Or accept God’s answer and find peace, knowing that His answer will always be the best one for you.

Thank You, all-knowing and all-wise God, for always working in ways that are best for me. Amen.

Read and meditate on 2 Samuel 7:1–14 and 2 Corinthians 12:1–10

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Fake News and False Hopes

 

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For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. – Psalm 33:4 NIV

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. –Isaiah 40:8  ESV

Scrolling through my Facebook timeline one morning, I came across an interesting video about a new diet plan that was supposed to be biblically inspired.

I was curious to hear what the author had to say about the nutrition secrets she said she discovered in the Bible that would help you to “lose weight, look great, feel younger” and give you more energy than you know what to do with (don’t they all claim that?).

So I watched the video. Well, most of it. And with a grain of salt.

She was a good salesperson. I almost believed her. But her over-the-top claims and a lack of real detail about the eating plan itself led to me believe this was just another copycat low-carb diet. I checked the reviews, which weren’t glowing – and I went to several different websites. Many used the word “scam.” One reviewer even posted a drawing of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

How sad. Even sadder is that she uses the Bible, God, and faith to sell her product.

Watching the video, I could see how it would stir up hope in folks. But it was a false hope.

You’ve got to be careful these days. Technology takes deceit to a whole new level.

Take, for instance, photographs. It used to be a picture told the truth. Not so any more. Using programs such as Photoshop, you can alter a picture by putting things or people in or taking them out, turn items around, or change background scenery so it appears people were where they really weren’t.

And then there are the false news reports and prayer requests posted online. Like the urgent request for a little boy named Dakota who was supposedly life-flighted to a trauma center. After about the umpteenth time it posted, over many months, I checked the legitimacy of this on Snopes.com, which is a good resource to help sort through fact and fiction.

What really breaks my heart is the false hope these deceitful practices give people. No wonder folks are skeptical, cynical, and resistant to believe even the truth when it’s given.

Is there anything we can truly put our faith in? Is there anyone we can believe without a shadow of a doubt?

Yes!

The Bible is full of promises you can believe because the One who made them is someone you can count on.

Here are a few of His promises you can deposit in your promise bank and withdraw whenever you need them. Please note you can never use them up, so once you use them, you can put them back to be used again.

“I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10).
“I will never leave you” (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5).
“I will never forsake you” (Deuteronomy 36:1; Hebrews 13:5).
“I will fight for you” (Exodus 14:14).
“I will help you” (Psalm 54:4; Isaiah 41:10, 13).
“I will provide for you” (Philippians 4:19).
“I will sustain you” (Psalm 54:4; Isaiah 46:4).
“I will guide you” (Psalm 32:8).
“I will protect you” (Psalm 91, especially verse 11; Psalm 3:3).
“I will deliver you” (Psalm 50:15).

There are lots more where those came from! And you can believe these promises 100-percent because the One who made them keeps His Word. He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18). He is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).

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God. His Word. His Promises.

Tried, true, and trustworthy.

Which ones do you need today?

Thank You, God, that there IS something I can believe in – You! Amen.

Read and meditate on Psalm 19:7–10.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

 

 

Putting My Foot Down

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. – Psalm 32:8 NIV

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. – Psalm 3:5 ESV

 On the Fourth of July, I put my foot down.

“You aren’t doing any work outside today,” I told my husband, whom I affectionately refer to as “DH” – which stands for Dear Husband or his name, Dean Huey.

The weather had been hot and humid for days, and the Fourth was even more so. Dean works 11-hours days in a shop with no air conditioning. Evenings, Saturdays, and holidays are the only time he gets to do work around here. His vacation days are usually spent traveling, camping, or visiting our out-of-state children and their families.

This Independence Day he’d planned to mow our two acres of lawn, which usually takes more than two hours. Working in the garden and planting a flowering shrub were also on his to-do list. But when I took something to the camper and felt the oppressive heat, I put my foot down.

DH loves having projects to work on, and I held little hope he’d take my advice. Imagine my surprise when he did and spent the day on the back deck, just a few feet from the woods on the hillside behind the house, where it’s much cooler than anywhere else.

Unlike me, DH doesn’t spend hours in a book or magazine. I figured he’d get bored and head out in the heat to do something. But he didn’t. It seemed every time I looked at him, he was slumped in his chair, snoozing.

[image error]A well-deserved snooze

The Sunday before the Fourth we’d returned from a 10-day camping trip to Michigan, where we spent every day exploring the area. Mid-way through the vacation, I took a day to relax and read, but DH, camera in hand, headed for a hiking trail a few miles up the road.

The drive out and back took nearly 12 hours each way, for a total of 1,133 miles pulling a 33-foot, fifth-wheel camper. Our exploring took up 736 miles. DH drove every mile. We got home Sunday evening after 11 hours on the road and 570 miles of mostly interstate driving. Then Monday it was back to work for Dean for 11 hours. Monday evening he drove to Johnstown and back (another two and a half hours on the road) to pick up our son’s dog, which we were to doggie-sit for the week.

In between his snoozes on the Fourth, I joked that he was practicing for retirement. But as I put all the numbers together, I realized the poor man was plumb tuckered out. I was glad I put my foot down.

Sometimes the circumstances of life get unbearably hot and oppressive. Our first instinct is plow through, thinking we’re to persevere and persist. But that’s not always what’s best.

Sometimes we need to get out of the heat, step back, and get perspective. But if you’re like me, you’ll persist until you realize you’re repeatedly butting your head against a solid wall. Something’s got to give, and it isn’t going to be the wall.

That’s when God puts His foot down.

“You need to back off,” He tells us. “Give it a rest.”

Sometimes He simply needs us to get out of His way so He can work. Sometimes, like my husband, we need to rest our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Whatever the reason, when God puts His foot down, it will always be for the best.

Thank You, Lord, for putting Your foot down when I need redirection. Amen.

Read and meditate on Isaiah 40:29–31.

 © 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

 

Fiddler on the Roof

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That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! –2 Timothy 1:5 The Message

Ever wonder why you wake up with certain things running through your mind? I mean, things you haven’t been thinking about or have no apparent connection with the current status of your life.

The subconscious mind is a powerful yet subtle thing. There is a connection.

One morning, for example, I awoke with the song “Sunrise, Sunset” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof playing in the half-awake alcoves of my brain. As I lay there, I sang the words to myself.

Why did my subconscious pull this out of the recesses of my memory?

Maybe because I’m in the process of decluttering my house, and decluttering has a way of stirring up memories – memories that take me back through my life. I remembered the traditions of my family, of Dean’s family, and how Dean and I started family traditions of our own.

Fiddler on the Roof is about tradition, the traditions that enabled Tevye and his family to survive the tumultuous times in their Russian village prior to the Revolution of 1905.

“You might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck,” says Tevye. “And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!”

How important is tradition in today’s world of technology and high speed everything?

Tradition, first of all, gives us a sense of identity. Traditions are about more than ourselves. They are about our heritage, where we came from. There’s so much hype these days about tracing our roots, getting our DNA tested. But family traditions can help to provide the very thing those tests provide: a sense of where you came from – and why you are the way you are. And that sense of identity builds strong inter-generational family relationships. Listen carefully, then, to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s stories. They are a part of you.

Second, tradition gives us a sense of belonging. We are not alone in this big, wide, often cold world. We are a part of something – a family, a church, a community. Something bigger than ourselves.

Third, tradition gives a sense of stability, providing balance in a shaky, unstable world. It grounds us and roots us in the familiar. Life, after all, is as uncertain now as it was 113 years ago. Don’t we all find comfort and security in the familiar?

Finally, tradition gives us a sense of continuity. Stories passed down from generation to generation give a glimpse of our ancestors. Like a baton in a runner’s hands gets passed on to the next runner, so life goes on, “one season following another, laden with happiness and tears.”

How important are traditions?

Just look at the Old Testament. The traditions God established for His people – and commanded them to continue – gave the Hebrews a sense of identity, belonging, stability, and continuity. Not only did these traditions remind them of who they were, but Whose they were. They connected them with a God who redeemed them out of His mercy, grace, and love.

So it is today. I am so grateful for the traditions of faith passed on to me by my parents. And I pray I’ve passed traditions of faith on to my children and grandchildren. More than anything I yearn for them to see beyond the ritual to the essence of what tradition is all about.

How important are traditions?

In the words of Tevye, “Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as . . . as . . . as a fiddler on the roof.”

What traditions give your life balance and stability? Are you passing them along to the next generation?

Thank you, Lord, for the traditions of faith that give my life stability in an unstable world. Amen.

 © 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Welcome to the World, 19 Years Later

[image error]Dean, Brent, and me at Brent’s high school graduation, June 1, 2018

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father . . . – James 1:17 NIV

 

Nineteen years ago today, our first grandchild was born. And a new chapter opened up in our lives, a chapter filled with joy and hope and life and wonder.

Today I sit back and remember. . . .

 

July 7, 1999

The sky glowed golden at sunset the day before you were born. A little after three in the morning, your Aunt Jaime announced from the bedroom doorway, “The baby’s on its way! The baby’s on its way!” When I called the hospital four hours later, your mommy told me you had arrived.

Brent Michael Huey. Our first grandchild. Seven pounds, six ounces of pure joy. I’d forgotten. Life has a way of throwing enough curve balls that we forget what it’s really all about. I’d built a wall around my heart to shut out the disappointments, grief, frustrations – and all the pain living in this world brings.

But that wall also shut out the joy and the love. Oh, I smiled and said I was doing good, even great, when people asked me how I was. But in reality, deep down inside, I felt little emotion.

When I knew you were here, Brent, that old wall just crumbled. Just your name is enough to bring tears of joy. But, oh, when I saw you! When I held you for the first time, you never even woke up for the whole hour and a half. As you slept soundly, I gently rocked you in my lap, one hand supporting your floppy little neck and the other beneath the blanketed bundle of you.

As I watched all those little baby faces you made, I dreamed of sitting in the rocker with you on my lap and reading to you; of walking with your little hand in mine and showing you all the wonders of God’s creation – a rainbow, a sunset, a snowflake; of feeling your little arms around my neck and inhaling your sweet baby smell. The Big Dipper isn’t big enough to contain the love I feel when I look at you!

Maybe that’s why God painted the sky golden the evening before you entered my world – to remind me where life’s treasures really are – and they aren’t in how well I write, how much money I have in the bank, how many awards I’ve collected, how clean my house is, or how little I weigh.

Life, my little grandson, is loving and giving and caring and sharing – and stopping by the roadside to enjoy a golden sunset.

Welcome to the world, Baby Huey. . . .

 

July 7, 2018

Today, Brent, we celebrate your birthday and tomorrow your high school graduation.

Oh, the young man you’ve become!

Over the years, Grandpa and I have been blessed to sit at countless baseball games, watch in pride and wonder as, in your senior year, you played varsity football. You’d decided to go out for football only a few months before the season started, yet you worked hard – and was elected one of the team’s captains. And then when the season was over, you signed a letter of intent to play college football.

We are so proud of you.

We’ve prayed you through illness and injury, fevers and broken bones, and when life’s path took directions you hadn’t planned or wanted.

Yet look at you. You’re smart, kind, compassionate, generous, caring, giving, hard working . . . and, no, I’m not partial at all.

Never stop dreaming, Brent-o. Never stop going after those dreams. For God has placed them in your heart. And He will give you the strength and endurance, patience and persistence, to achieve them.

Today the road of life stretches before you. Step with confidence and faith. Believe in the person God is making you to be.

Grandpa and I will be cheering you on, praying for you, loving you as always.

Welcome to the world, Brent Michael Huey. Oh, the places you’ll go!

 

Thank you, God, for this grandson – bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh – who reawakened love and joy in my life-beaten heart when he was born and has continued to do so to this day. Bless him and guide him as he follows the path You have laid out for him. Amen.

Read and meditate on Psalm 139:13-18.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Setting the Bar

“Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.”–Jesus, as quoted in Mark 14:36 ESV

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  ­–Romans 8:15 ESV

When my brother Pete was in high school, he was returning home after a date when he ran into a stone wall. Now, it wasn’t a tall, stone-and-mortar wall, but a short wall built with stones laid one on top of the other. The car didn’t have much damage to it. After all, it was a 1957 Oldsmobile made of steel. In other words, it was a tank.

My brother woke my father up with the words, “Dad, I need you.”

Why I remember this incident after more than 54 years, I have no idea. But the words, “Dad, I need you” were imprinted indelibly on my mind.

I’ve been thinking about fathers and the roles they play in our lives. And about God as our heavenly father.

Your perception of God as your father is influenced by your own relationship with your earthly father. That’s why people who experienced abusive fathers or have had a bad relationship with their earthly fathers have a difficult time comprehending God as their father.

God set the bar for fathers. Let’s look into His Word to see what He has to say about His role as our father.

First of all, Jesus called Him “Abba Father” – a term designating a close, intimate relationship. It translates “Daddy” and gives us a glimpse into the Father-Son relationship of the first two Persons of the Trinity.

But did you know that believers can also call God “Abba Father?” The Holy Spirit dwelling in us seals our adoption as sons and daughters of God. (see above two verses)

OK, enough preaching. Let’s look at what a father does.

First of all, a father provides. Food, clothing, shelter, guidance, wisdom. God provided for the children of Israel as they trekked through the wilderness: water from rocks, manna from heaven, and when they wanted meat, quail. He guided them with the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. When it stopped, they stopped. When it moved, they moved.

God continues to provide for His children today. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

How has God provided for a specific need of yours?

Second, a father helps. Like my father did when my brother woke him up in the middle of the night, God will answer when we call to Him. In fact, He invites us: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).

How has God helped you in your day of trouble?

Third, a father disciplines. Discipline is not always punishment, although punishment may be part of discipline. Its purpose is to train us to live right, to strengthen us, to make us into the persons God wants us to be. “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not loathe His reproof; for the LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:11–12).

How has God’s discipline made you a better person?

And finally, a father loves. Sacrificially (John 3:16), unconditionally (Romans 5:8), steadfastly (Psalm 36:5), and eternally (Psalm 136:1).

When I read Zephaniah 3:17, I see God as a father standing over the crib of His child, watching him sleep; holding him close and soothing him, softly crooning a lullaby.

You, child of God, are that child.

 No matter how faithful or unfaithful our earthly fathers are, God, thank You for being the kind of father each of us needs. Amen.

 Read and meditate on Zephaniah 3:17:

“The Lord your God in your midst,

The Mighty One, will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.”

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

A Childlike Faith

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And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Jesus, as quoted in Matthew 18:2–3 ESV

After a great start to the season, my favorite MLB baseball team went from first place to struggling to stay out of last place.

“No wonder they lose,” I grumbled as I listened to a game on the radio. “They keep putting in Vasquez as a closer.”

In a previous game he took the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a 3-run lead, walked three of the eight batters he faced, and gave up two earned runs, all with a grand total of 36 pitches. Yet he eked out the save. I was so upset I posted on Facebook “#notacloser.”

So when they put him in again I firmly believed he’d blow the save.

“Here goes the game,” I muttered.

Felipe came through. Then and in subsequent games. All he needed was someone to believe in him and give him another chance.

When did I become so cynical?

I thought of a recent Little League game I attended. Rain earlier in the day had filled the potholes with water, and there was a big one near where we set up our chairs – just outside the center field fence. You’d think drivers would see the big puddle, the people sitting nearby, and either go around it or through it slowly. But no, several drivers hit it dead center at a good speed, spraying muddy rainwater five feet away.

So I yelled at every driver that splashed through the puddle and gave the “dare stare” to everyone who approached it. I thought DH was going to find someplace else to watch the game. But I just didn’t feel like being nice.

So not like me – being cynical and critical. I’m usually accused of being too nice, too gullible, too patient.

Which got me thinking about cynicism.

Why are adults so cynical?

Life has made them that way. Disappointment, unmet expectations, unfulfilled dreams, squashed hopes, disillusionment – all breed doubt.

We think we’re being wise by being cautious, but, really, are we? Aren’t we just being cynical? Does it have to be that way?

Don’t you miss being a kid? Not bridling your enthusiasm, not restraining your joy. Children readily believe, trust and forgive. They aren’t afraid to hope. They dream big and believe their dreams will come true. They aren’t cynical or critical. They’ll give you a second chance. They’ll laugh at being splashed. After all, it’s only water with a little bit of dirt.

“Unless you turn and become like children,” Jesus said, “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Nor will you truly enjoy life. While I can give myself good marks in the faith department, I can’t in life.

Yes, we have bad days, times when we simply don’t feel like putting up and shutting up. But I don’t need to act out my frustration and momentary unhappiness.

I have some work to do.

Renew my childlike faith, Lord – in You and in life. Squash the cynic and critic in me. Give me the courage to unbridle my joy, set my enthusiasm free, and fling my hopes and dreams to the stars that they may soar. Amen.

Read and meditate on Mark 10:13–16.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.