When we lived in the Edmonton area, we frequently visited Elk Island National Park to observe the bison (buffalo) and other wildlife. It was always a treat.
Unlike horses and cattle, the bison often seemed to face into the storm, rather than away from it. Their thick, heavy coats and high metabolism allow them to face cold and storms extremely well. Many police forces had winter coats made of bison hide to keep out the winter.
I’ve read places where people have romanticized the bison’s behavior as facing into the storm or walking towards it as the best way to get through it. I think that’s a pretty suspect interpretation, but it does make for good imagery.
How do we react to the storms of life? Do we face up to them or do we try to hide away?
Life comes with storms of many kinds. They can be like squalls, sudden, unexpected, and short. Or they can be like blizzards, you can often see them coming, they blot out everything, and seem to last forever.
No matter the type of storm, they are seldom pleasant to endure. I was tempted to write “never pleasant”, but someone would have thought of an exception.
Believers have a huge advantage over non-believers when the storms come. We’re anchored in Christ and He walks with us, no matter what comes.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28
If you aren’t in the middle of a storm right now, rest assured, there is one coming because life is full of them, and God uses them. The storms discipline us, change us, and strengthen us. They teach us to follow His ways and rely on Him.
When the storm hits, face into it. Trust Jesus, and He will walk you through.
Jesus has got whatever you are facing, and with Jesus, you’ve got it too.
Some years ago, my friend John gave me some old wooden cigar boxes. Neither of us is a smoker, but he had managed to collect quite a few of the little boxes over the years. Like me, he enjoys storing his treasures in small wooden boxes or tins of various types. The treasures can be anything from pencils and pens to nuts and bolts. I have always enjoyed boxes and containers of “stuff.”
I have one tin filled with such treasures as pocket knives, a bear claw, some arrowheads, a penknife that belonged to my grandfather, and a couple of inexpensive pocket watches. Still another holds USB memory sticks. I like to think of them as childlike treasures not childish.
I even have a few of those hollowed-out books that are really boxes sitting on my various bookshelves. They, too, hold “irreplaceable treasures.” Things like fossil shark’s teeth, shiny rocks, a compass that belonged to my grandfather, a letter opener made from a deer antler, and some of his World War II memorabilia. Nothing that would be of any value to anyone else but irreplaceable to me.
If you have been reading for any length of time, you will know that I also enjoy thrift stores, garage sales, and old-style small-town hardware shops.
I’ve panned for gold, scoured abandoned farmsteads for collectible “stuff,” and picked more than my share of interesting rocks and minerals in my travels.
I have never found anything that could be considered a great treasure or have substantial monetary value. It is the hunt for the unusual that I enjoy. I suppose that’s my childlike sense of wonder coming out. Some might say childish, but I prefer childlike.
Believers are called to be childlike.
“…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. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-4
Like children, only in the sense that we learn to trust our Father, as a young child trusts their parents. We are not called to set aside our intellect or reason, but we are called to be humble and trust. Childlike not childish.
There is another reason Jesus called us to be little children. Children have little to bring to the table.
In the days of Jesus, children were amongst the lowest class of citizens. They had no rights, no power, and no wealth. That is hard for us to believe when today, children seem to be a privileged class. We place great value on them. The pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme, from highly marginalized to being worshipped.
Amongst other things, Jesus was making the point that the gospel was for marginalized people, not just the wealthy or middle class. It is for the sick, the poor, the addicted, the lonely, the undesirables, the unlovable, and in general, those we might feel uncomfortable sitting next to in a church service.
Christ had remarkable compassion for the misfits of the day. They had nothing to bring but faith.
In reality, you and I are misfits as well. We bring nothing but faith, and that is a gift from God. We are broken sinners who offer nothing special to God. It is by His grace that we are saved, not by our merit.
We have no right to have churches filled with one ethnic group or one social class. That distorts the gospel and sends the message that you don’t belong if you are not like us.
Churches are not meant to be filled with smug, self-righteous, perfect, homogeneous people. They are designed to be filled with people who know that they are broken and bring nothing. We are to be like the children of Jesus’ day.
We are saved by the mercy of Christ. I pray He gives us eyes to see others as He sees them and that we make time for the marginalized, the children, the misfits.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
