Metamorphosis

I began thinking about how as Christians we talk about our problems. It is often referred to as struggles. My thinking is this, what happens in a physical struggle between two people?  First, it would seem likely that one would overpower the other.  That may be true but the “other” who may have lost the physical confrontation has not lost entirely.  He or she has gained strength to battle another day.  And maybe the next time or the time after that they will be victorious.  It is in that tension that we grow. If we are guided by God’s principles we learn to fight in an honorable way and end up being more of a peace maker than a victor.   

This was a big fancy way to introduce that I’ve been in a battle recently and I tried very hard to remember that it was not flesh and blood I was battling.  My vision was blurring at times but I tried to keep in mind the battle plan of the enemy and not engage in human to human verbal combat.  It is especially hard when the issues rise from the attic of things I thought I dealt with long ago.  I found out I dealt with most of them but there were residual things left from the past.  The enemy would have had me believe that none of it was resolved and wanted to watch me dig my own hole to bury myself in. 

A caterpillar goes into a chrysalis (aka a pupa) and in 10 to 14 days metamorphosis occurs. Miraculously, a butterfly appears.  The key word there is “occurs.”  What happens in the chrysalis?  Wings are being fully formed, antennae are formed and the chewing mouth parts are being transformed into the sucking mouthparts of the butterfly.  The butterfly must pump fluid from its abdomen through the veins into it wings, which causes the wings to expand to their full size. Then the wings must dry and the butterfly must exercise flight muscles before it can fly.

If only it were that easy to know that in 10 to 14 days I would be assured of transformation.  The Holy Spirit just reminded me that the Israelites took 40 years to make an eleven day journey. That just sort of messed up my train of thought.  It did not have to take them 40 years.  I’ve done journeys that took 40 years or more.  Could it be we learn a very important lesson from the butterfly? 

Stay focused on where you are, ie: middle of transformation, and do what you have to do. Don’t look at the “world” but know that Your Father in Heaven has a great plan for you.  One for you not to crawl on your belly any more but to fly, showing off your newfound beauty in a process only He could create for you.  

So, back my “attic” situation, Lord it’s all Yours, it’s all necessary, all things work out for good and I’m asking You to have me find joy in the process of transformation.  The fluid flowing through my veins, the tension and struggles will allow my wings to expand to full size with the eventual strength to take flight.

Dear Daddy, I will tell you again (as if you were to forget) You make me so much better than I am!

Red, White and Blue

I have friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum.  And of course I have my own opinions. For the sake of this article and what the Lord has revealed to me I will remain neutral. With the recent elections I have witnessed many people on social media voicing their opinion.  I was personally asked something like, “What did you think about the outcome of ______________ (a particular race)?”   I was a bit surprised because the person asking me doesn’t often engage with me about politics.  Knowing their position was different than mine, I paused and said, “Well I will do the best thing I know and add them to my prayer list.”  And that, my friend, is not only being an adult it is also being true to my faith.

If the Bible is true—and I unequivocally believe it is—then that is where my best position is.  On my knees before the throne of grace interceding for the “kings” the Lord has said in His word He has set up. What if God Himself has picked His perfect staff to run our country?  What if the people He has established simply need to come to know the Lord?  Whatever side of the fence you are on, it makes sense.  If He picked the people He wants in office then as a child of God we are to walk this thing out and lift others up to Him.  Maybe not changing the “names” but changing the hearts of who is already in the halls of government.  

Daniel 2:21says:

It is He who changes the times and the epochs; (seasons/periods)
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.

When I was out walking one morning He reminded me of something.  Our flag is red, white and blue.  We have seen a lot of the red and a lot of the blue but there are three colors. Where is the white?  To the best of my knowledge one of the meanings of red is anointing.  Part of the color blue’s meaning is wisdom and revelation. White stands for holy.  In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 we find:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

I’ll put it this way, I don’t know of a single person in the world that I can say I would like to go to hell.  I take hell very literally and I know it is the worst possible outcome for anyone.  So regardless of what political view someone may have I want the best for them.  I believe there is no other way to the Father except through His son Jesus Christ.  So I will pray for my leaders – no matter the color – red or blue.  Change for the sake of change is pointless.  Change for the sake of an eternal difference, now that is something I can get on board about.  If their hearts change, then their position on policies changes and the heart of our nation will reap the benefits. So that’s my position: on my knees, praying for holiness.  And the craziest thing may just happen, I may see the greatest change within myself.

So if you have some politicians you don’t care for, I would highly suggest you pray earnestly for their salvation in Jesus Christ and for them to seek God’s direction when governing.  Today I commit to pray for _________________________ (fill in the blank).  I have a full list that I am watching expectantly for my God move on their hearts.  Or, you can always revert back to complaining and grumbling about them.  I will remind you, however, that that type of behavior cost all but two of the Israelites to never enter the promised land. 

Fear is Fraternizing with the Enemy

Merriam Webster’s Definition of Fraternize: to associate on close terms with members of a hostile group especially when contrary to military orders were ordered not to fraternize with the enemy.

This was my word today.  I could argue it all day and still be wrong.  I could say I have reason to fear, legitimate reasons.  And at the end of the day I would have been “fraternizing with the enemy.”  My God is greater and defeated my enemy 2,000 years ago.  Then why do I feel fear?  I wrote an article called “Spider” back in July.  You can revisit it if you’d like.  Basically what it came down to is that I saw and killed the largest spider I have ever seen in Wisconsin. I found it on the riser on the second from the top basement step.  

Since that time I have checked my shoes and clothes for spiders, and often carried a hammer with me when I went down into the basement. I was creeped out at every web that I thought I felt and acutely aware of my surroundings.  I sprayed pesticide. After a few months went by, just when I thought the danger was over, another one appeared.  I used the hammer and got him.

My nephew took the picture of the spider I had taken back in May and sent it in to a website to have it examined to see what we were dealing with.  I seriously had been too afraid and stuck my head in the sand hoping it simply would go away.  Something (likely Holy Spirit) told me it was a “ground spider.”  I didn’t know what that was but the expert on the website said indeed it was a ground spider.  It turns out that even though they are ugly looking, they are not venomous.  They catch and eat their prey on the ground not using webs, sort of like hunters.  They may form a silken mesh around their “nest” and will likely not bite unless the female’s egg sack is threatened.  It is from the family Gnaphosidae.  They live in every continent except Antarctica.   That may be more information than you care to know but trust me, I didn’t set out to know it either.  But there is something to be said for becoming educated on what I was afraid of.

I now can eliminate little spiders, which is really all the rest of them, without a problem and with maybe just a tissue.  In the past I would have hollered for John to kill it or used some kind of tool to get rid of the unwelcome intruder.  It took me five months to do what I should have done in the beginning and educate myself on them.  But I couldn’t get myself to look at the photo I took, much less do research.  I now can look at the photo on my phone, enlarge it and even appreciate its hairy legs. That last part may be a bit of an exaggeration but it feels good because I couldn’t even joke about it for five months.  I have come a long way as now I’m armed with knowledge.  I’ve taken more precautions as I filled what I believe was the nest area with insecticide foam where I think they were getting in.  I don’t have to consider moving to Antarctica after all.

Getting back to the title of the article, here is my point: you will always be a slave to what you fear.  For five months those spiders owned a part of me and Satan no doubt loved to see me uneducated and fearful.  I’m “almost” challenged by the spiders now, like I’m going to win and it feels good. Was I fraternizing with the enemy?  I would like to say no but I’d be wrong.  My imagination would run wild as I would lay in bed thinking of one of those “things” walking on me.  I had to fix this one in a process of baby steps, and it would not have been the first time in my life that I’ve had to do that. 

My advice is this; if you are afraid of something research it.  God isn’t the one who has something to hide and He is greater than your fear.  I tried really hard to live as normally as possible and go into the basement whenever I needed to.  I may have had to do it afraid but I did it.  What a relief, I may see another one of my new friends again some day and maybe not.  I now know what I’m dealing with and by that I mean when I think about the spiders I am thinking with a clear, sound mind.  Not scrambling thoughts covered in fear controlling me.  I have learned vague imaginations are always reduced in size when God’s truth is shed on them.

Burdens or Blessings

Just an ordinary day, or was it?  It is Saturday, John and I didn’t have to work today. I had housework to do, animals to feed—two goats, a dog and a cat, and of course the many outside birds. The summer birds such as the Robins are gone and I saw today that the Junco’s are back from Canada for the winter.  It snowed today; this was early for us, even in Wisconsin.  It was very windy and the snow actually accumulated for about half an hour.  Dare I say it?  It sort of put me in the Christmas spirit as it felt like someone really shook up the snow globe when we weren’t paying attention.

I cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom; it makes me want to stay in there, as now it is officially the only clean room in the house. I’d be embarrassed if some of my clients came in on a random inspection and saw the status of my house. I did piles of laundry. Even with just John and me, we can manage to have five or six loads a week, and I have to admit most of it is mine. I managed to take the sheets off the bed without disturbing the cat too much.  Yes, I’m a good mommy.  I didn’t get into the Halloween candy that I purchased for our three little neighbor boys.  Because I can’t just take one snack size candy bar I have to take one from each of their bags. My justification is that I have to make it even so they don’t think I was playing favorites.  I baked stuffed green peppers that were given to us by a lady John works with, and they were the last of her garden vegetables. When I couldn’t find my recipe at first, I was reminded to be grateful that I have the food in the house to make almost any of the recipes I was looking through.  We will warm the green peppers up for lunch tomorrow and my mom and possibly my stepsons will be here to join us.  I’m blessed to have my mom with me who is soon to be 89 and two stepsons I love. They know they can come by any time they please. 

It’s tripping over a pair of shoes and not saying anything to John, giving him grace and then realizing they were mine anyway.  It’s having my brothers come home safely from Colorado hauling a trailer with two jeeps on it in the crazy wind and snow we had. It’s going down into my war room (two painted walls in the basement) and spending time with my Lord.  It’s carrying a hammer down with me to fend off any spiders that may have survived the last bout with pesticide spray.  After coming back upstairs John remarked that I was not down there very long.  I told him, “No, you’ve been acting a lot better lately so it didn’t take me as long. :)”

So why am I writing about this ordinary stuff?  Because that’s what real life is. It’s not always the headlines that jump off the paper of what life is about. Those things do happen and maybe add spice to our life but it is the ordinary, mundane moments that make or break you.  And it is finding joy when cleaning, cooking or clearing your lap so the cat can sit and purr while you are on your laptop.  It’s like having her claw me a few times to tell me it’s time to clip “my” nails. From being a garage cat and coming inside several years ago, she is the best behaved cat ever.  The rule was if she were to live in the house I would have to keep her nails trimmed.  The very first time I trimmed her nails she flipped her paws over back and forth to show me how nice they looked.  She’s been made for the palace and had been living in the garage. 

This is no ordinary day after all.  This is what it’s all about, this is being blessed.  But not just blessed with things and extravagant tales to tell but blessed to see Him in the ordinary.  I have always liked the saying “True integrity is when you do the right thing when no one else is looking.”  Joyce Meyer says, “Some people want to slay demons and they haven’t even taken authority over theirs sink full of dirty dishes.”  

Like my cat, we were all made for the palace and that is why our hearts yearn for a land, a kingdom in which the impossible is possible. But in the meantime as we live out our “ordinary” days, look beyond to see Him in the faces of people around you, look into the things He has given you responsibility for and see the treasure He’s hidden.  Anyone can go to the mountaintop and see the view, it would be next to impossible to miss it, but to see the flower in the valley it may take a little searching, but it is there waiting to be discovered.

A tale of two Sue’s:  

An ungrateful Sue where blessings are burdens:  I could have been frustrated to have to clean the bathroom, make supper, do laundry have the burden of needy pets, crabbing about the early snow and warm weather gone, burden of family to worry about and spiders in the basement.  

A grateful Sue where burdens are blessings:  The joy of having a peaceful home, animals to love, food to cook, warm house to be in, lots of clothes to wear, Christmas spirit, loving family.  For the record, I’m still not happy about the spiders☺ but I’m glad I have a hammer!