Category: Musings

Hagar, a non-Israelite, a woman with no power or status, is the first person in Scripture to be visited by an angel and the only person in Scripture to give God a name—El Roi, “the God who sees me.” In the midst of her pain and struggle, Hagar receives God’s blessing and promises. Think about how powerful is it to be really, truly seen.

“He didn’t criticize or lecture her. Rather, our all-knowing God honored her by seeking to understand.”  He asked her questions and didn’t make assumptions prior to even asking them or hearing the answer. Even after hearing her answer He didn’t say anything about her emotions or tough it out, toughen up or that’s just how life is. Yes He said go back, but He talked to her about her son first, He started it all asking about what she was doing – not accusing but seeking to understand and actually waiting and listening for the response.

God actively was listening (without a response already formed halfway through her talking) hearing the pain and hopelessness. He comforts her by addressing all the factors, her pregnancy and her treatment by Sari. So many people act like the former that it’s no wonder it’s so powerful when you feel seen not just visually / emotionally/ mentally assessed. When you’re then talked to in a way that suits the viewer and their perspectives on your situation, how you’re dealing with it and the fact that they at best only know 10-20% just adds insult to injury.

It’s no wonder we have walls.

One of the definitions of breach is to make a gap, to break through a wall (of) defense. I think we all have walls still that although might be different we could still all relate to being hesitant to lowering our defenses.

But we can’t bring them down in our strength. That’s only done in conjunction with Him.

Beneath is a link that will go more into depth about the verses that rhis is all based on.

For further consideration see:

Hagar: The Woman Who Named God

Genesis 16:1-13 ESV

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.””

These were the roses that so fearlessly climbed the ancient walls of cathedrals and universities who have been around for longer than our nation has been in existence let alone “discovered”.

These were the roses that Shakespeare looked upon and used their beauty to show how families, status, traditions and long held hatreds could not stop love.  “A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet Act II, Scene II).

These were the roses that also held thorns that became woven into a crown for One whose sacrifice was more painful than imaginable but more beautiful, glorious and precious than the roses.

These were the roses that I in part laid on your casket and still have one bud dried and next to your picture.

These were the roses that carry so much history, so much grief, so much love.

These are the roses I’ve held in reserve for my own hopes and dreams and lay them at Your feet saying as best I can “not my will but Yours be done”.

I know You see me, You are with me, You care and You have a plan.

May we learn from those who came before us both the most recent generations all the way back (and even before Moses) to number our days.

I don’t know how else to come up with a better number than to say my days are 1.

I may live till I’m 80-90 or may only have today left. Not being morbid, just honest that no one knows what exactly will happen except God who knows every single moment of our lives (and did before before we were even born) and so who else to look to for wisdom but Him?

Let us always remember how faithful He has been, the joys we’ve experienced, lessons learned and love shown by Him and through those He’s put in our lives for how long or short a time period.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Planning, goal setting and schedules are certainly not bad in themselves but it can become overwhelming (especially as we begin to approach the holidays). Take it one day at a ; that’s all we’re given truth be told.

**The most important thing is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, not the clock.**
And He promises to guide our steps if we do.

See link for a number of verses to back this up (https://biblestudyforyou.com/bible-verses-about-god-leading-your-path/)

He is a sanctuary in every way possible. Including mental and emotional in addition to the spiritual and physical as well. Think of basic necessities like food, shelter, safety or look up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for a full listing and see that if we allow Him to, God will provide for all we need. with use people, radio stations, chance encounters, to back up His Words in scripture that “He will never leave us or forsake us” Deuteronomy 31:6

Finally had a prayer answered that’s circumstances has had me in knots for literally months. But I had to leave it in His hands and His time. But He DOES answer prayer and He IS a strong tower and refuge to those who turn to Him. I made not have been able to run to Him; it felt like crawling at points or just putting one foot in front of the other. But what matters is what direction we’re pointed towards, where and with who we want to finish and keeping our eyes and lives focused there throughout the journey.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭1‬, ‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

From Matthew Henry’s commentary on

Matthew 6:25-34:

Note, The heirs of heaven are much better than the fowls of heaven; nobler and more excellent beings, and, by faith, they soar higher; they are of a better nature and nurture, wiser than the fowls of heaven (Job 35:11): though the children of this world, that know not the judgment of the Lord, are not so wise as the stork, and the crane, and the swallow (Jer 8:7), you are dearer to God, and nearer, though they fly in the open firmament of heaven. He is their Master and Lord, their Owner and Master; but besides all this, he is your Father, and in his account ye are of more value than many sparrows; you are his children, his first-born; now he that feeds his birds surely will not starve his babes. They trust your Father’s providence, and will not you trust it? In dependence upon that, they are careless for the morrow; and being so, they live the merriest lives of all creatures; they sing among the branches (Psa 104:12), and, to the best of their power, they praise their Creator. If we were, by faith, as unconcerned about the morrow as they are, we should sing as cheerfully as they do; for it is worldly care that mars our mirth and damps our joy, and silences our praise, as much as any thing.

(2.) Look upon the lilies, and learn to trust God for raiment. That is another part of our care, what we shall put on; for decency, to cover us; for defence, to keep us warm; yea, and, with many, for dignity and ornament, to make them look great and fine; and so much concerned are they for gaiety and variety in their clothing, that this care returns almost as often as that for their daily bread. Now to ease us of this care, let us consider the lilies of the field; not only look upon them (every eyes does that with pleasure), but consider them. Note, There is a great deal of good to be learned from what we see every day, if we would but consider it, Pro 6:6; Pro 24:32.

[1.] Consider how frail the lilies are; they are the grass of the field. Lilies, though distinguished by their colours, are still but grass. Thus all flesh is grass: though some in the endowments of body and mind are as lilies, much admired, still they are grass; the grass of the field in nature and constitution; they stand upon the same level with others. Man’s days, at best, are as grass, as the flower of the grass 1Pe 1:24. This grass today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; in a little while the place that knows us will know us no more. The grave is the oven into which we shall be cast, and in which we shall be consumed as grass in the fire, Psa 49:14. This intimates a reason why we should not take thought for the morrow, what we shall put on, because perhaps, by tomorrow, we may have occasion for our grave-clothes.

[2.] Consider how free from care the lilies are: they toil not as men do, to earn clothing; as servants, to earn their liveries; neither do they spin, as women do, to make clothing. It does not follow that we must therefore neglect, or do carelessly, the proper business of this life; it is the praise of the virtuous woman, that she lays her hand to the spindle, makes fine linen and sells it, Pro 31:19, Pro 31:24. Idleness tempts God, instead of trusting him; but he that provides for inferior creatures, without their labour, will much more provide for us, by blessing our labour, which he has made our duty. And if we should, through sickness, be unable to toil and spin, God can furnish us with what is necessary for us.

 

 

A link to Matthew Henry’s full commentary can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Matt.6.25-Matt.6.34

I recently asked a friend what the difference between belief and trust is, and it was interesting how they can be used interchangeably, but have subtle differences, depending on the context.

Scars and grief are like that as well. Both scars and grief find their origins in a traumatic event. Both have their own need to be addressed and worked through. Both leave lasting effects.

Grief leaves scars on the heart that can be clearly seen in the eyes at certain times. Physical scars are not always visible as well, but can be seen when one decides to reveal its presence to another.

How does all of this relate? Right now, in my journey, I’ve both believed that the grief and scars will heal as much as possible, but what I’ve discovered is not that I do not trust that this will happen or have not trust that it will happen, but rather learn to trust the process of dealing with the reality of the grief and scars existence is an ongoing process. It is worth noting that personally it is an evolutionary process where things do not feel now like they did when I experienced the events that led to both.

For example, there is the grief of losing my grandmother or recalling former mistakes and the scars left from multiple surgeries I’ve had.

One final piece of this that has yet to be addressed is the word faith, which is also commonly found when using the words belief and trust. In the first 24 to 48 hours I had to take it on other peoples’ words that things would get better and have faith that what they said was true. They were right and it did get better. But now I found that even after a decent passage of time, I have had to come to terms with relying on that faith that it has in the most superficial sense gotten better but in reality, I need to remind myself of a faith that got me through in a deeper sense.

Perhaps this would best be explained through the following illustration:

When it summertime and I go down the shore in a bathing suit, some of my scars are visible, and I have to relinquish the conviction that that is all people will see.

Alternatively, when sharing with others, the grief resurfaces, but not to the same ferocity it had in the beginning. However, it did take a few hours for the throbbing of the scars on my heart from said grief to stop throbbing so painfully.

Yet I would not trade either the scars or the grief because they create not only a point in which another individual and I can relate, but also compose parts of my testimony, which in the long run is the most important.

There was a time in my life as a junior in high school where I had loved someone so deeply but never said anything and they didn’t either. The bond remained the closest friendship I’ve had to date. It’s not that I don’t have friends now who I love, but they have yet to reach that depth and I frankly don’t know if they have the capacity to.

It’s been more than 20 years and in this last few days I’ve deeply struggled as much as I deeply loved and I’ve realized I still miss that person, that love that I had never felt before or since.

I see others so happy with their spouses and although I know they don’t face their own relational problems, it’s heartbreaking and yet bittersweet at the same time because I am genuinely happy for them.

 

You see love is impossible to describe. Thousands upon thousands of poems, books, storie, songs and films have tried to covey it but in the end they all fall short. Love cannot be described, only felt. Yes there are attributes such as wanting to always be around them, go places, see and experience things together, laugh and cry together and yes, even be willing to admit and forgive and wrongdoings but these all are actions and aspects of a relationship; they are not the feelings themselves. There simply are not enough adjectives or even the proper words to describe it.

 

The love that never was haunts me more than any shadow of that love I felt in the following years with one individual in college. Then I fell into the trappings of what I thought was finally a love that rivaled that first only to be trapped, gaslighted, mentally and emotionally damaged in every single way possible for a decade. It left me so terribly broken and completely devoid of any sense of self, purpose or identity but in retrospect it did save me from a path that would’ve ended as they say “either dead or in jail”.

 

What is there to tell of earthly love? Nothing except it is as fleeting as a vapor, promises and temperamental enchantments both of which shatter as quickly as a priceless vase falls to the kitchen floor.

Many experience it differently but in the end it’s sliding down a grass hill in summer. Sweet smelling but downwards and short nonetheless.

I’ve more scars from love than violence and more often than not they were one and the same. Shall I tell you of these horror stories? No. It’s not worth the time or energy.  It’s already down in paper anyways and my vocal cords are too raw to speak of it again.

So I’ll borrow from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in describing it:

  MERCUTIO

True, I talk of dreams,

Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,

Which is as thin of substance as the air And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes Even now the frozen bosom of the north, And, being anger’d, puffs away from thence, Turning his face to the dew-dropping south.

There’s little to add except that love is a folly’s pleasure, a game of dice, a toss of the coin. What’s more is that tempus fugit, and the only true love and hope is in the Eternal. The rest is a slow, all too aware of being buried alive a little more each day.

The best we can do is love those we can and point them to the One who is the only one able to show real agape love in the first place.

 

Its been 10 years since that relationship ended and 6 years since I’ve come back to Christ. But even His love is impossible to describe without pointing to His actions on Calvary. His records of being moved with great compassion such as when Lazarus died and as it says, “Jesus wept”.

 

The problem with love here on earth is that it can only be understood through our interactions with others. Be they family, friends, communities and even spouses.

 

We know God loves us, even when we can’t feel it but feeling His love is different for each person as much as is each of our own journeys in this life.

 

What then are we to do when told He loves us? When we are told to return to our first love? But it’s not the first person we were in love with but God who loved us before we were even born, who loved us before we even acknowledged His existence, or decided to accept this love in and of itself.

 

Yes, we can refer to “The Four Loves” by C. S. Lewis as our closet description of love, but to experience it is an entirely different matter.

 

To understand love here on earth we must first understand pain. Our pain, His pain and the promise of one day, if we have accepted Christ, spending eternity in His love where there are no more tears, no more sorrow, only the fulfillment of ultimate love for which we lack the ability to fully comprehend this side of eternity.

This past Tuesday during the torrential all day and night rains we finally lost power for 2 hours and I was ill equipped. I was literally in the middle of trying to fix my old police flashlight, trying to figure out why the batteries weren’t working (but I’d had it for over a decade), sitting on the hallway floor cross legged with a package of AAA batteries in front of me when the power went out. This blackout was my a culmination of my worst fears. I didn’t have anything but a few candles and a motion activated, thin bar usb powered over the kitchen light maybe 2.5” wide and a small stick on the refrigerator magnetized flashlight. What if a tree branch broke through either of my bedroom windows and I didn’t have enough light or means to see and repair all the damage? What if I lost all the food in my refrigerator? What if my phone died and I needed help but couldn’t call anyone?

Plus my mom was still driving home in this weather! I got down on my knees, then even laid my forehead on the floor with arms outstretched and prayed “Lord I care more about her than even myself. I don’t know what I’d do or how I’d survive without her, I love her more than anyone in this world, but Your will be done.”

After I said all I could muster and felt called to just go to bed, nothing was in my control, in the darkness alone (Goldie was in the living room chair despite me repeatedly calling her) I started talking to God like I haven’t in years. Pleading to regenerate those parts of my heart and mind atrophied still, to have Him call them back to life like Lazarus. To use the Holy Spir to unfreeze the hands so long clasped and clinging to whatever held me from allowing Him to enter into those parts of me that they were frozen in that position. Many other things I won’t write here but ultimately surrendered absolutely everything and a calm peace finally came over me as I heard one phrase, “Daughter I am here, you are not alone. I have this all in control” So many times I hear Him say similar words (usually the first phrase verbatim) and I know I’m not alone, but although I have felt and known this before, it went 1,000 times deeper into my soul and very being. 

So many verses came back to me, most in phrases of the verse or psalm like I have taped all over my bathroom mirror and walls and around the house, some full verses. I finally fell asleep in the darkness only to be awoken not too long afterwards when my overhead bedroom light, hallway light and all the lights in the living room came back on. 

I woke up and my first thought was “thank you Lord”; but it was not only for the physical light, but also the power outage itself that He used to draw me closer. 

My mom did get home safe (she had texted when the blackout was still ongoing) and I immediately messaged those I had asked to pray for her. I could say so many wonderful things about her, but suffice to say she is second in my life only below Christ. 

This taught me some very powerful lessons. God is in control of everything. He does use all things for good, even if it may not feel that way in that moment and more often than not, not immediately. This is why I think we need to be so careful when quoting Romans 8:28 to others in their distress. He listens to our cries and answers. He is our rock, shield and salvation. He saves us from ourselves on every and any possible way. From our eternal destination, to our hour by hour or even minute by minute situations. He protects us from ourselves. He watches over us, and even when we don’t know what to say even the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with wordless groans. 

So there are many things that still need fixing, from things as worldly as my deteriorated drivers side front and back door sealant – I’ve got it all covered in heavy duty garbage bags duct tapped from top to bottom after finding 5” of water in the back seat the following morning – to the own personal mental, emotional and spiritual work that still needs fixing (and truth be told, much will not be fully, truly and completely healed this side of eternity). But I know both are a work in progress. However, that fact that they are being worked on – and not in my own power gives me hope. 

The power did go out again that same night but I slept through it unknowingly. Is this not true, in a sense of our lives themselves? Even when we may not feel it or even when we feel like He is silent, He is still working. Our emotions and thoughts may in some stretch of the metaphor be “asleep”, we are sleeping peacefully while He remains ever present, all knowing, all powerful and ever working. 

So I thank God for Tuesday’s blackout, reminders of previous blackouts that ultimately drew me closer to Him and tonight as we face this heavy snowstorm this upcoming Monday through Tuesday that may or may not produce the same results; and beyond that the blackouts of trials and tribulations I know I’ll experience again before my life is over as my walk grows closer to Him I take heart knowing that as Christ said in John 16:33: ”I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭139‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭

”If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.“

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‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭

”Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He 

does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.“

Psalm 34:1-22

”I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 

Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.“

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