Month: April 2020

You’ve got to be kidding me!

We had just finished Sunday dinner, which we had enjoyed with friends of ours in our dining room. As the guests sat relaxing at the table, I slipped out to the kitchen to cut the homemade cherry pie. It was gorgeous, if I do say so myself! I had worked hard at it the day before, and couldn’t wait to hear the raves.

I carefully placed the slices on the dessert plates and adorned each one with a scoop of ice cream. The plates were then placed carefully in front of each awaiting guest. They took their first bites while I went back to the kitchen for some forgotten item. I heard some mumbled discussion from the table. Yes… mumbles. Not raves.

Upon returning to the table, my husband told me quietly that the pie was fine… except that I had left the pits in the cherries!! I hadn’t realized that the canned cherries I was using weren’t pitted!

Have you ever eaten a piece of cherry pie with the pits still in??! It is no easy task, my friend! It is a blend of chewing, sorting, spitting, drooling, swallowing and breathing. Exhausting.

These days…. do you sometimes feel like every time you try to take a bite you hit a pit? Do you feel like your day can look like it going to be a beautiful one, and by 10:00 AM all you are doing is chewing, sorting and spitting? Are there moments where you don’t even care if you get a whole piece, you just would like one bite without a pit?? As you struggle to deal with daily stuff… do you find it hard to even put into words what you’re feeling… and all that comes out are mumbles? Do you feel like you pour your heart and soul into trying to make things beautiful… and all you get is the messy? As you drag yourself to bed at the end of your quarantined day… do you wonder why you even bothered?

Because I do. Sometimes. And it’s OK.

Your loving Heavenly Father sees your efforts… and your heart… and loves you tons.

He says… “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” Colossians 3:23

The results are not up to us… they’re up to God. So, just keep making your pie for Him.

That changes everything.

Doors.

I love doors. The older, paint-pealing, nostalgic ones get me. You know the ones… with the creaky hinges sometimes… or the heavy thud as it closes for the night. Why, you ask? Why would you like those doors when there are so many gorgeous, new, modern ones, with extra seals and gizmos to keep out the arctic air and intruders? Because they have a story to tell.

Their story is a story of life, at it’s best and at it’s worst. They have witnessed joyous reunions and tearful good-byes,….been held open for long-overdue visits and been slammed in anger,….held out the bitter winds and held onto the comforting heat of the indoors… welcomed a lonely soul and protected from the enemy.

As a little girl, I just loved to go to Daddy’s office. It was so stately and fancy in my young eyes! My mother would sometimes stop in at the office during the day, and I knew right where Daddy’s office was! There was a seating area outside his door where visitors would wait, until my father had time to meet with them.

Waiting was not for me, though! I would race across the office, as quickly as my little legs could take me, right to his door, reach up to the door handle, turn it and walk right in….. right into my daddy’s arms!

Why could I do that? Because He was my father.

Imagine being part of a huge group of people, walking miles and miles through a wilderness, year after year. You counted on God for your daily instructions and directions as well as your food. And… you had to keep up with a lot of rules and regulations as far as having your sins forgiven. It was no easy task to be part of the children of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan over a time period of forty years.

God had a plan. He gave Moses directions as to how He wanted the Tabernacle to be built. This would provide the people with a tent where they could sacrifice and a place where His Presence would dwell. However, only the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies where the Ark of God resided. This Holy of Holies was separated from the area called the Holy Place by a veil. The high priest would enter with a blood sacrifice, hoping that he had fulfilled all of the requirements of a just and holy God.

Today… you…. as a redeemed child of God….if you have confessed Jesus as Lord and accepted His sacrifice on the cross for you…. have the privilege of opening that door…. anytime… anywhere…. and walking right in to the Most Holy Place, through prayer.

“…since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…” Hebrews 10:19-22

Are you feeling overwhelmed with life right now? Are you longing for just a few moments of solitude while at the same time dying of loneliness? Are those you love with all of your heart not looking so lovely at times? Does fear sneak up on you, and attack your mind when you’re least expecting it? Is the light at the end of the tunnel dim at times and yet blinding if you stare at it too long? Are you just plain tired… and yet you know that you can’t give up?

Just open the door and walk right in. Draw near…. He’s your Father. Pour out your heart to Him… He knows it all already. Rest in His love… He loved you enough to die for you.

Run to Him.