STAY NEAR THE SHEPHERD 2

Lately, my hope that God is near and working in every moment in our lives, came into question. Can I, a faulty child of the Father, expect Him to answer every prayer?

 

Yesterday I was riding my bike home…there were six miles between me and home. The weather had reported “no rain” for the day, but it began to lightly sprinkle. I prayed, “LORD, please don’t let it rain (or lightening) until I get home.” It sprinkled on and off but did not begin to rain (lightly) until I was three fourths of a mile away. I walked into the house damp, not soaked. No lightening. Safe.

 

I asked the LORD the question, “How much do You desire to be involved, interactive with me?”

 

Then I read Psalm 23. He is my shepherd: I shall not want (by implication to lack). He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness…I fear no evil for He is with me…comfort is present…a table is prepared. He anoints my head with oil…my cup runs over…goodness, mercy follow me all the days of my life…I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever…

 

Yes. The LORD is interested in every day, every hour, and every part of my life. I wrote this Blog in 2019 and republished it, after a serious bicycle accident on December 21^st, 2021, this interaction with our Creator rings true. People, Therapists, an Orthoptist, our neighbors, and especially our children, have shown that the LORD is near and hears us day and night. Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him.” The recovery process is still teaching lessons that are making Scripture come alive.

 

My sister, Char, called right after the accident telling me she was praying for my bones to heal when a song played on the radio about the dead, dry bones in the Book of Ezekiel in Scripture. God asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel’s answer, “O Lord, you know.” Since then I have been smiling over that question and answer.  Can bones come alive and renew? “Lord, you know.” Keep close. Stay near the Shepherd.

YOU CAN RESPECT HIM

Every man has gifts because he is in God’s image. Abilities, giftedness is there; you can trust that it is.

 

My husband, Eric, worked as an electrician's helper when we first married; the pay was minimum wage and we lived on it about four years in a rented mobile home; our first two sons were born in those years. Work he did not know existed came to him just after our third son was born. Eric had a natural bent toward organization and Logistics. His education in secondary science, work as a Radioman on the U.S.S. Ponchatoula and now his interest in electricity all qualified him for a career in the Navy.

 

If it takes time for interests and gifts to come out, listen carefully to your husband day after day. Watch him with fresh hope and vision. Look deeper than the surface you will discover his strengths, his gifts. He will be very encouraged if he suspects you are seeing him this way. Passion can rise again; fascinating layers to his personality he may not even know are there.

 

Beyond his encouraged persona, you have hope, too. When you met and agreed to marry him, you saw something important and worthy of love and respect. With years of marriage, with the disappointments, you may have forgotten. But no matter what he has or has not accomplished yet you can begin again to believe.

 

Look and listen. Focus. A spark, an interest he demonstrates. Being closest to him, you may begin to recognize it! His uniqueness needs pride from you.

 

For the minute, forget the past, forget the attitude of anyone else and think just of yourself, him, and God! Once you “see” with spiritual eyes and you decide to encourage what you see in your husband, you may just make the difference in his future . . . and in yours . . . in the future of your world.