Friday, June 24, 2011

Signature of God

Recently, a friend gave me some information about geese. I had told her about a previous blog post and the lessons I learned from geese. She relayed an internet site which helped me learn more about these graceful and gracious creatures.

It seems that when geese fly in a V, they are using aerodynamic principles. No surprise there. But when they honk, they’re not just announcing to the world that they’re flying past us, they are encouraging each other to continue – to push past the fatigue and persevere. When one goose tires or is injured, two or three others will land and stay with him until he is well again and able to travel.

The spiritual analogies seem clear. We Christians need to keep encouraging each other to persevere – even when the world makes fun of us, even when we can’t find anything decent to watch on TV, even when the solid values of family and hard work and the inerrancy of scripture are being redefined. Honk – encourage each other to remain true and strong and faithful.

If one of us should fall, that is not a time for self-righteous judgment nor should we leave our brothers and sisters behind. Our role then is to come alongside, to actually be with each other in the middle of the mess, to grieve with each other until we are restored and can journey on.

How I love these lessons from nature that teach us Biblical and common sense principles. The nature of geese is to follow their instincts, to fly but always to endure the flight together. As we do the same, our very lives will bear the signature of God.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Planted in Place

During a wildflower tour in the abundant Flint Hills of Kansas, I learned about the various grasses and plants that live there. God, in one of his creative jaunts, planted wild strawberries, coneflowers and goldenrod in the tallgrass prairie. Many of the wildflowers and grasses contain essential nutrients to feed and heal animals as well as human beings. But driving through the Flint Hills, we may fail to see the beauty of the prairie or to appreciate the way God planned it.

If we were to find some of those wildflowers and grasses in our well-manicured lawns, we would pull them. “A weed – yuck – grab the chemicals and destroy the roots.” But as our tour guide told us, “A weed is simply a plant out of place.”

God places us in particular places during particular seasons of life. Whether we think geographically or within the broader scope of life’s experiences, we are planted for a reason. God wants us to be spiritually nourished with the Word, with His presence, with music and nature and friends. He longs for us to grow closer to Him, to find our strength within the joy of His being and then share that joy with others. He wants us to produce and reproduce and praise the Master Gardener. He has designed us with particular gifts and talents so that we can bear His good news of love to a hungry world.

If we follow what He has told us to do and give our all to growth, then we will see the results of a bountiful harvest. We’ll flourish like the wildflowers and grasses of the prairie, reflecting the beauty of sunsets and the glory of thunderstorms.

But if we let every wind of change and every nudge of the flesh move us from the place God put us, we’ll become weak and useless – producing nothing but empty pods of legalism and strife. In the proper place, with the best God has to offer, we produce fruit. But planted out of place in the trails of rebellion, we become weeds.

I long to bear fruit. What about you?