Pantry Raids and Prophecy
For you need endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the fulfillment of the promise.
The sheet was heavy this morning, but I pressed it off of me anyway. I had made a deal with myself to kick into gear in the morning regardless. That means exercise and activity.
Since finishing CamperVan Beethoven, I've found myself doing little in the early hours besides writing—which is great, but life needs more than headspace. Today that meant 30 minutes on the treadmill working up a good sweat, pushups, sit-ups and a round of stretches and cardio.
Then, in spite of not feeling particularly enthusiastic, I gathered myself and set forth in the ministry. For the uninitiated here, that means going out and knocking on peoples doors in the hopes of teaching them something from the Bible.
My partner today is an 80 year old woman who is happy to let me do the talking. Though very capable, she claims she enjoys my banter. And there is a lot of it. Whereas on Saturday, we had zero conversations, today every single person is home and they all want to talk. It is intimidating to learn to do this, but once you get your sea-legs under you and overcome the fear-of-man factor, there are few things in life as satisfying as sharing deeply held beliefs with a stranger.
The first door finds a VERY chatty woman. She is so eager, we don't even get to knock, she opens up having seen us come up the drive. It is a long and enjoyable conversation about the future and what the Bible promises in Psalm 37: 10, 11. She agrees and is eager to see Jesus come and tells us in rapid fire that her dogs name is Coco, her children made her feel appreciated on mothers day, that she is worried the majority have forgotten God, that she has a burning desire to talk about Him and how He makes her feel.
It is very pleasant. Though, about 10 minutes in, I do detect that unmistakably aroma of cannabis begin to waft out of the door. I think it is the neighbors at first (this is common in this neighborhood) but then I start to put her loquaciousness together with the odor. Some people it makes VERY mellow, others, it makes them incredibly friendly. I've had more than a few initial calls like this that, upon return are far less welcoming.
I hope that I am wrong and that this woman who has the same namesake as my own sister is equally excited the next time she sees us.
The rest of the morning is just lovely. People are friendly and welcoming and agreeable. Even homes with window flags and axes lodged in muddy woodpiles turned out to be surprisingly welcoming. It is all made better and more enjoyable by the fabulous spring weather that the storms have left us.
I've left my lady at home sleeping. She's being visited by her mother and sister who come to offer comfort, but leave having only sort-of managing to do so. Somehow their visit resulted in relieving me of yet more pantry items. I think I've decided to just clear it all out. I was happy to unload the expired items, but now we're shelling out our useful materials that I would prefer to hang on to. Maybe the best thing is to just eliminate that source of distraction.
Trivialities, I know. When greater challenges are absent, we humans are marvels at finding nagging little things to be frustrated about.
I was reading about courage this morning. Courage to face trials. I think we believe we only need courage when facing the giants, but we need it too when the little things get in the way. Challenges of any kind are like rocks. Some of them are massive boulders and some are small stones. But, do you know what cuts the rock?
Water.
In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins—not through strength but by perseverance.
No rock can stand against the drip drip drip of water. Our courage is like that. Faced with a Goliath-like foe, perhaps we expect courage to come like a firehose. And maybe it does on some special occasions, but daily it is a single drop against the challenges and frustrations we face. Both internal and external. Every success is another drop in the fight against whatever the obstacle may be.
Over time, our courage wears away, soothing the path over or through the challenge. Is it not beautiful to think that all we have to muster in any given moment is a single drop of courage? And then another and another?
We can do that!
There are SO many examples in the Bible of those who had to face challenges. Daniel is a stand out for certain. He was so successful we got a whole book about him. What a man—forced to leave his family and have his loyalty tested (Dan 1), the threat of death when Nebuchadnezzar had his dream (Dan 2), interpreting a judgment against the Babylonian ruler (Dan 5), A change of government, the lion's den (Dan 6)—ON and ON were the challenges he face. Even his own internal dialog worked against him.
When the thing he prayed for most came to fruition (a return to Jerusalem and pure worship), Daniel was too old to go with his people. He surely felt like a failure, no longer to carry on as the faithful man he once saw himself as. How beautiful that he mustered courage and did not give up though! Because of that a messenger was sent to strengthen hi and give him more visions of a future so distant, he could never have comprehended how incredible their fulfillment would be.
Yes, Daniel dripped away at his obstacles and in the end, the race was his. One day, he'll get to see just how incredible his example of faithfulness really was.
And that's at the core of what Jehovah told the man Joshua at Joshua 1:7-8.
“Only be courageous and very strong, and observe carefully the entire Law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not deviate from it either to the right or to the left, so that you may act wisely wherever you go. This book of the Law should not depart from your mouth, and you must read it in an undertone day and night, in order to observe carefully all that is written in it; for then your way will be successful and then you will act wisely.”
For Joshua to be courageous and very strong, he would have to carve out time to read God's word in an undertone day and night and then carefully apply what he read. So there we have the recipe for Joshua's courage:
Personal study strengthened his faith.
Faith made him more courageous.
Courage made him successful
Daniel 10:14 shows how this recipe applied in Daniel's case. There, an angel is telling Daniel,
“I have come to make you understand what will befall your people in the final part of the days, because it is a vision yet for the days to come.”
God sent an angel to reveal a breathtaking prophecy to Daniel about the struggle between the King of the North, the King of the South, a prophecy that we're still analyzing today, thousands of years later. But now, that assignment, to write down this prophecy probably was not what Daniel was expecting as he thought about not being able to return to Jerusalem.But Daniel chapter 10:19 makes the connection for us. The angel goes on:
'Then he said: “Do not be afraid, O very precious man. May you have peace. Be strong, yes, be strong.” As he spoke with me I was strengthened and I said: “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”'
When Daniel focused on educating and strengthening God's people, it encouraged him. His faith was strengthened. He now had the courage to face his limitations.
Routine... it saves us from the small failures. And with those little successes add up, we feel successful. We feel like giants.
Maybe you are Daniel. But you can't see because you are so close to the rock, pressed against the obstacle and feeling like you can't move. But stay courageous and watch the water break not just on the stone, but into it!
WIWL
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