"Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior"

Eagerness is something I see in first grade on a daily basis. Eagerness to learn, eagerness to play, eagerness to have fun, eagerness to do things right.  But probably the type of eagerness I most see is eagerness to please and eagerness to help. It doesn't matter what the task, but when I start a sentence with, "I need someone to...", I can count on 20 little hands to shoot up. 20 little smiles as if to say, "Choose me! Choose me!"  They don't know what the end of that sentence is going to be. It could be something that is not fun like pick up trash around the room or push in chairs or straighten up the computer center.  But I've learned that the end of that sentence doesn't matter...they just want chosen for the job.

I heard the song "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior" the other day and it made me think about that simple eagerness. Part of the chorus says, "while on others thou art calling, do not pass me by".  How many times The Lord calls on me and you to do things and how many times we find excuses not to.  Maybe it's not the right timing for us, or I'm too shy, or I don't have the resources or means.  What would it look like if we were like my little first graders.  Not even waiting to hear the whole request, just opening our hearts and saying "choose me, Lord, I can do it".  I have been taught to have a servant's heart, and I want to be willing and eager to please Him. Eager to be chosen.


"Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry;
while on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by.

Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;
while on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by."
by Fanny Crosby

We’ll Never Know

"You'll never know." I whispered this to Joey Kate and kissed her as we were walking through WalMart and she was being cute and funny. I probably say this to her a dozen times a day. "You'll never know." And she won't.

She'll never know how much she was wanted. She'll never know how much she was prayed for. She'll never know all the shots, medicine, dr. appointments I had so that she would have the hope of a healthy life. She'll never know how it took every ounce of strength I had to have her. She'll never know how much she's loved.

       I thought about how God must whisper this to us a dozen times a day as well. We'll never know.

We'll never know how much we are wanted. We'll never know how much we are interceded for. We'll never know all the beatings, wounds, and scars He had so that we would have the hope of eternal life. We'll never know how it took every ounce of His earthly strength to die on the cross for us. We'll never know how much we are loved.

I am overwhelmed. I am humbled. I am blessed...all because I will never know.

"We love him, because He first loved us."

John 4:19  (KJV)

He’s Been Faithful

As 2014 wraps up and I think about this past year, my mind replays ups and downs that I stumbled through.  In March, I got news from my Dr. that wasn’t the greatest.  Granted, it could’ve been a lot worse, but could’ve been better, too.  I cried for what seemed so impossible at the time.  I remember sitting on the couch and John wiping away my tears, telling me to trust the Lord’s plan and timing for it all.

When I think of that now, I have to smile.  I have to smile because here it is, not even a whole year later, and I see the Lord’s faithfulness sleeping in my arms.  Not even a whole year later, and I see the Lord’s plan clearer than I ever have.  Not even a whole year later, and I see how His ways are so much higher than my own. 

So, as far as 2014 goes, I will forever cherish it as a reminder of His faithfulness.  Hopefully, as you look back on this past year, you, too, can see His fingerprints amidst all of your own ups and downs.  He’s been faithful in 2014, and I know He’ll be faithful in 2015, as well! 

Happy 2015, Friends!

“But the Lord is faithful…”

2 Thessalonians 3:3  KJV

I Wonder What Mary Saw

When they placed the crown of thorns on His head, I wonder if Mary thought about all the times she had ruffled his little boy hair?

When He stumbled and fell under the weight of the cross, I wonder if Mary saw the unsteady steps of a little boy, learning to walk?

When she saw the stripes and bruises on His back, I wonder if she thought about all the little boy hurts she had kissed away?

When He crawled onto the cross, I wonder if Mary saw her baby learning to crawl?

When they nailed His hands, I wonder if Mary saw two chubby little baby hands?

When they took His feet and began to hammer, I wonder if she saw the baby boy feet she once playfully tickled?

When He cried out in pure agony, I wonder if Mary heard the cries of her newborn baby boy?

When she looked at His face, beaten, bloody, and unrecognizable, I wonder if Mary saw her beautiful boy?

When He said, “It is finished”, I wonder if Mary was thinking about the beginning?

When He took His last breath, I wonder if Mary was thinking about His first?

When she looked at His broken body hanging high up on the cross, I wonder if she knew it was for me?

“Have You Considered My Servant?”

    Most usually when you are getting ready to assign a task, you choose the most qualified.  You generally don’t choose the weakest member of the group, you pick someone who will get the job done.  Someone you trust and have confidence in:  someone you believe in.  If you are the overseer, you want to know that when that whatever the job assigned, your person will do it, do it well, and get it finished.

    I feel like Job was God’s “person”.  When the satan came around, the Lord knew exactly who He wanted for the job.  He knew that Job had faith and trust in Him and wouldn’t back down.  He would stand through any tests and temptations, firm.  Job was the person for the job.  When things got tough, and we all can read how tough it actually got, the Lord had confidence in His servant.  The Lord knew Job’s heart.  He trusted him to do the job, do it well, and finish the task.

    How many times things pop up in our lives that don’t seem to be the best of situations.  You feel tested and tried and spent on every level.  Life gets hard.  I want to be the kind of servant, like Job, that the Lord has utmost confidence in.  The kind of servant that He can say, “have you considered my servant Amy?”  The kind of servant He can depend on. 

So when tests and trials knock us down, and they will, keep an unwavering faith…the Lord may have specifically chosen the best servant, you, for that particular test.

 

“And the Lord said unto satan, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Job 1:8 KJV