AM Clouds Giving Way to Afternoon Sunshine

It's June. Summer is here, school is out and we Southern Californians are ready to hit the beach! Eagerly we load up our cars with beach towels, umbrellas, sunscreen, boogie boards...oh, and the kids. We fight for parking spots, trudge through the sand locating small plots on which to plop down our stuff. And then we all sit, huddled in our beach towels, shivering. We should know better. We can all recite the weather forecast mantra for June: Morning fog and low clouds, giving way to afternoon sunshine. June gloom it's called. But it's summer! Something inside of us instinctively senses that it should be hot. Now. Even though I personally enjoy the coolness of the morning and evening low clouds, something about it just doesn't seem right.

Bundled up in my beach towel, away from the normally hectic pace of life, I have time to think and to hear God's still, small voice. I confess that I have the same attitude toward the daily irritations of life. Not the major crises, not the hurricanes and earthquakes. Just the daily fog and low clouds, those gnawing inconveniences. My instinct says that life should be always happy, always easy-going without misplacing my cell phone or catching a cold or having to cancel an evening out or spilling coffee down the front of my blouse as I run out the door. Somehow those things have a way of ruining the day. Like looking at the sky and seeing only the clouds, I look at my day and see only the irritations. And yet, just as the sun is still providing light and warmth (well, some anyway), God is still present, always working on behalf of His kingdom, providing opportunities to see Him in new ways through our trials, major and minor.

"And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:27-29

Father, I know this passage from Romans; have quoted it often. How, then, can I become so irritated when I have caught every signal as it turns red? I believe You; I really do. Help my unbelief. Use these frustrations to conform me into Your image. Remind me to dress for the weather, putting on the full armor of God, so I can embrace the day, embrace Your presence in it, even in the "foggy" irritations. Calm my heart; increase my pleasure in you. And help me to be your instrument for people who need the light of Your salvation on this cloudy morning.

We decided to grow a vegetable garden this year. The zucchini are flourishing so that if I don't check the plants daily we end up with giant squash. The lettuce keeps up a regular pace of growth. And the little red Jellybean and yellow pear tomato plants are merrily producing ripe fruit. But my impatience with the larger heirloom tomatoes and red and yellow peppers is growing as fast as those zucchini! There is plenty of fruit on the vines, but the fruit hasn't grown big enough yet and it's still green. The growth of the watermelon plant is almost imperceptible right now. Hmm. So I wait, but impatiently. How quickly I miss the miracle and beauty in the growing and the eager anticipation of tasty "ripe right off the vine" fruit and vegetables...all in good time.

As I watch and wait, checking and re-checking the fruit, looking for a change in color, evidence of ripening, I wonder at my equal impatience with spiritual growth in my life and, if I am honest, in the lives of those around me. I want to be on the short path to holiness and it would be so much easier if those around me were closer to the goal as well. I lose sight of the progress, of the subtle changes in us all. I lose sight of the evidence of God the Spirit's presence in our lives. Yes, one day when we see Christ face-to-face we will finally be completely free of the weight of sin to be be like him, fully to be who He created us to be. John writes, "Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." The true beauty of the fruit, of our redeemed lives, has yet to be revealed. But just like I can tell that the tomato plants have tomatoes and the pepper plans have peppers, so I know that I am His; I belong to Christ. Perhaps the greatest miracle is that God is working through us all even now, even in our imperfection and weakness. And so, John's words are an encouragement to press on toward purity and Christ-likeness, knowing that because Christ has redeemed me and made me His own, one day His work in me will be complete and even now He reveals Himself through the cracks of my life so that it is His glory (not mine) that is revealed.

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." II Thessalonians 2:16-17

p.s. I just went out to turn the water on and noticed that a few of the heirloom tomatoes are just starting to turn color. I might not have even noticed, but was looking for hope...and found it. :)

I love the way God uses everything around me as a portal into His heart and into my own soul. Last week was bittersweet. Our grandsons spent the week with us and we had great fun working and playing. One of the things we did was to labor hard together on a project in the yard, digging up a big square of grass, sifting through the dirt to get rid of bits of debris and weeds so the extra dirt could be used to create interesting little hills and valleys while the weeds went in the green waste bin. Then we shoveled in a layer of pea gravel and a top layer of decomposed granite to create a patio of sorts for our lawn furniture. While we enjoyed the time we spent with our grandsons, our otherwise peaceful, somewhat orderly life was thrown into confusion and disarray by these two precious, rambunctious boys. And I didn't always handle the confusion and disarray in the calm, wise, confident way I'd like to have. My own heart was unearthed and sifted revealing the weeds and debris I try to convince myself don't exist any longer. Alas, there they were. I'm left this week feeling like a garden of weeds. Father in heaven, thank you for revealing the weeds that remain. Pull them out and destroy them so that I may see just a glimpse of the good you have worked in me as well; so I can see once again Your presence in my life. Thank you for your overwhelming love and grace.