Against the Wind

When I get off the train in the morning and head to my office in midtown Manhattan, it seems I am always buffeted with crowded sidewalks. And as it is in our life, it seems like everyone is going in the opposite direction. It certainly would be easier to go with the flow, no resistance, and at least I wouldn’t always feel like I was in someone’s way. Often times there exists a dichotomy between what our will and the will of God is in our lives. We want to go one direction and the Lord seems to be telling us to go another direction. What is God’s will for us, what direction does He want us to go and how do we determine His will in our daily walk? Determining His will in everyday activities is not always that easy.

I recently heard a story about an office manager who decided that she was going on a diet. She enlisted all the ladies in the office to join her in this effort, strength and encouragement in numbers. As they started sure enough they begin losing weight, lots of it. Everything was going great until one morning this office manager comes in with three dozen donuts. Everybody was flabbergasted at her actions. When asked, she began to explain to them that it was God’s will that she bring donuts to work. She said, ever since we started this diet, I changed my route to work, because my old route took me by the Dunkin Donuts, so to remove the temptation; I changed the way I travel to and from the office. But, she said, today I forgot to take the new route and found myself in front of Dunkin Donuts. I prayed, Lord, if indeed it by your will that I should stop and buy donuts, let there be a parking place right at the front door, and I’ll accept that as an indication that buying donuts is your will in my life today. And sure enough the 15th time around the block there it was, an open parking place right at the front door.

Here is an individual who is desperate to see her will done. So desperate that she is willing to convince herself that it is God’s will.

Jonah was a man who was also desperate to see his will done, so desperate in fact that he was willing to do the complete opposite of what God had asked him to do. In the book of Jonah 1:1-3 we read: Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah had his own idea, which was different from the will of God. Jonah didn’t want the people, the wicked people of Niniveh to be saved. He thought God would have mercy on them, and he thought if he went the opposite direction, they would receive the punishment that he thought they deserved. Jonah was wrong. Sometimes our thoughts, desires, our flesh gets in the way of doing what God wants us to do. We even think that it is impossible for us to do whatever it is that God wants’ us to do. But the simple fact is if God guides, God provides. He will provide everything that we need to do what He has called us for. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Grace and Peace

Lessons From My Dog

Briggs was a birthday present, given to me by my family in January 2001. We went to the breeder to look at the puppies when they were five-days old. We got to meet Briggs mother, half brother and grandmother. They were all great dogs and gave us a good indication of what the puppy we picked might be like. We had decided that we wanted to get a male, and since Springer’s come in black and white and liver and white, personally I was leaning toward a puppy that was of the later coloration. Briggs came from a large litter, much larger than normal, he was one of 14 puppies. One had died at birth which left 13. Briggs was the last puppy born. According to the breeder, Briggs was the one who pushed all the other puppies out. She also said that Briggs was a whiner and probably always would be. When we looked at the pups he was the one that made the most noise, moved around the most, and was the pushiest. He immediately caught my eye, along with one other pup. We went back and forth for a while trying to decide and finally chose Briggs. Of course his name wasn’t Briggs when we selected him; the breeder had called him something completely different. We named him Briggs, because at the time we raced go-karts powered by Briggs and Stratton engines, just like a lawn mower. My dream was to have a Briggs, and then to get a female and name her Stratton and maybe raise Springers. Briggs was only five days old when we picked him, but we named him and went back every week to visit him, hold him and play with him until he was old enough to leave his family and come join ours. After having Briggs for a few months we never thought about having two Springers again. One thing I can say about Briggs is that he is very social, loyal and completly devoted to me his master. Whenever I’m around he not only needs to be with me, but close enough to be touch me. Whatever direction I’m looking, his desire is to be in my line of sight. If I go out, he wants to go out. If I go for a ride he wants to come with me. He not only wants’ my attention, he craves it, and he is willing to do anything as long as it is with me. He also knows my voice, and when I call him he comes. Sometimes someone else in the family will try to get him to come, and if he is busy or his mind is on something or someone else he just won't come. But when I call, no matter what the distraction he comes. For the most part he is very obedient. He listens very intently really wanting to understand and do my bidding. Sometimes he does struggle with obedience. For example, if we come home and he has been lying on the bed or the couch or somewhere where he isn’t allowed, he hangs his head and goes to the laundry room, this is his way of doing penance. I want to be like Briggs with my Master Jesus. I want to be in Jesus’ line of sight, as close to Him as I can be. To crave to be with Him all the time, listening for His voice, coming when He calls, wanting to understand what it is He wants me to do and striving to do it, to be fit for my Master's use. Oh, I know I will fail, just like Briggs fails, I will lay down where I’m not suppose to be and have to hang my head. But Briggs knows that when he comes back up the stairs from the laundry room that I, his master will be there, will pat him on the head and say good dog Briggs..Oh Lord my prayer is that you might make me a Springer Spaniel!!
Grace and Peace.

To Be Like a Dog

This is Briggs my Springer Spaniel. His name is Actually George W. Briggs as he was born on inauguration day in 2001. Tomorrow I want to share what Briggs has taught me about following a master.

Looking for God's Blessings

Sometimes it's easy to look over, past around God's blessing in our life. We don't see His blessings or His miracles because we aren't looking for them. The other day Susan and I prayed before I got on the train to go to Manhattan. I prayed that the Lord would bless us and that we would recognize His blessing. That morning as I got off the train I saw a quarter, laying on the platform. Since no one was there to claim it I picked it up not knowing what God had in store. As I arrived at the Subway Station a young lady maybe 14 years old was looking frightened and dismayed. She came up to me and asked me if I had a quarter she could borrow. You see that day the NY MTA raised it's toll from $2.00 to $2.25 and she only had the $2.00. I told her that I didn't have a quarter that she could borrow, but that the true and living God had provided her with a quarter, and He used me to deliver it. She was blessed, I was blessed, but it would have been easy to overlook. Susan's blessing came as a result of making her first sale on Ebay. She said, that that sale, really blessed her. The Lord has been really making me aware of His presence in my and my family's life. So much so that I felt prompted to start this blog and sharing some of the things with whoever is lead to read it. I remember the old hymn that we sang when I was a kid. Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God has done... I challenge you to start counting your blessings..