The Face of God

Photography by Jerry Doutrich

Pictures are our great reminders.

In the times when life is hard...

when the clouds of sadness, sickness, uncertainty

threaten to hide the joy, wellness, affirmation

that we seek from the God of the Universe, 

how good it is to have a picture.

God's creation is his portrait...

 rising sun, gentle waves, birds that ride unseen currents of air...

this is what God looks like.

This is the uplifting holy Face of God.

God saw all that he had made and it was very good.

And there was evening, and there was morning - 

the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31

Edel's Story: Don't Waste Time!

He will cover you with his feathers, 

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

-Psalm 91:4

I finished my delicious pie and looked across the table at my friend and hostess for this afternoon coffee visit.  Based on what I knew of her life, I had many questions for her.

"Edel," I asked, "if you could say one thing to the people of the world, what would you say?"

She looked seriously into my eyes and said firmly, "I would tell them...'Don't waste time!  Don't waste time on unimportant things.'  I wasted valuable time," she went on, "I didn't count my blessings when I should have.  I was not grounded with the real important things."

Wow.  I knew this was going to be a heavy conversation.  I met Edel several years ago when she joined my ladies group at church.  Her delightful accent gave away her German heritage and I soon realized that her lovely smile covered some heavy sadness.  Among the first things I ever learned about her was the fact that she and her siblings and their mother had survived the bombing of Dresden in World War II.  I must hear that story, I thought.  I later learned that Edel has been sharing that experience on her own blog at http://www.rebohme.com.  It's an incredible saga of an amazingly strong mother doing what she had to do to save her children, the youngest of which was a year-old babe in her arms.  Edel was 8 at the time.  I'm not going to go any further into her story here because it is hers to tell.  She has been sharing it bit by bit on her blog using the remembrances of her mother as shared in letters to her children.  I urge you to go there and read it for yourself.  When I asked her what that Dresden memory meant to her life today, she said, "I look back and I see how God guided us through all of that."

Edel grew up and married an American soldier during the Vietnam war.  When she came to America, she didn't know a bit of English.  They had three children and since they moved around a lot she was forced to learn the language.  The marriage eventually ended.  Her beautiful daughter died of a debilitating illness and the daughter's son died of the same condition.  One of Edel's sons is now a disabled veteran.  From the rubble of her beautiful home city of Dresden, Germany, Edel has come to a different life in Florida and marriage to a Christian husband.  Together they are active in their church and Edel paints pretty pictures that adorn the walls of their home.

As I chatted with my friend and looked into her eyes, I realized what keeps her going.  Edel is an overcomer.  Her daughter and grandson passed away after I got to know her and yes...the woman was sad.  She grieved.  She has deep sadness today for her son who has been so wounded by his military service.  His struggles with the VA trouble her greatly.  We all have sadness and troubles in our lives and I think it's good to be reminded by someone like Edel that time is fleeting and each moment is precious.  We have to find a way to keep going and focus on life's important things.

As we said our goodbyes at the end of our visit, I told Edel I appreciated her caution not to waste time and to focus on the important things.  She flashed that bright smile.

"Right...and remember...your last shirt has no pockets!"

Edel Gross   http://www.rebohme.com

The Gracious Hand of God

(Message delivered at Ladies Express Lunch, Vero Beach First United Methodist Church, June 15, 2017)

 I had a faith breeze aha God thing happen recently and I think when those things drop into your life you need to share it.  I saw an old friend and as we shared what was happening in our lives, she gave me a thought that stuck with me.  And that’s a good thing because it was going to appear in my Bible reading very shortly. 

She asked me if I was still doing the devotions at these lunches.  I assured her that I am and invited her to come.  She shared with me that she had recently been asked to give the devotion where she works.  When she asked God what he wanted her to say, she got the message: faith without a backup plan.  Think about it, she said…having faith without a plan B. 

“Diane,” I said…”I’m stealing that.  You’ll see that again real soon.”  A few days later, following our church’s Bible reading plan, I dug into the Book of Ezra.  It’s a short book and I read it in one sitting.  As I worked along and got to chapter 8, I came to the part where the prophet Ezra had received permission from King Artaxerxes to lead a group of refugees from Babylon to Jerusalem to restore the house of God to its position in the kingdom and to return the precious gold and silver items that had been stolen when the temple was destroyed.  And I was just sort of letting the story run along in my brain when I read this in Ezra 8:21: Ezra is speaking…

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.  Verse 22: I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 

My brain popped to attention.  Read that again!

Since he had so firmly declared God’s protection, Ezra was embarrassed to ask for man’s protection.  So there they went…off on the journey loaded with gold and silver possessions to dress the house of God.  And their only protection was the hand of God.  That’s faith, baby.

And how did it turn out?  Read on down to verse 31: On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.  The hand of our God was on us…

You know, there are plenty of verses that tell us to have faith…to trust…but sometimes we need to be shown what that looks like.  Here it is, in black and white on the page.  Ezra had told the king that the hand of God was on them and so he proceeded in that protection.  He asked nothing more.  He didn’t say, “Well the hand of God is on us but just in case we are beset by bandits we better have an armed escort.”  Now don’t think that I’m saying that we should not be smart about protecting ourselves with the available security…say at the mall.  The story is not telling us to be stupid.  But when we declare we are going to trust the gracious hand of God, then trust it.  I believe that if we need to go from Plan A to Plan B, then God will make that clear and show the way.

Is there anyone in this room who is not having to walk by faith in some area of your life today?  Please raise your hand if your life is so well-ordered and safe and sound that you are not having to trust the gracious hand of God for anything.  I want to see what somebody like that looks like.  As the great comedienne Gilda Radner was known to say…”It’s always sumthin’!”  In our family, we have so many sumthin’s it would be overwhelming if we were not trusting God to walk alongside us and show us his path…his Plan A.  It’s likely that any Plan B would be a plan of my own fixing and direction and we would be off in the weeds in a matter of minutes.  I know, because I’ve battled those weeds of my own making far too many times…and God help me I likely will again.

Faith without a backup plan refers to those times in life when we look at a situation and say, “I have no idea what to do here but I know God does so I’m leaving it up to him.”  As we make the first step, counting on that gracious hand of God, we can see where to make the next step and then the next and so on. 

Psalm 105 says: Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  Don’t look for a backup plan.  No need to say, “If this doesn’t work, then I’ll try this.”  Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  He who gave us his only son as his plan A will keep us with his gracious hand as long as we look to him and his strength.  That’s our Plan A, B, C, D and on and on and on.  Thanks be to God for his eternal love and caring over all we do as we seek to serve him. 

Remember: the gracious hand of our God is on all who look to him.

Pray:  Lord of all strength and power, we sit here under your mighty gracious hand.  We come to you thanking you for your love and care.  We have so many needs, so many concerns and so many praises.  Hear them all, Father, and touch each one with love and compassion.  May we seek only to serve you and bring you glory as we carry your cross in a hurting world.  I pray your blessings on each woman here…in the name of your son, Amen.

To the Glory of God

How lovely are thy dwellings, O Lord...

Psalm 84:1

I have visited some magnificent places dedicated to God's glory.  I've enjoyed worship from the Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey.  I've been blessed to stand awestruck in the middle of St. Peter's Basilica and St. Patrick's Cathedral...places that are truly grand dwellings in the eyes of the world. If we consider the man-made houses dedicated to the glory of God, these truly are among the most grand in size and decoration.

Saturday afternoon, my daughter, Becky, and I presented a program at Alturas United Methodist Church in Alturas, Florida.  Though it's a mere 70 miles from my home, I had never been to Alturas.  I'm glad I finally got there!  The church is not large.  In fact, it's one of the smallest churches I've ever enjoyed being in.  It is a lovely 102-year-old gem in an off-the-beaten-path Florida village.  The sanctuary is graced with exquisite stained glass windows and the warm dark wood of the pews completes the peaceful ambiance of God's presence.

And inside were the kindest, dearest people whose pastor is my friend, Kathleen Durbin.  They were so receptive to our presentation: my words and Becky's music.  We were as much charmed as we were blessed.  We kept looking at each other and saying, "This is so beautiful."

    What a lovely dwelling, O Lord.

(Becky and I would love to come to your church.  Contact information can be found on this page.)