An Extra Hour

Thursday, August 24, 2023

On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”  So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.  Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar?  The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.  There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!  Joshua 10:12-14

If you have ever found yourself wishing for an extra hour in the day, because you haven't had enough time to "do it all" this is for you!

The day started with my phone losing its mind. It was supposed to awaken me at 5:30 am so I could get to my VA doctor’s appointment on time, but when I opened my eyes at 6:15 the phone was still in its own stupor!  Great....starting the day 45 minutes behind!  Getting dressed quickly, I ruminated on how my phone must be listed somewhere in the Bible’s “begets” of Hell’s spawn.

One other “proof” of how useless my mobile phone has become is the choice it makes, based on algorithms which ignore my needs, in favor of the desires of roughly 14-gazillion companies double-checking the expiration date of my car’s warranty.  One of those fascinating (but totally sinister) algorithmic choices also totally ignores the fact that I need my calendar to awaken me to the reality that my frenzy of activity to get to the VA for an 8:40 appointment, is silly, considering the appointment is an hour later at 9:40…a fact I totally missed, because the said appointment was for the eye doctor, because I am half-blind!

In frenzy-mode, I forgot that a careless placement of my coffee travel-mug on my car’s rooftop, coupled with a hasty “plop” of my overweight carcass in the driver’s seat means my mug-full-of-steaming-hot-Green Mountain Dark Magic coffee will wobble off the car roof and splatter all over my garage floor.  There’s no app or algorithm in the world that can cope with the stain on both my cement garage floor (which now must be painted, as Elizabeth always wanted), and my broken heart, having to face a 30-minute dash to the VA with zero-caffeine in my blood!

When I arrived at the VA and checked-in, the receptionist smiled, and said:  My, you’re early!  It was then I realized the calendar was right, and I had an extra hour to wait, be still, and know my hurrying had been in vain.  But all was not lost…in the VA lobby, stands a Starbucks, testament to the fact that our government leaders really do have a heart.  I reclaimed my lost Green Mountain Dark Magic, and sat in a space overlooking the parking lot to contemplate my madness in silence.  During the next hour I resisted opening my algorithm-driven demonic device, and used the time to be still, chill, pray, and sip my over-priced Folgers.  Within a few moments an elderly lady sat down at the lobby piano and played a lovely hymn.  And my blood pressure returned to normal (for me).  I managed to have enough presence of mind to thank God for that lovely, calming hour’s interlude, and soon was lost in praying for each of you, as the Lord brought you and your needs to mind.  Part of God’s answer to my prayer was when he spoke to my heart:   Russell, do you understand now, how you, getting up early, all worried and coming apart at the seams, when I wanted you to have an extra hour's rest for your weary bones and spirit, is a blight on the day’s journey?  I could only smile and nod an apology…He knows me well, without an algorithm.

For You Today 

Like Joshua, you can trust God for whatever extra hour he wants to build into your day; it will be the best hour of the day.  

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

View From the Watching Tower

 

Thursday, December 10, 2020

I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost.  There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.  Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.  This vision is for a future time.  It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.  It will not be delayed.  Habakkuk 2:1-3

God tells the prophet to write everything down, and then make sure others get to read or hear it.  That describes a preacher’s job in full – getting the message of God to everyone with ears.  In this missive God wants a clear, straightforward communication of His message.  Write plainly what you hear, Habakkuk; then spread the news around.

While God wants the prophet to be clear about stating the message, the LORD also sets the effect of the message for a future time.  And then God utters in Habakkuk’s ears the one word no ten-year-old boy ever wants to hear, wait.

We all do a good bit of waiting.  I waited in line in the drive-up lane at the bank because that branch is outside only.  I’m waiting on a prescription to be refilled right now because the pharmacy’s system got overwhelmed.  We are all waiting for the pandemic to appear in the rearview mirror.  We wait; and God says, wait patiently!  As if waiting isn’t enough, we’re to be patient too!

So, that brings us to Advent.  A planned season of waiting.  We get to burn one candle at a time, with a week in between increasing the light and warmth.

I admit, I’m not a good waiter.  The last thing I want to do when I boot up my computer each morning is wait for the sign-on page.  I want to turn it on and get going.  I’ve got deadlines, tasks to accomplish, people to call, and another report to file for the paper monsters at Conference.  Who wants to sit and wait?

And God said…if it seems slow in coming, be patient, hang-in with me, it will surely happen.

I have no doubts about God’s motives, plans, and ways being much higher than my pay grade, but that somehow doesn’t make me a patient waiter.  I couldn’t be patient for that driver’s license when I was 16 so I could have the freedom of driving without a chaperone, or graduation day so I could get out on my own, or for that first child to get here, or that pastor search committee to make up its mind….

Waiting ain’t pretty!

And God said, be patient.  And he gave us Advent to savor the waiting time.

Frankly, waiting for the future to get here is part of the ride.  On a longish trip I always want to keep track of how long I’ve got to go before I get there.  The GPS on my phone keeps track for me, and I look at the ETA (estimated time of arrival) as if to make sure I don’t get there too late.  That’s not patience; it’s the opposite!  Its anxiety produced by impatience.  Instead of enjoying the scenery on the trip I manage to transform a time of waiting into a time of personal torture.

The unanswered questions of life, about why some babies die, or why typhoons, tsunamis, and mudslides take out thousands of homes and people, or why God doesn’t do something about injustice and oppression…all these are tied to Advent, and waiting on the Lord’s definition of the “fullness” of time.

For You Today

The apostle Paul reminds us that some things are worth waiting for:

But when the right time came, God sent his Son….  Galatians 4:4a

So, Habakkuk, what are YOU waiting for…go spread that news…plainly!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image, Pixabay.com and    W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Waiting patiently see:  Waiting and How Long O Lord?  

 

Patience

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Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return.  Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring.  They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.  You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.  James 5:7-8^(NLT)

One of the hardest things to do is wait patiently.  The fact is we have conditioned ourselves against patience.  Everything manufactured these days requires little assembly or consideration.  The computer I use came with only a single page instruction sheet, and the rechargeable battery was already charged…plug-in and get going!

We are in a hurry today.  That “hurry” builds tension and uneasiness into our daily lives which can only be measured with a bucket loader.  There is hardly an un-anxious person to be found among us.  Yet that is exactly the advice given to pastors, to be a non-anxious presence as antidote to the fear and worry that pervades anxiety.

I had a hard time with that this past Sunday.

One of our churches uses multimedia to enhance worship; you could have fooled me.  At the first church (without screens and projector) the service went well, with several changes and unexpected shifts; it’s ok, we get used to last-minute hiccups! 

Elizabeth and I jumped in the car and noticed it was still early…we had a whole, extra two minutes to enjoy, getting down the road 11 miles to our second church.  That was the last bit of non-anxious in the day! 

Our choir-director, along with her son, the sound/multimedia technician, were gone on their annual vacation.  So, Russell, ever ready to take on much more than he is able, or qualified to do, said sure – I’ll run the computer for those two weeks; no problem! 

Poor, deluded monkey! 

Disclaimer:  if you’re not a technology genius, never agree to this; it’s difficult enough to stand before even a small church and stay sane while conducting a worship service.  If you throw-in having only 11 minutes once you arrive at church to set-up the laptop with the PowerPoint presentation, connect all the thingamajigs, turn-on the projectors, set-up the camera, video your wife standing at the piano saying “hi” to cousin Billy in Arizona, get to the bathroom (hey-it’s a long morning), and rush back into the sanctuary in time for the call to worship…you have a perfect storm waiting when you begin to lead the congregational call-to-worship printed in the bulletin – especially if you have in your hands the bulletin from the first church, and you’re trying to lead the congregation at the second church. 

And then, of course, the batteries in the remote control choose that exact moment to go belly-up!  And there you stand, non-anxious presence smile on your face, created in the image of God, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Super-pastor….and you just want to cry.

Note to self:   If you’re going to be a non-anxious presence, it would be a smart thing to stay within the boundaries of common sense and follow the advice you give to others from Scripture:  what makes the church THE CHURCH is not a Super-Pastor, able to do it all.  Rather, it is the Body of Christ being THE BODY OF CHRIST with each part doing that loving task to which it has been called. 

Stay in that; live in that; proclaim that – trusting God with everything.  That’s how the peace of God, which passes all understanding will create a non-anxious presence even in the midst of technological chaos!  It’s called the gift of patience.

For You Today

Waiting patiently may be the most anxious thing we do…and the most useless when we wind up faking the “patiently” part.  So, come with me; let’s take a deep breath and recite the Lord’s Prayer early this morning.  Call on the Father; fellowship with the Son; let the Holy Spirit have all that anxiety, and rest in His peace…patiently!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com