The Stagnant Pond

The Stagnant Pond

All is still. Cars scurry by on nearby 13th street, rushing off to their various destinations. Sitting here at the park I hear the distant laughter of children playing A basketball bounces off the cement court; the clang as it hits the backboard echoes across the grass to where I walk A Cessna drones, far overhead. An occasional jogger puffs by, the slap of his running shoes spanking the pavement.

Activity surrounds me, but my world stands still, as if I’m dreaming or sleepwalking. I observe everyone else’s activities, yet I sit, only my writing hand and pen moving across the page. The stillness provides blessed relief.

 I sit on a large, cold, gray rock six feet above a man-made pond; more rocks rim this small pond’s perimeter. The lowest twelve inches of the rocks surrounding the pond are blackened, evidence that the water has receded. The remaining water, brown and stagnant, is filled with yellow-green algae. Its surface is littered with yellow and brown leaves. Small branches broken from the tree overreaching this pond lie lifelessly on its murky surface. Human trash adds to the dismal scene: a red cup, a white plastic fork, a Styrofoam plate, and a half-submerged Coke can.

Lord, today my body and soul feel dried up and wasted like this little pond. I come here for a time of rest, reflection, and renewal. I seek rest—wanting Your strength to re-invigorate my body, I seek peace and quiet to allow Your peace to wash over my mind. I seek Your spirit here in Your beautiful creation, so that Your living water will fill my soul, allowing it to bubble over. Make me a sparkling spiritual pond, not stagnant, not filled with trash, but alive with living water, so clean and beautiful that anyone who thirsts for Your living spirit will drink her fill.

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

Friday Friends’ Favorites

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’”

Father, thank you for sending your son that we might know him, and thus know you. Fill us with the joy of your presence, Lord, and help us spread your love and peace to others.

Forgive

Lord, you must be so disappointed in us. You sacrificed for us; you died for us. Yet while you hung on the cross in pain, you asked the Father to forgive us. And yet we hold grudges, and yet we hate. Once again, Lord, forgive us. Teach us to follow your humble, loving, sacrificial example. Help us to forgive, even as you forgave us.

Swinging the Sword

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto on Pexels.com

The story is familiar. On the night Judas betrayed Jesus, an armed crowd came at night to arrest him. To protect his master, Peter “reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear” (Matthew 26: 26:51). The loyal disciple attempted to save Jesus with violence. Today’s Christians are familiar with Jesus’ out-of-the-ordinary response to Peter’s sword swinging: “’Put your sword back in its place…for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?’” (Matthew26:52-53).

I don’t have a sword, but if I did, I could neither swing it in a controlled manner, nor use it effectively to defend or attack someone. Still, there is a message for me in these verses. How often do I take up the sword of independence, swinging away, trying to solve all my dilemmas? “I can do it. I can save you. I can handle this situation.” Acting on my own, I hack and hew with my sword, wearing myself out, and worsening the situation.

Did Jesus, creator of heaven and earth, need followers to protect Him? No, for He could call on God’s army of angels to obey His every command. Why do I not understand His willingness to protect me? Peter didn’t understand either. I have scriptures and the Holy Spirit to help me and still do not understand; there is no need to swing my sword. Almighty God, commander-in-chief of all the angels, is in control. I must rest behind His shield of power and love.

Oh God, help me lay down my sword and yield my “strength. “Only then can I win my spiritual war.

Isaiah 58:11a “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.”

Spiritual Wrestling

Spiritual Wrestling

The once gray skies have cleared, and the dome above me is bright blue. I look away from the mirror-like lake, up at the trees. The thin white branches dotted with their remaining yellow leaves highlight the brightness of the blue autumn sky: a 65 degree treat on a fall day. Lying on my back, I watch as high, thin clouds move rapidly across my line of vision. The blue sky is marbled with white, the clouds showing evidence of upper atmospheric turbulence and wind. White terns soar high overhead, gliding effortlessly on the wind. I hear a nearby splash—of fish? —I hear but never see them. I wonder what life lies beneath the glassy surface. The ducks have already flown to warmer climates, but the occasional splash and the ever-widening ripples tell me that life teems just below the surface.

Isn’t this the way of the spiritual world?  We see just a ripple, hear an occasional splash to remind us, but we are typically oblivious to the spiritual life all around us. We are oblivious to the spiritual battles being fought for us, oblivious to the spiritual turmoil within the lives of people all around us.

In Ephesians 6:11-12 (NKJ) we are warned to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  A similar warning can be found in I Peter 5:8: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  Just as there is unseen life beneath the surface of the lake, so there is unseen spiritual life. Just because we cannot see Satan or the other “spiritual hosts of wickedness” does not mean that they do not exist. Just because we cannot see them does not mean they are not actively working to win our souls or the souls of our loved ones. We “wrestle” against these unseen enemies Satan and his followers have declared war!

The battle rages, yet we often sit complacently on the sidelines, blissfully ignorant that our souls are threatened. Do we approach our lives as if we are preparing for battle?  If not, then we may be overcome

by the enemy.

Almighty God, open my eyes to the spiritual battles raging around me. Assist me as I don Your armor. Give me strength to fight this war that I might win glory for you.

I John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Friday Friends’ Favorites

Psalm71: 19-21

“Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God? Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more.”