Wanderings

Faith

Firstly

It’s a beautiful day outside! Sunshine with a little wind. Don’t really see any clouds in the sky, but am looking forward to getting some things done outside. Take the boys somewhere to maybe skateboard, and maybe a little kiting (that’s flying kits, not doing the thing with the checkbook). The wind will make for some adventurous flying.

First, we have to find all the kites. They are “somewhere” in the garage. Somewhere means moving things around to get to them, but they should be in close proximity to each other. Then again, if anyone took them down between when they got put up and now, the might not be. Someone once asked me “why is it that everything you look for, you always find the last place you look?” Can’t figure that out, but have tried the obvious…

Why is it that the “last place to look” is so hard to think of? If the “last place” was searched first, then lost things would not be lost as long.

Never have found my lost clothes in with my wife’s, even though that’s the last place I’d expect to find any of my clothes.

Have found things in the dark recesses of my closet or the garage. Somehow, they seem to fall off shelves, hangers or hooks and drop behind something else. Last time I moved a bunch of stuff around in the garage (read “cleaning”), found a tool that had been missing for three years. There it was, hiding in the dark behind and under a shelf. Of course, another tool had been purchased to replace the “lost” one. Even found a book that I had bought and never read.

When the lost gets found, it usually makes us happy – in fact it changes our mood. We get happier, treat others differently – it’s like we are different people.

Interesting parallel to how God must feel when we get “unlost” or “found”. If we can feel that good about things, imagine how He must feel about people. People he wants to see and talk to – walk with…

Light and Dark

Those two almost made me crash the other morning. Did some work during the night on one of those phone systems. Customer won’t let us do many things during the day because it might effect service. So, after finishing work, came roaring home as the sun was just twinkling in the East. Grabbed my two computer cases and opened the door.

First thought was to get to the alarm and shut it off. Much to the chagrin of my shins, there was a fold-up chair just inside the door. Having driven in the dark, walking to the door with it’s porch light burning bright (or is that an entry light?) my eyes were not very “dark sensitive”.

“Ouch!” “What in the world?” My brain was so focused on getting to the alarm that it took a few seconds for my brain to adjust to the dark and know that feel was that chair.

No, I’m not going to retaliate with a clothsline stretched across the hall. It’s just that when things are not where you expect them, they cause you to stumble. If I had looked inside, more at floor level when I opened the door, the porch light would have let me see the chair. Instead, I had looked around the room rather quickly and seen that all the boys were sleeping and the TV was turned off.

The rest of life is kind of like that. We need to look (watch) where we walk (go) so we don’t step in or into something that should not be there. Things “pop up” in our lives that we don’t know about in advance. If we see them coming, we can do something about them – change directions, make plans to “leap tall buildings”, etc. So…get a little light and keep your eyes open.

Show and Tell

Heard some kids talking about taking their driving test. One kid asked the other "how many times did you take the test?" Obvious that if you took the test more than once, you did not pass the first time. But the "asked" kid said, "I don't know why he made me take the test again, I know how to drive."

Well…thinking about this, I'm pretty sure that the driver's examiner has a list of things that you are supposed to demonstrate (show) that you know how to do. And…if you can't show how to do those things then you probably need some more practice.

At this point, instead of First John, it's sounding more like James with his "don't just listen, do!" (emphasis are mine) However, that is part of the reason that John wrote his letters – he wanted people to "know" what they possessed and that they would know how to avoid trouble. He was trying to help them get a grip on what some false teachers were telling people.

He put a pretty strong reminder in the end of the first chapter when he said that "God is faithful". That brought to mind (almost instantly) a verse that has stuck with me for years. It's in 2 Timothy 2, where he says " Even if we lose or don't have faith, He (God) will remain faithful for He cannot refuse to do what he has promised."

OK, so that was a Joe translation, but you go read 2 Tim 2:13 and see what it says in your language…

Those are pretty strong words – a clear indication that He is not like me or the people around me. He will be there, wherever that might be. I for one am glad He is!