Raindrops

Job 5:18 (NIV84)

For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.

Good morning Zebras,

Yesterday I was sad.  It doesn’t really matter why, and I am fine today, but I spent most of the day yesterday crying.

In an effort to get myself under control, I ran some errands.  While I was out I saw two people who had way more reason to cry than me.  One of them had been disfigured in a fire and although they no longer had any fingers on their hand they were running a cash register and doing their job.

My mom used to say “I thought I had it bad because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet.”   And although it flashed through my mind, I no longer think the best way to cheer myself up is to find someone who has it worse.

Instead I need to grieve and refocus. 

Nothing happens to us that our loving sovereign God does not allow and although it may not make sense to us, it makes sense to Him If we can trust Him enough to give Him back our pain and disappointment He can carry us through.

For those of you going through a sad time, God knows your heart is broken and He is right there with you.  Let Him help you through.

Love,

Jill

Enjoy.  This is a great song.
Blessings

Stiches

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Good morning Zebras,

Thank you to all who prayed for me while I was away at camp. It is hard to explain how well it went, but it went really well.  God’s presence guided me from the time I stepped into camp until I left and it was an amazing experience of walking in the spirit.

Hopefully today’s z-mail will give you a taste of how God guided the week.

On Thursday Nick, my son, and I were walking along the edge of the lake. We were discussing how much fun we were having and we came to a point where a very small fence blocked our path and the only way to continue was to wade into the lake.

Nick, who was already wet, saw some friends standing on the beach on the other side of the fence so he continued on wading into the water.  I decided not to get my shoes wet so I turned and walked up the steps into Reflection Circle.

As I was nearing the top I caught my shoe on the last step and fell cutting open my knee.  As I lay there on the ground, four junior high boys offered to help me up.  And as I limped down to the medical station someone saw me and radioed ahead to make sure a nurse was there. Penii Jo gave me clean socks and Nurse Julie drove me to Redding for stiches, overall it was a great experience.

The next morning, as I was praying and preparing for Bible Hour I asked God to show me how He wanted me to use my fall and today’s verse came to mind.  If I had walked into the water with Nick I would not have fallen, and if Nick had come with me he would have caught me when I stumbled.  Either way if I had been with Nick I would not have fallen.

Which was a great lesson for our last day. 

Camp is a wonderful experience but sometimes it is not easy to walk out what God told you on the mountain when you get home. Writing it down and telling someone else will help.  God did not mean for His people to walk alone and just like zebras we are stronger when we are together. And if we do stumble and fall there will be someone there to help us up.

Thank you West Coast Honor Camp for letting me come and thanks to all of you for praying, it couldn’t have been done it without you.

Love,

Jill

Count the Cost

John 14:1 (NIV84)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Good morning Zebras,

I promised my son something without really thinking it through.  I didn’t realize how difficult or expensive it was going to be and although I can do it, I’m fighting a very human urge to wiggle out of it.  I know he would understand, but that really isn’t the point.  The point is I promised it and IF I can deliver I need to.

To highlight the importance of keeping my promise, I had someone renege on something they were going to do for me.  It might have been a misunderstanding, but I think they just decided they had promised me more than they were willing to deliver. And although I was upset, it was hard not to see myself in the situation.

And I thought:  I sure am glad God isn’t like us. I sure am glad He isn’t sitting up in heaven debating with Himself if He should actually fulfill His promises.   Or changing His mind and not doing it at all.

Jesus tells a parable recorded in Luke where He warns the disciples about counting the cost of following Him.  Most commentaries say the point of this parable is that we need to examine ourselves closely to see if we are willing to pay the price of being a disciple.   Are we willing to die to self and live only for Jesus?

Which is a good thought, but that isn’t how it worked for me. God didn’t show me in advance everything I was going to have to give up to follow Him.  If He had I might have backed out. Instead He just said follow me-and the path unfolded.  There was no way I could have counted the cost, because I didn’t know what the cost was.

However I recently read one commentary that says the parable is not referring us but to God. It is God who had to count the cost of finishing the work of salvation. He counted the cost of giving His Son from the very beginning and He was willing to pay it.

I like that interpretation because only God can really sit and assess what it is going to take to accomplish a task and have the power to follow through.

If I logically look at something and decide I have enough strength and resources to accomplish it, then I am a fool.  I know how quickly my best resolve gives way to failure.  It works much better if I focus on God, trusting He has the strength and resources to finish the work He has started in me. As Paul says I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Personally, I find it that very reassuring.

Love,

Jill

Hunger for God

Psalm 51:10–12 (NIV84)

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Good morning Zebras,

This morning I woke up to realize that I had lost my hunger for God.  In all the busyness of life the hunger for His presence has slowly slipped to the background.  But that is not where I want to live.  I like God being the all consuming passion of my life. 

John Piper puts it like this:

The greatest enemy of the hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.  It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but the endless nibbling at the table of the world.  It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night.  For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife. (Luke 14:18-20)  The greatest adversary of love to God is not His enemies but His gifts.  And the most deadly appetites are not for poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth.  For when these replace an appetite for God Himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable.

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive me for getting off track, for allowing small dribble to erode my passion for You.  Please this day renew my heart, make it desire only You and Your presence in my life.  And may the things of this world return to being strangely dim as I refocus myself on You.

Love,

Jill

Going Down

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Good morning  Zebras,

I wasn’t going to write this z-mail, or more accurately I wasn’t going to post it because it seemed so shallow, but then I opened My Utmost for His Highest and today’s entry was entitled The Habit of Rising to the Occasion and I took it as a sign that maybe I wasn’t the only one struggling through the busy month of May.

Monday was a bad day. Nothing horrible happened I just realized how many things I needed to get done in the next three weeks.  So I did what any sane woman would do, I got overwhelmed and ended up on the couch watching a rerun of Colombo.

Yesterday I got up with a different attitude. There is no way that a list of chores is greater than God, so I decided to focus on Jesus and get to work.  And things got done.

In life sometimes it is the big things that knock us down but just as often it is a whole pile of little things that look really, really big.  But either way refocusing on Jesus is the answer.  It is just as difficult to carry a boulder as it is to carry a box full of little rocks, and usually it is more than you can handle alone.

But sometimes you also need to let someone know you are struggling. 

Yesterday I not only took my eyes off the magnitude of the tasks and refocused on the power of Christ, I told my family I was feeling overwhelmed.  Just letting someone know that I was going down was enough to get me restarted.

And I thought that is the purpose of zebras, first to focus us on God and then to remind us we are not alone and we are stronger when we hang together.

I love you little Zebras.  I hope you have a great day.

Love,

Jill

 

Up To God

Exodus 34:6

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Good morning Zebras,

Last week we were catching up on the episodes of Psych we had missed this season.  For those of you who don’t know this show it is about two friends, one of whom pretends to be a psychic detective.  Shaun, the detective, usually ends up smelling like a rose while his friend Gus often ends up somehow paying for Shawn’s shenanigans.

In the episode in question Gus had had enough and he told Shawn "I'm tired of your mouth writing checks that my ass has to cash," and I thought “Boy I haven’t heard that saying in a long time!”

But I can’t get it out of my mind.

I am so grateful God does not make promises that I have to fulfill.  I am so glad that everything He says He is going to do He does and He is not dependent upon me.

As a mom and a wife, it seems like there are a lot of people who depend on me and I think it is easy as a woman to start to think God depends upon us as well.  But He doesn’t. We are supposed to depend upon Him.

He promises rest, peace, and joy.  He promises strength and protection.  He promises salvation and sanctification.  And what He promises He delivers.  We just have to believe it is true and rest in His promises.

Love,

Jill

Zebra Hat

2 Samuel 6:14, 21b-22 (NIV84)

David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, - “I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Good morning Zebras,

 

I wanted one of these hats, but my kids said I looked silly. God gave me one anyway.  Thank you to my Zebra sister from High Sierra Fellowship for giving me another opportunity to look silly for God.

Dance little Zebras even if you look silly, God is on the throne.

Love, Jill