Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Do It
* Scripture: Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5, NKJV

When you insert your key into the ignition switch, twist it to the ‘start’ position, and nothing happens, you know you have a problem. Dead battery? Maybe, maybe not. I have experienced most of the possible options that automobiles can throw at a driver so I know that the battery is not always the guilty culprit.
The most tangible effect that period of total silence has on a person is a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach, multiplied by the urgency of the situation. Let’s say, just for ‘Thinking,’ that this happens on a Sunday morning. The urgency felt by the Pastor, the choir director, or a teacher wouldn’t be quite the same as that felt by a member of the congregation, typically.
What to do, what to do? The way a person reacts to a problem tells a lot about their personality. Think about some possible scenarios.
Turning to my friendly dictionary, I read that a ‘problem’ is a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution.
If I said to myself, “Self, I wonder what I would do if the car wouldn’t start?” - that is an inquiry, but not very appropriate at this moment of silence. So let’s move on to consideration of solutions for this intricate unsettled question.
For some people, the situation could be a source of perplexity, distress or vexation. (Definition 2b.)
Bewildered at this violation of a long established and oft practiced routine, you turn the key again, and again, and ..... check the controls, shifter, and try again. Silence! (well, maybe some low-level mumbling.)
Now distress is raising its ugly head. (Refer back to level of urgency.) Does the mumbling get louder? Full bore vexation is an opening for pounding on things. Rant and rave! That’s one possible reaction, but it won’t get you to the church on time.
But then, maybe there is another way. A calmer way: Seek help.
Time permitting, a solution might be found by calling an auto service agency or by contacting a friend to try jumping the battery. Likely, they will try something to find the problem and say, “Turn the key now.” Do you quietly turn the key, or do you start screaming, “ I already did that, and it didn’t work!?”
I can picture the servants and the master of the feast at the wedding in Cana almost to that point of distress and vexation when the wine ran out at the feast.
Mary saw the problem, and turned it over to someone who could find a solution. No mumbling; no pounding on things.
We would do well to do as Mary advised, and as the servants did; “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.”
October 23, 2005

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Comparisons
* Scripture: Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”, Mt. 17:20b, NKJV - See also Lk. 17:6)

Hot pursuit! I’ve seen it often, yet each time I’m intrigued by the fervor with which they carry out their mission. It would seem to be an unequal contest, reminding me of David and Goliath, yet an obvious size differential doesn’t seem to be a factor. My bird reference guide gives a typical length of eight and one-half inches for the blackbirds to the crow’s seventeen inches.
To put that into perspective, assuming that he didn’t go swat and you go splat, how far down the street would you chase a guy who measured in at eleven or twelve feet tall? Yet these little feather-weights buzz the much larger bird like fighter planes after a big bomber until the intruder is well beyond their territory. Protective, yes indeed!
As I ponder the scenario taking place over my head, I wonder if I am more blackbird or more crow. Certainly I can admire the zeal with which the smaller birds defend their territory, even though the odds are heavily stacked against them. Would that I could defend my beliefs and my faith with such fervor. I am reminded of the many times that a problem seems just too large and daunting to even start resolving it.
Then again, can the smaller birds really do much harm to the crow? I don’t know for sure, but I seldom see falling feathers, or the crow battling back. So let’s just say that the crow perceives it as more of an annoyance than a life shattering event. So maybe there are times that we should just put more things into perspective, and not make what are truly annoyances into life shattering events, and play the part of the crow to their “blackbirds.”
I got to thinking about how many times we turn it around the other way - small problems send us packing. Little things get to us, irritate and annoy us. We make molehills into mountains. Little problems seem to be big problems, and we get squeezed in the middle. Ever feel like that?
Now that’s what Jesus was talking about. Why would anyone want to drown mountains? (Mt. 21:21) He is really making a size comparison. Big, big problem, big as a mountain? Suppose you say, “Just look at that mountain sized thing that I am facing, and I feel as small as a mustard seed in comparison.” Then think, “Big doesn’t matter, to a mustard seed, a blackbird - or me!”
Little things flitting around till you feel like the crow? Just say, “Hey! They can annoy me, but they can’t put me down.”
“Mountain, go jump in the lake.”
June 12, 2005

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

SCRIPTURE: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” James 5:7-8, NIV.

Mention the word “patience” and many people will associate it with the Biblical Job, Patriarch of Uz, in the Old Testament. Someone who endures in the presence of difficulty is said to “Have the patience of Job,” and we nod knowingly. Resorting to my dictionary, I find patience defined as "bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint.”
However, my reading of the Book of Job suggests that Job is restless or short of temper especially under irritation, delay, or opposition, which sounds like the definition of impatience! In fact, my references do not indicate that a word directly meaning “patience” is found in the entire Book of Job. I will grant that Job is "steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity,” but to me, Job personifies perseverance. It is one thing to patiently wait; it is another to actively push forward, which he does.
Job endures. He is steadfast, he “hangs in there,” he persists in defense of his innocence, and pursues God until he receives an answer. While I find passages alluding to Job’s righteousness (Job 1:1,5,8) and fortitude (1:20-22; 2:10), I find none that refer to his patience. This I say neither to discredit Job, nor to imply that he is not without his virtues, but to suggest that there is more depth to this story than the mere word "patience," a word that is not actually used in the telling. Also, I fear that many confuse patience with complaisance, the calm or secure satisfaction with oneself or one's lot.
James writes about “patience” in terms of the farmer waiting for the land to yield its valuable crop, and advises us as brothers and sisters in Christ to “be patient and stand firm.” However, the farmer has already prepared the field and planted the seed, in faith believing that the seed will sprout, grow and yield much harvest. (James 5:7-11) I note, also, that while the text uses the Greek word for “patience” in verse 7, James used a different word meaning “perseverance,” or “steadfastness” when referring to Job in verse 11, saying, “you have heard of Job’s perseverance!”
Consider the “Parable of the Sower” as told by Jesus, in Mt. 13:1-23. His emphasis is on what happens to the seed. When I plant a seed, I know that I can do nothing to change the process by which the seed sprouts and the plant develops. I must patiently wait; this is God's realm. However, I can control how the soil is prepared, where the seed is planted, and assure that proper moisture and nutrition are provided. My active perseverance in safeguarding the growth medium in which the seed sprouts will indeed determine whether the plant grows to fruition, or withers and dies. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “after you have done everything, (then) stand” (Eph. 6:13)
Considering the "Seed of the Word of God" planted in us, we must patiently wait upon the Lord, but not to the extreme that we do not actively grow. When the withering sun comes out, ie., the “heat” of opposition, difficulty, or adversity, do we fold our leaves - er, hands, and say, “I'm being patient, LORD; Do something!” Or do we actively, vigorously, put down deeper roots? Job neither withered nor died. He came out stronger, which is a growth process, not passive waiting for something to happen.
Patience is indeed necessary, and a virtue that we should cherish. I am reminded of the prayer, “Lord, grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the patience to endure what I can not change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
If I err in my judgment of Job’s perceived patience, I will do so in the direction of active perseverance. Standing firm is not the same as sitting passively. May we never be found guilty of complaisance in our walk with the Lord.
February 1, 2004

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Paul wrote, “... We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3,4, NIV

A “few” years back a popular song illustrated the potential of perseverance. “Everyone knows an ant - can’t - move a rubber tree plant,” so the song went. But she had “High Hopes,” so, “there goes another rubber tree plant.”
It was a catchy tune, somewhat wacky, and no doubt had many people humming or singing along, but it none the less proffered the potential of perseverance bolstered by “High Hopes.”
We need a lot of that in our daily walk! Nowhere does it say that we shall find paradise this side of “The Garden.” Show me the place, chapter and verse, that the Bible presents anyone whose life is a romp through the roses.
Adam, Abraham, Moses, Job, Naomi and Ruth - they all persisted in spite of often overwhelming odds.
Job is often held up as the epitome of “patience.” In fact, the word so translated as patience is not found in the Book of Job, and only once in the Old Testament, where we are admonished to “wait patiently for the Lord.” (Psalms 37:7)
Patience is passive waiting, still a valuable quality of character. Persistence and perseverance, on the other hand, are active words. The ant mentioned above did not sit patiently, waiting for that plant to move. No, that ant was persistent, and persevered in the attempt of overcome the inertia of the plant, and “Whoops! There goes another rubber tree plant!”
Let me coin a phrase: “One test does not a failure make.” In fact, coming up short, or with the incorrect answer, is not a failure, but an elimination of one possibility on the way to success. “The thing to try when all else has failed is - “Again.” The great inventor, Thomas A. Edison, once commented that he had discovered hundreds of things that did not work. These were not failures, in the truest sense, but stair steps in the climb toward knowledge of a working solution to the problem at hand.
The success stories in the Bible are not those of people who had smooth sailing in life, but of those who “hung in there.” Those who achieve the goal of fellowship with the Lord and Father are those who actively seek Him, who persist in time of trial and tribulation, who persevere through the briars and brambles of life.
No, you will not find the actual words persistence and perseverance in the King James Bible Concordance, but I am insistent that the examples are there, “pressed down and running over.” Patience is needed to stay the course, to find answers, but you must actively and persistently seek them out. Good hunting!
September 7, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5, NKJV

When you insert your key into the ignition switch, twist it to the ‘start’ position, and nothing happens, you know you have a problem. Dead battery? Maybe, maybe not. I have experienced most of the possible options that automobiles can throw at a driver so I know that the battery is not always the guilty culprit.
The most tangible effect that period of total silence has on a person is a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach, multiplied by the urgency of the situation. Let’s say, just for ‘Thinking,’ that this happens on a Sunday morning. The urgency felt by the Pastor, the choir director, or a teacher wouldn’t be quite the same as that felt by a member of the congregation, typically.
What to do, what to do? The way a person reacts to a problem tells a lot about their personality. Think about some possible scenarios.
Turning to my friendly dictionary, I read that a ‘problem’ is a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution.
If I said to myself, “Self, I wonder what I would do if the car wouldn’t start?” - that is an inquiry, but not very appropriate at this moment of silence. So let’s move on to consideration of solutions for this intricate unsettled question.
For some people, the situation could be a source of perplexity, distress or vexation. (Definition 2b.)
Bewildered at this violation of a long established and oft practiced routine, you turn the key again, and again, and ..... check the controls, shifter, and try again. Silence! (well, maybe some low-level mumbling.)
Now distress is raising its ugly head. (Refer back to level of urgency.) Does the mumbling get louder? Full bore vexation is an opening for pounding on things. Rant and rave! That’s one possible reaction, but it won’t get you to the church on time.
But then, maybe there is another way. A calmer way: Seek help.
Time permitting, a solution might be found by calling an auto service agency or by contacting a friend to try jumping the battery. Likely, they will try something to find the problem and say, “Turn the key now.” Do you quietly turn the key, or do you start screaming, “ I already did that, and it didn’t work!?”
I can picture the servants and the master of the feast at the wedding in Cana almost to that point of distress and vexation when the wine ran out at the feast.
Mary saw the problem, and turned it over to someone who could find a solution. No mumbling; no pounding on things.
We would do well to do as Mary advised, and as the servants did; “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.”
October 23, 2005