Don't Be a Dried Up Worm

Some of my earliest memories are fishing with my grandfather. I could not swim, so he strapped me into an ancient, ill-fitting lifejacket that reeked of old fish. I hated it, but hanging out with my grandpa made wearing the wretched thing worth it. He taught me to cast a rod and bait a hook. I liked digging in the worm bucket, searching for the juicy ones, his term, not mine.

So, worms don't freak me out, and I developed an unusual habit as an adult. If I see a worm on the pavement, I put it back in the grass because dried up worm carcasses are just sad.

Dried Up Worm

Today, I spotted a struggling worm, barely moving, and beginning to dehydrate.  I stopped to pick it up but did not quite get a hold of it.  To my surprise, it started thrashing like mad, which startled me. For a second, I considered abandoning it to its fate. But when I tried to pick it up again, it kept twisting, and I could not catch it. In the end, I scooted it back into the grass with my toe.  It took a couple of tries, but the worm finally made it.

As I walked away, I realized the worm had no clue it was going to die if it stayed on the path it set for itself.  It certainly did not know I was trying to assist. Instead of embracing the help, it viewed my intervention as an attack and fought to continue its journey to destruction.  But I had a better view of what the future held and took care of the worm, whether it knew it or not.

How often do we behave like the thrashing worm, and how much more important are we to God than a worm?

Sometimes in life, God is like a loving grandfather who puts us in a stinky lifejacket for our safety. Uncomfortable or unhappy in our surroundings, He might be teaching us valuable lessons or giving us treasured memories. And when the time comes to go, instead of struggling when He picks us up, why not relax in the palm of His hand?  If we thrash around, we will miss the view from above and never realize this is a rescue, not an attack. We will be back in the cool of the grass soon enough.

Don't be a dried up worm. He's got you.

(Originally published August 5, 2013)

Seeking God

Abigail and Dolley readers today's Scripture was 2 Chronicles 7:14 “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

Books could be written about this Scripture and indeed a search for the term "seeking God's face" will return pages of results.  Many of these talented authors are far more articulate than I on the subject but I will endeavor to convey a small amount of insight.

Often when we begin to seek God, we seek Him for His hand.  We have fallen on our faces, we are in times of peril, and we know we must go to the true and living God for His divine intervention.  Our prayers are for help, deliverance, healing - things God can do for us.  Our relationship with Him at this point is one of a servant to a master, we humble ourselves before the Lord in supplication and submission.  These prayers will often take time, we do not serve a God that has a drive up window, His timing is not ours.

While we are seeking His hand, He will reveal His face.  We will begin to understand His love for us  We will get glimpses of Him, not just His works.  He will give us a hunger for a deeper relationship with Him, we will feel a devotion and a closeness to Him.  The Holy Spirit within us directs our gaze to the Son and the Son allows us to see the face of the Father.  Our relationship with Him now is one of child to loving parent.

When we come outside of ourselves and our circumstances, He will then take us to the next level, that of seeking God's Heart.  This is when we begin to look at the world through His eyes and not our own.  We begin to love the unlovely, to hurt for the lost, to pray for others in their need.  Our hearts are changed to be more like His.  Others see God through our lives and actions.  Our relationship with Him now is that of a mature child in service to the King.

Ironically, at each step we must sacrifice ourselves to move to the next level.  We can be full of self and seek God's Hand, but we must begin to sacrifice some of our own wants and desires to begin to see His face and we must humble ourselves completely before we see His heart.  In each step, we must be diminished and God must be magnified.  When you think about it though, is it really much of a sacrifice to be diminished within ourselves, are we all that great to begin with?

I found this handy little chart, Seeking God's Heart that I would like to share with you.  Many blessings to you friends and may you find peace and rest in the Lord today.