Watching the Signs

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. II Peter 3:9,10.

I smile as I read books to my children about a spring robin. It seems in other parts of the country the appearance of a robin is an indicator that spring is on the way. Robins have to go somewhere to winter. I think it must be here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We can tell when winter weather is on the way by the birds that flock in our yards. And, yes, robins were flocking here last week as well as black birds. We, here in the foothills, knew it was a sign. Bad, snowy weather was on its way. Sure enough Friday morning the snow began. Big white beautiful flakes floating down outside our classroom window. Valentines celebrations and snow make for a crazy southern school day! No, we didn't get to dismiss early. By 1:00 it was quickly melting away. School and life went on as usual.

Wait! Isn't this the same thing we do when looking for the coming of the Lord? We have our ideas of what the signs will be; wars, immorality, crime, etc., etc., etc. People in other parts of the world have seen this type of changes for quite some time. What about China when the Communist took over? What about the creation of the nation of Israel? What about the martyrs of the middle ages. One of the Cardinals said, had it not been for the sword of persecution during the middle ages, the Anabaptist would have over run the world. What was our nation like before the Great Awakenings? Just like the signs of weather to the birds, signs of Jesus coming to one, is a sign of coming persecution to another. If He didn't rescue the Anabaptist of the middle ages or the Christians who fled to Taiwan, or the Christians who protected the Jews of WWII and suffered death in the concentration camps with the Jews, why should we expect to escape our few troubles? Should we not be like the birds, who do not toil, but depend on the Lord to supply their needs? Should we not be strong in the Lord, fulfilling His great commandment to preach the gospel to every nation? Will He find us working as He commanded? God is not slack, neither should we be slack in the work He has commanded.

 Pray, study, pray, preach and be prepared to stand in the face of trouble. 

Blessings,

Gail

Hey Kids

Do you know how people made weather forecast before TV and the internet? 

Even in Jesus' day, the people knew a red sky in morning meant bad weather coming.

A red sky at night was a sailor's delight. Matthew 16:2,3

It may just be fun to spend some time with your grandparents asking them about forecasting the weather. 

Make some journal notes to go back and check the accuracy of the old predictions. 

Don't forget to check the TV predictions for accuracy too. 

God, the Promise Keeper

Photo by Leah Rollins

 

Genesis 6-9

But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Genesis 6:18

Sometimes we face scary situations, it may be illness, finances, job presentations, all kinds of things. I remember when our youngest was just a baby. We had two older toddlers and I was a stay at home mom. My husband had been laid off and we scraped by on unemployment and odd jobs. His unemployment was just about to run out when he found a job. He was employed just under ninety days. He came home one morning while the kids and I were still curled up in bed. He just stood there at the door of the bedroom. “What’s wrong?”

“They fired me.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t give me a reason. It’s been less than ninety days so they didn’t have to have a reason.”

There we were with no job and no unemployment to drop back on. But just like Noah and his family in the toughest, most scary times, God’s had us in His hand and in His plan. Life didn’t end because of a life changing experience. God had another plan, a better plan for us just like He did for Noah.

And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:16

God secures His people even when the world seems to be coming to an end.

And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 8:20

As we saw God providing for our every NEED we were thankful. Just as Noah and his family were thankful and worshipped God. Their lives had changed but God had them. Just as our lives were about to change. What seemed bad for the moment was about to be for great good.

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13

We often see rainbows but have you ever seen one from the top of the mountain? I once was on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC when a rainbow appeared below us. We could see the perfect circle of the never ending promise of God. Just as husband and wife can look down on their hand and see the perfect circle of their wedding covenant in the bands on their fingers, God sees the perfect circle of His covenant in the sky when the rainbow appears. God gave Noah and his family the task of repopulating the earth with people who would hopefully obey Him, but whether they did or not, He had made a promise to never destroy the earth with water again.

As I said, our lives were facing a major change as well. You see, my husband was not yet a believer, but he soon would be. The crisis we faced for over two years put a strain on our marriage but that covenant circle stayed on our hands and reminded us of our commitment.  When he did come to Christ, it was like the skies parted and the sun shone through. In two weeks he had his old job back with higher pay than when he was laid off. Within six months we were building a nice home large enough to accommodate our growing family. Crisis still come and go. I just have to look up and know God’s got me… us.

Thank you Lord for always being there for us and seeing us through with Your better plan even when we can’t see the end of the tunnel. Increase our faith we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.

Won’t you share how God’s goodness to you is making a difference in your life?