Author: tameasa

How many of us have said, “Someday, I will do this or be that?” How many things have you set aside for the someday? What does that someday look like for you?

Someday, when I have finished college, I will have an outstanding career and make a lot of money. Someday, when I get married, I will have a big house and a large family. Someday, when I lose enough weight, I’ll do this, that, or the other.

Then, at the end of our life, we realize that we put off all the somedays for a better day and a better day never came. We only see that somedays we were only treading water. We realize that the somedays robbed us of the now-days. I know that I have fallen for this too many times in my life. I have lamented, in grief, over those loved ones who have already passed from this earth and those deaths have catapulted me into the somedays, where with sadness I realized that what was is the now-days and my heart was unprepared for it.

Jesus addressed this with His disciples, speaking on our anxiety on the future:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34

I often have wondered how the disciples felt when Jesus died on the cross. Did the somedays rip through the veil of the temple and burst them into the now-day? I can imagine the fear that arose in them, the loneliness they felt, and the confusion. Jesus taught them and shared with them what the impending someday will be like. Yet, they did not hear Him rightly, I suppose.

James also addressed the matter in his letter to the twelve tribes who were dispersed abroad.

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:13-17

Does this mean that we should not make plans? It absolutely does not mean we should not make plans…not at all. It means that we cannot nor should not bank on tomorrow. It is only God who knows and has counted our steps. Only He knows when our now-day will be someday.

“The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Our plans should revolve around the Father’s Will for us. We should live today going about His business. Do not be foolish by putting off what should be done in the now. Be careful to not lie on your death bed questioning what happened…how you got there so quickly…with your plans thwarted…had all of these unfinished tasks. The tasks that are important are the tasks for today.

The most important task is to share the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus today. While we are not promised tomorrow, neither is the one whom we failed to share Christ.

If you must be anxious about anything, be anxious for the souls that are facing eternal damnation. Quite honestly, it is why we are here. Be here…in the now-days…bringing others into eternity with us. That will bring God glory.

Soli Deo Gloria

There are times when life takes us on a long detour and we find ourselves in a dry valley that we’ve not known before…or maybe we have been in that valley too many times. Have you ever found yourself there and wondered why this is happening to you? I have so many times. In fact, I’ve been in a dry foreign valley for a while.

I’ve thought often about David, as he laments to God. His cries, like mine, come from deep within where sorrow consumes and emptiness is vast like that dry and foreign valley. David cried out in Psalm 102,

“For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth. My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh.” (Psalms 102:3-5)

Where David says that his days are consumed, the Hebrew word used for this is,
kâlâh כָּלָה (pronounced kaw-law’), which is destroy (utterly). David is not being overly dramatic here. It is his spirit that makes these groanings to God. This type of groaning is mentioned in the New Testament as well. Jesus said,

“Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:38)

Jesus understood that this next part was going to be hard. He understood it so well that He grieved it to the point of death. Gethsemane means “olive press” and Jesus was pressed so hard that His sweat was like drops of blood. Can you or I say that we’ve ever been in that valley? I cannot. However, that is not to diminish the very agony we face in the valleys we sojourn.

Suffering and valleys are a reality for us all. Our journeys in the valley may be completely different, but they are valleys of sorrow nonetheless. We are not immune to them and will not be until we have completed our sojourn on this earth.

But, God’s Word gives us the very sustenance we need to make those valleys a bit sweeter. We need not go any further back than to David when he said,

“You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me”. (Psalms 56:8-9) And, “Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.” (Psalms 56:12-13)

David understood that which we always forget and that is the God who sees him takes account of his wanderings. We might feel so very lost in the valley, oh but He knows exactly where we are and teaches us that we can cry out to Him in all of our pain and wanderings.

Would that I could see God when I am wandering. Yet, David saw it once he had stopped lamenting his pain. Once his lamenting (or complaining) was over, he would praise the Lord. I cannot help but think how much joy there must have been in those moments of praise. I researched synonyms for joy in the planning of this simple blog. One synonym jumped out at me quite boldly and it was “crow.” What does crowing have to do with joy?? As I pondered that thought, I remembered the Crows that hang out in a tree near my home. There must be more than a hundred in that old White Oak Tree. They have found refuge there during the hot and humid Florida summers.

Every now and again something prompts all of them, at the same time, out of that tree. When that happens you hear their lovely, crowing voices. They are loud and all in unison. What in the world do they have to crow about all of a sudden? So, I thought that it might just be that their crows are exalted joy to their Creator.

Oh, that it would be me in the valley when I realize that God sees my wanderings and that I can find refuge in Him. Oh, that I would crow my praises loudly to Him and about Him. Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) If I were to translate that verse, it would read, “Crow in the Lord always; again I will say, crow!”

Dear friend — take refuge in Him when the valley is destitute and unforgiving. Take refuge in that He sees your wanderings. Take refuge in Him and crow loudly in praise to Him. You will then find that you can now rest in His refuge much like those Crows do in that old White Oak Tree. Crow loudly and often.

Soli Deo Gloria

My eyes leaked ever so quietly, as tears splashed down in ripples of sad exhalation. They were so unexpected and I tried to catch them in an old handkerchief covered in flowers. The flowers were very unappreciative and didn’t need them in the first place. No one even noticed the tears, the ripples, or that old handkerchief.

Pain and grief and anguish are like that, reckon? It exposes that which we do not want to share…hidden and folded up in a cotton handkerchief…stuffed deep into our apron pockets. Ah, safe right there along with some clothespins, some wilted weeds masquerading as flowers…given in a chubby, little hand, and a Hotwheel that is missing one of its wheels…with the promise to repair it soon.

No sooner had that handkerchief been tucked away that the dog runs in covered with mud and messing up the newly washed floor. My husband wasn’t trekking too far behind yelling that the dog had turned up all of his cabbages whilst chasing a Jack Rabbit who had been happily snacking on those lovely green leaves. I just spin around and hide both my frustration and exhaustion to only see a pot boiling over on the stove.

Our hearts can be laid wide open by such days that rifle through our emotions. I recall quickly the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, when Jesus came into their village,

“Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

Dear Martha was quite overcome to take care of her guests, as she flitted from one task to the next. In her frustration with her sister, Mary, she complained sorely to the Lord even asking Him if He cared that Mary wasn’t helping. He didn’t immediately rebuke Martha, but He recognized that He could see all the worry and bother and frustration she felt. He validated it so patiently, but then He softly rebuked her. She was so focused on being a stellar hostess rather than sitting and enjoying her guests and learning from what the Lord was teaching.

Oh, how I hear Martha’s heart for I can be exactly the same. When I am preparing for guests to visit, I fret over every, small detail. This happened to me today, as I am preparing the Thanksgiving meal for when my son will be visiting on Monday. My heart had just set aside the loneliness from my husband and me being alone on Thanksgiving Day, but now it was overcome with so many things I had yet to do. As I was finishing up the Deviled Eggs, I put some Paprika in a sieve so that I could spread it evenly atop the eggs. No sooner had I started, when the sieve slipped from my hand, and Paprika went everywhere. Some of the eggs had too much and others none. I just started crying and telling my husband that I had ruined them. He came over to me and started hugging me and said, “Sweetheart — you put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect. Don’t fret over such things…the eggs will be wonderful.” I cried more and declared what an idiot I am. He said, “Oh, no, not one ounce of you is an idiot. You just expect more from yourself than you would expect of others.”

Martha and I would have been such good friends, but I would have enjoyed Mary’s friendship too. As women, we have a little bit of both ladies. It is very important that, no matter our trial, we learn to slow down and expect things to not always be perfect and when they are not, remember Jesus’ counsel to Martha. We must make sure that our minds and hearts are set on the important things or the “good parts,” and that would be Jesus.

I pray that as Christmas approaches you find the time to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from Him. In the process of slowing it down, you will find your family more relaxed too. Our heartaches bleed into our families lives, and, so we must do all to perform an immediate triage on ourselves, regroup, and start again. Set aside all of the other worries. Give that present to yourself now and in turn, you will be giving it to your family.

Hosana, He is Come! May all of your holidays permeate the sweet aroma of Christ. Do it all for His glory and as a witness to Him.

Soli Deo Gloria

This season of joy and love and gathering brings back a flood-gate of memories for me. It brings back a kindred-ness that has moved into a world evaporated only into recollections. The anamnesis of which brings both joy and sadness for me.

I remember when I was a little girl and the first snow would fall that I would stand outside and catch the snowflakes on my tongue and try to count them. It truly was a futile endeavor, but try I did nonetheless. My cheeks would become crimson, as I pointed my chubby, little face toward the sky. All I could hear was the pat-pat-pat of the snowflakes hitting the ground making layer upon layer of beauty. It was new and welcomed. I would be nearly frozen when Momma would call me into the house.

After I had removed the many layers meant to protect me, Momma would place a mug of her homemade, hot chocolate in front of me. It felt so warm against my hands that had only been layered with socks because we didn’t have mittens. As I lifted it toward my cherry, cold lips, I could smell the aroma of love and warmth and sweetness.

As I glance into the snowglobe of my reminiscences, I become enshrouded in grief. Grief for those I will never see again and for that which will never be again. Yet, joy and peace that it was — and how wonderful heart spurs cause an avalanche of gratefullness.

We all deal with these tender remembrances that seize our breath and that expose our hearts to the point it explodes out of our eyes. They come like a winter snowstorm and all you can do is embrace it and breathe. You breathe through the grief and pain of that husband or mother or father or child that will never enjoy this season with you again. With each Christmas card that shadows your mailbox, the gaping fissure of loss darkens it too as you are painfully aware of the card you will not receive this year. The walk back into the house takes longer than the walk to the mailbox and the cold of the snow and the crispness in the air cut you to the bone.

All of us, on some level, have experienced this grief in our souls over the years. However, that grief and that loss are not surprises that have not already been sifted through God’s sovereign hand. He sifted and allowed it because of His great love for us. For when such is sifted, whether it is joy or sadness, He has done so being acquainted with that which pierces our hearts.

“He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:3-4

My prayer for you this Christmas Season is that you will find peace in the Prince of Peace. That you would find Divine Comfort in the Comforter Himself. That your joy would overflow out of the storehouse of His love for you. Allow the heart spurs to move you to the Babe born in a manger and then nailed to the Cross out of His great love for you! I pray that you would allow Him to wash your crimson-stained sins as white as new-fallen snow.

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:31-33