thoughts over a cup of strong coffee

Christians are like the flowers in a garden,
that have each of them the dew of Heaven,
which, being shaken with the wind, they let fall at each other’s roots,
whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of each other.”

—John Bunyan

This quote was particularly meaningful to me today as I was reflecting on the blog entries and comments of the last couple of days. And you know, it’s interesting, we can all go along or get along really well until one of us speaks up or speaks our mind on a matter. Then… suddenly we realize we’re all individual or we all have individual perspectives or opinions and — often — our opinions differ. Sometimes our opinions differ only slightly and often they differ a great deal. I think this is where the Scripture: “A soft answer turneth away wrath …” needs to be kept close at hand. We may feel strongly about something and we may even be right ( I know I usually feel I am) and yet, sometimes the better part of gracious living is to say what needs to be said and leave off with clamouring over it.

As has been obvious, the matter of birth-control is one of those settled or ‘done-deal’ matters for me. Ha—even more so, actually, since I appear to no longer bear children. I know to some, I might have entered the “it’s easy for you to say_______” years. It is easy for me to say or to stand on that firm belief bcz I lived it and live it still. But that’s not to say it was always comfortable to live out, however. It wasn’t always comfortable to live out in the midst of natural pregnancy related difficulties, loneliness on the path, scoffing by people I respected, snide remarks over pregnancies, children, legalism, etc., etc. But you know… it wasn’t hard to trust God for His way and His will and I never looked too far beyond where I was at the time. I trusted —my husband and I trusted— God for the next one. That’s just the way we lived it… trusting God day by day that He would do what He said He would do. And HE did. Always.

Birth control happens to be one of the biggies… that’s why I shared a number of days ago that I believe it’s one of the greatest hindrances, judgments, lies of or threats to the “church” today. I think it’s likely one of the most damaging or potentially damaging issues in marriage—and surely for the family and the picture of Christ and the church. But does it matter that I think all these things? No… not really. Well, sure, it matters to me – if I didn’t believe something, or if I didn’t stand for something I really wouldn’t be standing for anything. So I stand on this matter and I stand firmly on it. But do I divide or seek to break fellowship over this matter? No. For one thing, I’d have very few friends. For though —many— people I/we know have large families, on the whole, most we’ve known: don’t. Most people we know or have been friends with a long time don’t feel as we do about this matter of Lordship of the womb. In fact, most don’t really hold to lots of the things that we consider to be foundational planks. Seriously. O, but praise God there are many who do —else— it would truly be a lonely path. Lonely or not… we walk it bcz this is just the way it looks from the pages we’re reading here and through faith in the One who holds our hand. If it weren’t for Jesus…. oooooooo, I shudder to think where I’d be today.

How can two couples pick up the same Bible, read it, pray and hear a different answer? I do not know. How can two couples pick up the Bible and say it says this or that and agree and then see another issue and adamantly disagree? I don’t know. I know there will always be divisions; I know there will always be different opinions on matters or different interpretations on matters — I guess I’d just say that if teaching is going against the Word of God and there tends to be a softening or an ignoring of God’s truths, then that teacher’s opinions/interpretations would be suspect and I would tend to dismiss the words—if a preacher taught error we would not stay and listen or if a preacher lived error, we wouldn’t stay in that teaching. O, they might sound good or, better yet, they might sound reasonable, but God’s Word isn’t first reasonable… not to the natural man, anyway. Consider this: die to self. Whoa– we don’t want to die to self… we like what we like and we don’t like to be told to die to anything. Or another: Pick up your cross and follow Me. O… but I like life at the carnival… do I have to leave it? See… God’s Word is not always easy… but you know what the very astonishing thing is? His yoke — His yoke is easy. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. That sounds like a contradiction doesn’t it… yoked and free.

So, when we’re called to do things or called to say things… and we’re in the yoke, it really doesn’t matter what others say or what others do. Our walk is in the yoke… and (hopefully & prayerfully) the others’ walk is in the yoke as well. So fret not when others disagree or when others don’t care for the way you put 4 creamers in a cup of strong coffee. When you’re walking along, try to just talk along and not spill too much of that strong coffee on ’em.

Whatever spills on them from you… well, let it be the dew of heaven.