It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Years ago, my daughter, her two little boys and I had traveled several hours the day before to see my son-in-law graduate from Navy boot camp. When the ceremony started, a huge metal garage door opened directly across from where we sat. Some 350 men and women were marching in place in their dress uniforms.
That in itself can give you goose bumps, but what was so beautiful was the huge snowflakes that were falling from the sky. Then it hit me: these young men and women were dedicating their lives, and their families, to protect my freedom, no matter what the weather, the cost of possibly their own lives, or the loss of time with their families!
What is freedom to you? Is it the fact that I was able to travel several hours to do something I wanted to? Is it the fact that my four granddaughters, four grandsons and three great grandkids, have the ability to grow up and do or be whoever they want to be? Is it the fact that my family can worship wherever and whenever we choose? What about the fact that I can sit at my kitchen table reading the Bible and leave it there, for all to see, to read later?
We also have another type of freedom, that through our Savior, Jesus Christ. The freedom from sin. Romans 6:10-11 tells us “For the death that He died, He diedto sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We have the choice to grab hold of this freedom and turn our backs to sin in our lives. God started this freedom of choice from the very beginning of time, as Genesis 2:16-17 says “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.’”
God provided the freedom. It was Eve and Adam’s free choice to not obey God’s command. We have this choice today as well to follow Satan or God.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” says the Book of Galatians. “Foryou, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
That image of those Navy men and women entering the gymnasium with the beautiful flakes of snow falling will always be a memory I will cherish. Just as they were dedicating their lives in service for us so we can be free; we as Christians must dedicate our lives in service, so that we can protect this freedom we have through Christ.
Thank you to all those willing to serve our country through their and their families sacrifices. Thank you, God, for your sacrifice of your Son, who gave us the choice of freedom to serve others.
How are you showing the freedom that only Jesus can give? Are you serving others and letting others know about who you serve, our Jesus?
Serving others truly frees us to serve our Savior!
Thank you, God, for these brave men and women who are willing to put their life on the line by serving to protect us. Thank you to my daughter and four kids, and so many other families, for giving up the time with their family member, so we can all be free. Thank you to Jesus Christ who gave us freedom through His suffering on the cross!
Watching the wasp continuously hit the hospital room window, made me wonder, why God created wasps. What was its purpose. Then I started thinking about the gnats, spiders, flies, roaches and mosquitoes. What were their purpose for being created by God at the beginning of time. Do you ever wonder why God allows or brings into being certain things?
I had something really weird happen to me. Because of a cut or bug bite to my cheek, that bacteria got into, my cheek, eye and neck swelled up, got red and hot on that side. My doctor immediately put me in the hospital with powerful IV antibiotics and fluids. At the end of that week, I was much better but had a hard spot that the antibiotics did not “break up.” A facial surgeon, without any type of deadening, poked a sharp pair of scissors into that area and squeezed out the yuck! That was one of the worse pains I have ever had in my life! I know it needed done and I tried to be tough. The doctor sent me home with oral antibiotics. When I am writing this, I am still not 100% better. I have since gone back to my doctor. Told him about the painful procedure and he became angry. He said that facial surgeon should have never done that. He should have deadened the area and done it in a sterile operating room instead of right there in my room. Going through that, made me wonder why and what purpose, like in creating bugs, there was in me having Erysipelas with no warning. Why did that surgeon make the choice to cause me that much pain? Why did I lose a week of my life in a hospital room?
Time goes so fast at times, doesn’t it? When you are in a hospital bed, what is right in front of your vision-a clock. Seems that time stands still, while waiting for pain meds. When my daughter and four little ones were visiting me from Virginia, those two and half weeks seemed to absolutely fly by! Of course, time does not change to slow or fast! But rather, it is our thinking-our mind set-our attitude that causes us to think of time as slow or fast. Proverbs 23:7 says “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” At times, the week in the hospital felt like forever and then other times it seemed to go by quickly.
Have you ever pondered why bugs were made by God to bite and be annoying by buzzing around our heads-why things happen to us that stop our whole world of normalcy-or why time creeps or goes by fast?
I have never thought about this before, but think about insects as part of creation. Genesis 1:24-25 reads “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth theliving creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’, and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” Do you see the end of those verses “God saw that it was good.” I love dragonflies, ladybugs and butterflies. They are a beautiful creeping thing God created. The National Geographic says there are approximately 925,000 different species of bugs, intricately made for a reason. Some can be detrimental to crops and give us diseases. But others God created: to give 60% of a bird’s food-some help keep harmful organisms in check-pollinate plants-disperse fruit and seeds from plants-some clean up ours and animals waste-some antibiotics have been created by certain ants-bees give us honey and wax. So, God did create them for a purpose!
There is something else I have never thought about. The Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived at the beginning of time, was perfect-no crime-no sin-disease or suffering. No bug bites to get infected. Everything and everyone lived in harmony. It wasn’t until Adam and Eve sinned, did there become the world of pain-suffering-disease-bug stings and insects buzzing around our heads!
God used bugs to punish people in the Old Testament. Exodus tells us of the plagues. Three of the ten were insects. The third plague was lice. The fourth plague was flies. The eighth was locusts. Leviticus 11:20-23 tells us about insects that can be eaten and those which could not. In Exodus 23:28, Joshua 24:12, and Deuteronomy 7:20 hornets were used to defeat other nations. God used busy little ants as an illustration of a creeping insect comparing them to a lazy person in Proverbs 6:6-11. God used insects, throughout the Bible, to help the Israelites and us, generations in the future, to learn important lessons.
Why do unexpected things happen to us that take away the precious time we have here on this earth? Do you know how to answer that? Why me? In 1999, my aunt and uncles’ home was completely destroyed in the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. When they came out of the cellar, their home was flattened. Cars crushed. They did not even have a toothbrush. The next time I saw my aunt, she said she never asked why me, but rather why not me? In Matthew 5:45 tells us “…for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Even though we are doing everything we can to obey God’s law and love others, we are still in this world with its pain and sorrow. But God gives us encouragement to keep on keeping on. Joshua 1:6 tells us “Be strong and of good courage…” and verse 9 “…Be strong and of good courage; donot be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And from my favorite passages in Isaiah 40:28-31 “Have you not known?Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
We, both the good and those who are evil, are all in this life together, walking down the same streets-going through rough times that have no explanation-living with the creeping insects of this earth. Things happen to us without any type of explanation, but the difference between us and the people of this world is: we have the hope-the promise-the assurance of our God’s love when we walk our path next to His. Isaiah 41:10 says “Fear not, for I am with you; be notdismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” We just have to remember to lean on Him, His assurance and the peace He gives us.
Why did I get that bite or cut that got infected? Why me? The question needs to be answered, why not me! Even when we are a follower of God, rough times will come our way. I feel I have been reminded, from this scary experience, that God is with me-by my side-in those rough times. God uses our tough times to help us learn and to fulfill His purpose on this earth. Jeremiah 29-11-14 reads “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and goand pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you says the Lord…” God uses what happens to us, for our good in the future and to shine a light for Him. Thank you, God!
Why did God create that wasp that kept hitting a window to its own rhythm in its mind? (I guess they have minds.) Or any of the other creeping creatures that make me run for cover? Someday, after I have left this earth, I think the seemingly nuisances of insects, will be found to cure many diseases or for other purposes. I have faith that God had a purpose for creating them. Thank you, God!
