3 posts tagged “wife”
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, Are you the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else? (Matthew 11:2-3)
Sometimes I make a prison for myself. I put myself in prison to a thought or a feeling or an attitude that binds me.
I remember a time when our sons were young and I was not making much money as a pastor of two churches in the countryside. I wrongly thought to myself, I am just working to pay bills. I am on a treadmill. My income is barely sufficient to pay for our basic needs. I am living paycheck to paycheck. I felt like I was in a financial prison. So I prayed about the matter. And here is what the Lord told me.
Darryl, you have it all upside down. There you are, doing what I had called you to do, married to your sweetheart, with three young sons, everyone in good health. Count your blessings, man! So you do not have much money, but look around, fellow! You are free to give yourself to your churches, your wife, your sons, and to Me! Money comes and goes. This time, too, shall pass. Set your mind on things above, rise out of your prison of self-defeat. I will be with you!
A peace came over me from that day. And I learned a valuable lesson: When ever a wrong thought, feeling, or attitude tries to put me in a prison of my own making, I just pray about it. And God shows me how to turn it over and see it from the sunny side, the side of God's blessings, which are all around.
Psalm 90 continues (verses 3-6),
You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning --
though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.
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As I meditated on these four verses from Psalm 90, I remembered the song "Dust in the Wind." It was written in 1977 by Kerry Livgren, when he wrote and played for the band Kansas. While playing "Dust in the Wind" one day at home, when his wife was doing laundry, she
told him he should put it on the album. Since the album had some extra
time available, he presented the song to the band and it was included on the "Point of Know Return" album,
becoming their highest charting single.
Livgren's song opens with these words:
"Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
I close my eyes
Only for a moment, then the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind."
If you've ever heard it performed, "Dust in the Wind" is a slow melody, well paired with the melancholy lyrics. It has somewhat the same feel and tone as Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller's song "Is That All There Is?" which was memorably sung by Miss Peggy Lee in 1969. The chorus expresses life's disappointments:
"Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing.
Let's break out the booze and have a ball,
if that's all there is."
Are we just dust in the wind? Are life's disappointments really all there is? Moses, here in Psalm 90, reflects on the meaning of life and its brevity. We do not hear Moses saying that life is without meaning and purpose in these verses. He is simply saying that our lives are in God's hands.
God made us from dust and then blew into us the breath of life. God's breath is in you and me. That essential part will never die. Our bodies grow, mature, and die. Compared to God's timeless nature though, we live brief lives, like new grass, which in the morning is green and bright, but by evening may be dry and withered.
Just think! The great God of heaven, the Creator of the earth, moon, stars, and universe, has put His stamp upon you and me. We are his. He is ours. We each have a purpose upon this earth, because life is preparation for eternity. Once we accept Christ as Lord and Savior and begin to live in Him, life takes on new, eternal meaning. Nothing in life or death can take us from God's love and His presence.
Paul Harvey has a daily radio broadcast on which he always tells a personal story in two parts. The second part is always "the rest of the story." I began by mentioning the author of "Dust in the Wind," Kerry Livgren. At the time he wrote the song, he did not know God and believe in Him. "The rest of the story" is that later, Kerry accepted Christ and became a Christian. Describing himself as a family man, he now teaches an Adult Sunday School Class at Topeka Bible Church in Topeka, Kansas.
Friend, if you are facing a time in your life when you are asking "Is That All There Is" and you look around you and wonder if you are just "Dust in the Wind," then I say to you, look to Moses' word here in Psalm 90. God has put His stamp upon your very being. You belong to Him. To God, you are not just "Dust in the Wind." You are of eternal worth to God!
Exodus 16 NIV:
Verse 13: That evening quail came and covered the camp ...
Verse 31: The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
God has delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Now they are camped in the Desert of Sin. It has been about six weeks since they were liberated.
Only, they grumbled at not having water and not having food to eat. So what did God do? He gave them seven springs of sparkling water at Elim. Then at the Desert of Sin, he gave them quail to eat at dusk and bread to gather at dawn.
My wife and I have had quail a few times. She remembers fixing quail for dinner one night, years ago. It was wild quail from a church member who made a gift of his hunting success right here in Carroll County. That was 28 years ago.
Then another time she bought frozen quail at the meat section of a supermarket. She prepared it at home.
Then I remember we had quail at a fancy, romantic French restaurant at Epcot in Florida in July of 2000. That was a treat. I like quail. Have you ever had it?
When I was growing up, I remember having honey graham crackers and milk as a snack at Kindergarten. I still like them. They are tasty and good. Do you like honey graham crackers?
At summer church camp, we made s'mores at a campfire one night. Then we camped under the stars on campfire hill. There's nothing like sleeping out under the stars. It's awesome!
This week my wife is going to fix quail for dinner one night. Maybe we'll have s'mores some time this week, too. Too bad Moses and the people of Israel didn't have s'mores back then. They might have stayed in the Desert of Sin for a really long time.
The whole point of this chapter in Exodus seems to be that God takes care of His own. I mean, He does, doesn't He?
Even when we grumble and complain.
Especially then!
God is taking care of me, every day. Meat at dusk, bread at dawn.
I like that about God.
Don't you?
