Inspired by . . . a worm
Finally, and thankfully, today we had rain!
I know some of you out there are wishing the rain would stop, but here in TX we were nearing stage III water restrictions and are very thankful to have it!
And it has been HOT. The draining kind of hot that drains your energy and leaves you feeling like a limp dish rag. Yuck!
If you've been reading this blog lately, you know I've been spending some time in the book of Jonah.
Jonah could relate to this heat we've been having. And he appreciated the shade God provided for him.
"The LORD God made a plant grow up beside Jonah to give him shade and make him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy with the plant."
"At dawn the next day, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it withered."
But God had one final lesson for Jonah, and I think it is one we can all learn from.
"When the sun rose, God made a hot east wind blow. The sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he was about to faint. He wanted to die. So he said, "I'd rather be dead than alive."
Then God asked Jonah, "What right do you have to be angry over this plant?" Jonah answered, "I have every right to be angry-so angry that I want to die."
The LORD replied, "This plant grew up overnight and died overnight. You didn't plant it or make it grow. Yet, you feel sorry for this plant.
Shouldn't I feel sorry for this important city, Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people in it as well as many animals. These people couldn't tell their right hand from their left." "
There is much about Jonah I don't understand. I'm sure there are theologically profound points in this text that I have missed. But what God seems to be saying here, to me at least, is:
"I want you to care about what I care about."
And I have to ask myself the hard questions. The convicting questions. What did I get angry about today that caused me to miss an opportunity to minister to someone in need? Was I busy fretting over some thing only to miss the Lord, standing quietly nearby, His hand held out, offering me a blessing?
And I have to act on the answers.
It's not human nature for us to want what God wants. To care about what God cares about, to see what He sees.
But we can.
By taking the time to align, and re-align ourselves to His Word we can begin to care about what He cares about. See what He wants us to see. Do what He wants us to do.
It is a process.
A journey.
It is, in and of itself, a blessing.
What is He asking you to care about today?
Blessings,
Sharing inspiration here:
Well now...that hurt...and helped all.at once. Sort.of a 2x4 right to the back of my head....and i thank you from.the bottom of my drougnt stricken heart....
ReplyDeleteWe are very dry here too -- those tomato horn worms are not nice. xo
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo, which pretty caterpillar, ... great colors!
ReplyDeletegreat macro of the caterpillar!
ReplyDeleteLove the title of your blog. Thanks for visiting me and leaving such a nice comment. Appreciated. Enjoyed my visit to your site and uplifting. Will return often.
ReplyDeletePeabea
Hi June! I think God wants me to care about his people. If everyone commits to love, that would be quite a rainfall, wouldn't it? We'd all flourish like the Lebanon cedar :)
ReplyDeleteI just got home from vacation, and my plants are suffering! It's been really hot here too. Poor things. We'll hope for lots of rain!
Happy Friday,
Ceil
As writers we must find inspiration in small things even a worm!
ReplyDeleteDear June
ReplyDeleteI think at times we need to learn to be kind too ourselves as well. We tend to neglect our own hearts at times especially being mothers!
Blessings XX
Mia
Just stopping by for a visit from Jumping Tandem's Sunday blog hop.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post. I love the photo of the caterpillar.
Happy Sunday.
Lovely post! Thank you for linking up with The Weekend Brew!
ReplyDelete