Like Grass

This week our city was hit with a sudden shock of cold. The temperature dipped into the low 30's, bringing us a few gray mornings with ice and frost. I didn't think we'd start using the ice scraper so soon! One of these quiet mornings, while trying to defrost the ice on my car before going to work, I decided to brave the biting cold a few more minutes to take a picture: delicate frost was clinging to the blades of grass outside our apartment in such a beautiful way and I knew that it would be gone by mid-morning.

Later that evening, when I came home from work, I noticed that one of our outdoor hanging plants, which was once bright purple and thriving, had become dull and lifeless, with its stems and leaves drooping over the edges of its pot. In just one day, what was once alive and growing became dead and limp. The little plant did not survive the cold.

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We read Isaiah 40 in Sem Wives class this week and I was reminded again of just how great and majestic our God is, and then of how fragile we are:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?  - Isaiah 40:12

All flesh is like grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. - Isaiah 40:6b-8

We are like grass, here today and gone the next; He holds the oceans in the hollows of His hand. I was reminded this week that, in my natural state, I magnify myself and minimize God without much thought. But God is so much bigger, so much greater than I often remember Him to be! And also, we are far more fragile and dependent and in need of Him than I like to think we are!

Isaiah 40 is breathtaking and I need that perspective adjustment daily. How beautiful the Gospel is when we see Him as He is!

Bezalel

See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.-Exodus 31:2-5

I received a surprise text message from a close friend a couple of weeks ago that really encouraged me and came alongside a lot of thoughts that have been swirling around more in my head lately. In the text message, my friend wrote out Exodus 31:2-5 and encouraged me in my artistic abilities. It was a sweet and timely push.

Before moving to Louisville, Erick and I prayed and committed the next 3-4 years of our lives to the Lord's equipping and preparation for whatever He would have in store for us in ministry. We knew that for Erick this meant being a full-time seminary student; for both of us, serving at a local church, engaging in our city and investing in the relationships around us; and for me, we prayed that the Lord would help me explore my creative gifts and talents, use this time to grow them and prune them, and show me how I can use them for ministry.

After committing these things to prayer I have found it very intimidating to tackle what to do next. I have a bunch of interests in mind and a thousand ideas that I dream about more than actually practically settling on a specific plan for one idea to come to fruition. Baker? Coffee shop owner? Graphic Designer? All three rolled into one? What about timing? Resources? Can I actually even do it?

It's scary to think about all the could-be's and would-be's and if-only's, but when I reflect on how my past ideas and plans have turned out, it is wonderful to realize that, more often than not, they rarely turn out the way I pictured or planned.  In my pride, I get lost in my plans and always begin thinking I am in complete control of the outcome. God's plans somehow always surpass what I ask or imagine and remind me that I am not in control- and praise God, I am not!

So rather than panicking and busying my hands, trying to pick up stones to build my own path, I will first be still and give my hands to Him. Any path I try to build on my own is temporary and will most certainly crumble. I want my path to be His and for my eyes to be set on the right prize before I go any further.