You can sure tell it is spring in my backyard. I have three new baby squirrels, two baby bunnies, and the ducks are now coming one at a time, not in pairs, as usual. I’m guessing the other duck is on the nest or tending the young ones.
And the flowers are blooming! Yay!
I must say, other than the pollen, I do love spring. All the porch furniture is back in place waiting for friends to stop by and chat on lovely days. The hanging baskets of flowers just cheer me to no end, and it seems they are also helping our bee population flourish.
As I have been reading the doom and gloom in the news, I treasure my little retreat here in Ocean City, which keeps me sane.
Even though I believe with all my heart that God is in control of everything, if I spend too much time reading current events, I can begin getting depressed. At the very same time that God is breathing life back into the world, giving birth to more critters, and blooming the flowers, it seems as if man is determined to destroy himself.
I can’t begin to imagine what the war zone of Ukraine must look like at this moment or being a refugee in a foreign country. I would hate to be living in Shanghai and confined to my tiny apartment while the government tries to eradicate the Covid virus.
It seems as if the entire world has gone off its rocker during the quarantine, doesn’t it?
As I said, I firmly believe the world is in God’s hands because He tells us this in His Word.
“The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Prov. 21:1.
It is good to know and believe that no matter what we think of our leaders’ talents, their hearts are directed by God toward His ends.
Just like you, I see the bickering and divisiveness that seems so prevalent in our society and politics today, but I know if God is directing the king’s heart, He is also able to direct the hearts of those that are making the laws and doling out justice.
Many in our society are turning away from God and God will honor their choice to their own destruction.
“But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. God will repay each one according to his deeds.” Rom. 2:5-6.
Our churches must be strong or become stronger in teaching God’s Word and we must all get back into the Good Book if there is to be hope for the next generation. We need to believe in God’s grace, and we need to know in the depths of our hearts what we believe. None of us can defend our faith if we don’t really understand it ourselves. We must know what God desires for us and from us.
One thing God requires is that our lives are to give God glory. That is a pretty big order to fill if we don’t have the background understanding of the Bible – our resource for all things of faith.
We must not only believe in God, but we must be able to articulate our beliefs. Most of us are not evangelists or missionaries but each of us is called to live a life of Glory to God. To do that, we must reflect God’s character in our lives, and to do that, we must know God’s character.
One of the first things we learn in church is that God is love.
Are we reflecting God’s love? Can we ask ourselves, as my friend, Gretchen, asked our ladies group just the other night, “How are we doing with this?” Can we actually say we love everyone, not of our own accord, but by the grace of God? That is one of our goals. If we would be willing to let the Holy Spirit work in us to accomplish this one goal, what a much better world it would be.
Consider “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gal. 5:22-23.
The total of the list is supposed to be reflected in our lives. So, how are we doing with this one? I am sure none of us have totally mastered being loving, joyful, peace-filled, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled but I pray we are at least making our best efforts with God’s grace to get there.
Our goal is to be more like Jesus every day. How are we doing with this one? My prayer for all Christians is that we can be the reflection of Jesus here on Earth, that we would be so filled with the gifts of the Spirit that people would immediately know we are different – and in a good way!
So, as we go about our summer days and all the relaxation and fun we are trying to pack into each moment, let us remember to keep ourselves firmly in God’s hands and learn more about our faith walk by adding God’s Word to our summer reading list. Happy Summer!
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
