It Wasn’t Your Green Towel (or fill in the blank) Anyway…
I was so excited to get to a church camp Saturday morning for a workday experience – the parking lot was full! Oh the sounds of the day were a blessing.
Well, I could have been in many places sure, but this was a gift to myself too – to have that camp feel – to see friends yes – but to take a moment in a moment. I actually teared up with emotion as I drove in – of course with the beauty of the place – but of the emotional moment overflowing as only the Lord knows the stress and yet the BLESS of this past year. Only the Lord knows the plan – I just try to do what I can. Is it enough? Do I make too much fuss? Anyway… (We are all human of course God knows that)…
So I nestled down – without hurting my back – to staining outdoor benches with a group of us – Ok then… I got a pretty green rag towel and pretty blue angled paintbrush and nestled in – all the while thinking this was like a traditional work day – where we are all chomping at the bit for our project – everyone chomping at the bit to do the work (have enough work) – to make a difference – and we had to share the projects and not hog them for ourselves… and we did… worked out GREAT… and then nearing the end of the morning, after we had done some fresh pieces of wood (beautiful to stain), I had to figure out what I was going to put under the pieces of wet stained wood that we leaned up against the benches – hmmm… For the first one I used a disposible towel – but then my only option at the moment was my pretty green rag towel – awwww – I didn’t want to give it up but well, it was right for the job (actually had room to hold two boards against the bench… I gave it up. And we finished and learned there was no other painting for us after lunch – so I reluctantly gave up my gloves too (they were disposible) and I moved on to moving home (AFTER lunch – and wow loved a camp lunch, yum)…
Was it right for me to whine about the green rag towel that wasn’t mine in the first place? I became the adopted steward of the towel – I loved the color as it was unique – and yes it was VERY functional as I wiped not paint but crud and debris from boards and benches before we painted them… For 2 hours, that towel (and my nice blue angled paint brush) was my connection to the project – my justification for my free lunch – my ownership of my plan… But I had to move on – give it up – see it being useful elsewhere – leave it be…
I am talking about that towel, yes, but more importantly I am talking about the way we experience things we THINK we own – the plans – the objects – the stewardship yes but the ownership? Well, we should rethink our thinking and realize that things and plans are often what we need to DETACH ourselves from – not the responsibility but the tight gripped emotional wrapped had and head around what isn’t ours to hold onto. Like my plans – I had thought yes I would get another project after lunch but oh – the Lord had OTHER plans – and I complied not knowing (that is a whole other story but worth my brain realizing how God’s plans are above our plans – weird how the things work out in HIS favor often – using us as the hands and feet and ears and whatnot for Him)…
Anyway – you catch my drift, right? If we cling to tightly to what WE think are the plans – what WE want to control (whether schedules or towels or jobs or people or objects even church buildings and our postcard-sized fiefdom of life as lord), then we are going to be mistaken (and disappointed) and missing out on the big picture of being a servant in humility. We best hold life with “an open hand” – people too – that is a phrase I heard in a devotion – an “open hand” means to not get so bent out of shape or nose bent when things don’t go our way – or people disappoint us – or we try to hold things too close to our grip… We best cling to the cross and not the hammer of our sinful ways. We best cling to the Lord and hold on to His Wing – as He flies us to the next project or chapter of life…
And, it is not just the disposable or non-disposable and colorful rags or gloves or benches or whatevers – not even the free lunch – not our schedules or fiefdoms – that we should expect to be there with our limited view of life – all things will pass away – even the earth… We are citizens of another Kingdom and certainly not our own. We will have to give up the crippling grip at some point anyway – we have to let go and let God…
Amen and well, this is easier sounding than it is doing – but let us try to do it…
And as for my free lunch? Oh – that was totally worth it – it tasted as delicious as the day was – serving the Lord and reaping the benefits of His tatertots of love…
MMMM….. yum…. AMEN
(and yum to the lunch and great conversations and the blessed feeling of being useful and blessed)…
Here are some of the camp photos.
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Luke 21:5-38 – New King James Version
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple
Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age
So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”
And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls.
The Destruction of Jerusalem
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The Coming of the Son of Man
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
The Parable of the Fig Tree
Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
The Importance of Watching
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.
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Revelation 21 – New King James Version
All Things Made New
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
The Glory of the New Jerusalem
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
