The Trees of the Field Shall Clap Their Hands

"For you shall go out with joy,

and be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills 

shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

Isaiah 55:12

If you've been keeping up with me here lately, you know that I am in the midst of a huge life change! It would be most appropriate to state that this is definitely an event that fits the title of my blog, Closed Doors, Open Windows perfectly!  If you go back to the very beginning of when I first started to write this blog, way back in February of 2010, you will see that the driving force behind my writing was the fact that I was in between jobs...one door had definitely closed in my life, and I was diligently searching for another to open as quickly as possible.  It didn't happen quite as soon as I thought it should...but in God's perfect timing He opened the window of His choice, 

The next five and a half + years were not always filled with joy and laughter...there were many trials to face during that time, not only in my work, but in the realm of my whole life..., (click on each link to go back in time and read the history), Read here about "The Last Farewell", "How Could I Not Want This Day to Come?".  But there were some wonderful blessings and times of joy as well...Read "Blessed to Be A Blessing", "An Offering of Praise".  

And now, today, a Monday, is the first day of my true retirement from working.  (Actually, last Friday was my last day of work, but today is the first day that I didn't actually have to set my alarm and get up and go to work).  The full reality of that probably won't hit me until I realize that I won't be earning regular paychecks anymore, and we are going to have to watch every penny to survive.  But I know that God is in this. He will provide...and so I am not going to worry about that today. 

(No, I didn't see him this morning...but I always have to be ready
just in case.)

So this morning, as soon as I was able to reasonably slip out of the door and get outside, I took at little "walkabout" our house and neighborhood, with my trusty whistle for protection from any strolling bears

or other "wildlife", and my camera ready to capture the beauty of this first morning of the rest of my life.  It was a rather chilly morning for us here in Florida, but the air was brisk and refreshing, the sun was shining...and I was FREE to wander!

Even though there wasn't much activity this morning, I found enough beauty to fill my senses with the joy of God's wonderful creation and the gift of this new freedom...it's all good. I was a little too late for the sunrise (and it was too chilly at that hour even for me), so this is the earliest picture I could get of one of my favorite spots in the neighborhood... and definitely "all the trees of the field" were clapping their hands for me today.

And all the holly berries are bursting forth in color, ready for the holiday season to begin...and also ready to feed the myriads of birds and wildlife as they store up food for winter...

 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, 

but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, 

That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So shall MY word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, 

and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."  

Isaiah 55:10-11

And this beautiful pink camellia is blooming...this was a plant that I thought had died last year, but I kept nursing it back to health over the summer, and now it is rewarding me with the earliest blossoms before all the other bushes that appear much healthier!  This must be its way of thanking me (and GOD) for rescuing it from an untimely death...

 "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."  Isaiah 55:13

And there is this lovely Christmas Cactus plant blooming already...another one that I thought was about dead...and it, too, is the first to bloom of all the others!

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 

so are My ways higher than your ways, 

and My thoughts 

than your thoughts."  

Isaiah 55:8-9

Yes, today is the beginning of a new adventure...an "Open Window" of opportunity...for what? I don't yet know exactly what God has in mind for my future...but I know He holds my future...and therefore I do not fear.

"Ho! Everyone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

Come, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, 

and eat what is good,

and let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Incline your ear, and come to Me,

Hear, and your soul shall live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you..."

Isaiah 55: 1-3

(This photo was not taken today, but it still speaks volumes)

Yes, today is the beginning of a new day...an Open Window into the rest of my life!
Praise God, and Here I Go!

When is the Cavalry Ever Going to Get Here??? Reposted for those who are still waiting...

This is a repost from March of 2010, when I was still waiting to get back to work after being unemployed for almost a year.  Interestingly enough, I started a new job just 12 days after I wrote this...a job that on the day that I wrote this post I did not know existed...and I am still working there today! 

I am reposting this now for those who are still in God's waiting room...including my own hubby.  He has also been unemployed for over a year now, and has about decided that God must have run out of ideas of where or how he could ever serve Him again...and yet, even this past week God gave him some glimmers of hope that showed him that he was not forgotten. Nothing has actually materialized, and there isn't even a place or a name that could identify what God might be planning...but He sent little messages of encouragement our way through His special ambassadors...and that was enough to alert us that the "cavalry" may yet come over the hill...

So here's what I wrote way back then when I was feeling totally forgotten and abandoned...I share it  with you now in case you find yourself in a similar place...

March 1, 2010:

Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Have you ever come to a standstill in your in your life? You've prayed and asked God for direction, and it just seems as though He's taking forever to answer your prayers? It has often seemed to me that God was deliberately waiting until the very last minute to take action when, in my opinion, He could have solved the problem weeks ago! I must confess that I often get very frustrated with God and His apparent slowness of action. I want to see results NOW! THIS VERY MINUTE! I don't WANT to wait until the eleventh hour and then hear the "cavalry coming over the hill!"

In my heart I know that God has not ever forgotten me...and because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He will not ever forget me. But often my faith is weak, and I begin to think that the situation is hopeless...it's just too late...God can't possibly fix it now!

I was feeling this way the other day, and the verse came to mind where Jesus was talking to the father of the demon-possessed child, and He said in Mark 9:23-24,

"If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." "Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

I identified with that father and cried out, "Lord, I DO believe you can do all things, but help my unbelief--those little doubts that come into my mind when things aren't moving swiftly enough to satisfy me! When I can't see how on earth you're going to work out this problem!" The thing I need to remember is that God is NOT going to work out my problems according to the WORLD’S standards--He is way beyond and above that...His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts....

Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us:  

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Knowing this, I can wait and trust in You, Oh Lord.

I find further comfort in Isaiah 41:9-10

"You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away. Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Thank you, Lord, for Your words of comfort and encouragement, just when I needed it most. Help me to remember to acknowledge You in all my ways...and to know and believe that You will direct my paths. Lord, I do believe, and thank you for helping my unbelief! Amen.

So, friends...what are YOU waiting for today?  Or has your "cavalry" already come over the hill to assist you?  If so, praise God!  And if you are still waiting for answers...hold on tight!  Help is on its way!

An Open Door...

Psalm 111: 1 “Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.”

More Steiner Family Adventures and Leaps of Faith... This is a continuation of last night's post...

As our first summer in Ohio was coming to a close, so were our finances. We had enjoyed our little church in the country, “Ruggles Church”, but we knew that we could not live on the $100.00 a week we were receiving from them. John was already enrolled in the Intensive Greek program at the Seminary, which was exactly that… “Intensive”! What he didn’t realize when we started this venture was that the regular classes would require that he have a reading knowledge of Greek from day one! He had never had a Greek class, and did not feel that linguistics were his forte’. Fortunately they had this “Intensive Greek” class that lasted for three weeks just prior to the regular semester. Amazingly God quickened his mind so that he was able to learn enough Greek in that short amount of time to be able to start his classes as planned.

Since his regular classes would be starting in a few weeks, he needed some compatible employment soon. It is so easy to give in to despondency when things don’t happen as quickly as you think they should, or to the “specifications” that you had dreamed up! We were beginning to second-guess God and wonder if we had misinterpreted His leading. There just didn’t seem to be any jobs available for either of us.

One afternoon we were really starting to feel the pressure and felt the need to get out of town for a while and take a country ride. We wound up driving through the little town of New London, about fifteen miles north. I told John that I thought there was a church from our denomination in that community, but I didn’t have any idea where. Suddenly, there it was, right there on the road on which we “just happened” to be driving ! We pulled in the driveway to look at the church and noticed a log home behind the church building. We figured that was probably the parsonage. About that time we saw a man in a suit walking from the church toward that house, so obviously we determined that he must be the Pastor! We pulled around a little closer and he turned and saw us driving in and started walking toward us. As we stopped the car he came alongside of us and said, “Hi there! May I help you?” We asked him if he was the Pastor, and he said, “No, but I am a member of this church and I live here.” He added that this was the Pastor’s day off, therefore he did not expect to see him.

We explained to him who we were and that we were just out for a ride and admiring the church. He gave us a warm welcome and offered to take us inside. Of course we hated to impose, but since he was so nice and actually insistent, we said we would love to. As we began a tour of the building, we passed one small office and the man said to us, “That is our Assistant Pastor’s office, but we currently don’t have an Assistant.” John and I looked at each other with big eyes, and then we looked back at him and asked, “Are you looking for one?” He said that they were. We then asked, “Is that a paid position, or voluntary?” “Paid”, he answered.  John gulped and took the plunge and asked, “Do you mean paid as in a regular salaried position?” And the  man patiently smiled and replied, “Yes, it’s not a lot of money, but it’s pretty good for a part time position!” John and I were both getting very excited under the surface, but trying hard not to appear too anxious.  Then it just kind of came right out…we couldn’t hold back any longer. John began to tell this man, who happened to actually be an Elder in the church, about our current circumstances and that we had just been praying about finding a job that would be compatible with going to Seminary, and that we did not know anything about this church before taking that ride out there that day. Then this man did something very special. He said, “Why don’t we go into the sanctuary and pray about this?” And so we did. As we all knelt there at that altar to pray it was as if we could feel the presence of God in that room right there with us. I will never forget how comforted we felt at that moment, and how God’s Holy Spirit flowed through us,enveloping us with His peace.

When we stood up from the prayer altar and started to walk out of the church, there was a man dressed in overalls walking through the door. We were surprised to discover that this was the Pastor, and that he had a garden planted behind the church, which he was coming to tend on his day off! The Elder appeared very surprised to see him and immediately introduced us and explained our situation. He was very happy to meet us, and we spent the next couple of hours talking! He never did get to his gardening that day! And to make a long story short, a couple of weeks later John was installed as the new Assistant Pastor for Music and Youth at the church! (Can you tell this was in the late 70's? Salmon Suit! :)


                                                                               
In Isaiah 55: 8-10, God reminds us, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”


More of this story to follow... keep watching... Thank you!  Part Three: Bells, Whistles, Sirens

Reading the Road Signs Along Life's Journey

Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”

There have been many times throughout our lives that we have come to crossroads which have made us wonder which way to go. There are so many distractions along this road of life that we can sometimes become confused as to what we are supposed to be doing. Thankfully, our Heavenly Father has placed “road signs” along the way to give guidance and help us find our way. For example, there is the “STOP” sign, which is pretty emphatic. God often places that sign in our path so that we will do just that, “STOP!” He seems to say to us, “STOP, take a moment to rest and wait for Me to instruct you when to go on ahead.”


Of course there is the railroad crossing sign that says, “STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN”. Here again the Lord is saying to us, “Pause in your busy day and look at Me and listen.” I know He has to use that one with me quite often because I have a tendency to fill my day with too much activity and not enough time for looking in to the eyes of Jesus and listening to what He wants to say to me. He places His warning sign in my path to remind me that there are dangers ahead and I had better be watching and listening for His instruction!

How about the “YIELD” sign? That’s one of the more difficult ones to follow. Why? Because it tells us to YIELD to the other guy…to prefer others first…to give in to someone else’s thought or idea. When the Lord puts a YIELD sign in my path, I realize I have to give up the fight and YIELD to His will. My human nature recoils against yielding to anyone else, but when I finally let go and YIELD to God’s will, I can relax and let Him lead the way.

Along the highway of life we often see the “MERGE” sign. It instructs us to blend in with the flow of traffic and keep on going. In the ministry and in life in general we have to “blend in” with the people God has called us to serve, not run ahead or behind, but become one with them. This can often be a difficult task if our cultural backgrounds are really different or if we have the idea that we are unique and special. I call it the “I gotta be me!” attitude. As servants of Christ in the family of God there really is no room for egocentrism. We have to be willing to unite our hearts and minds with the people to whom we are ministering if they are going to be able to identify with us and with our Lord. This could certainly apply to our families and co-workers as well.

Then there are the “NO U TURN” signs, usually right where I was hoping to be able to turn around and head in the other direction! Oh! Why does God do that to me? Doesn’t He understand that I don’t want to go any further? Can’t He see that I need to turn around and head back to where I was safe and secure? No, God isn’t cruel and uncaring for my needs. But He has a plan for me to keep forging ahead. To turn back too soon might cause me to miss the blessing of reaching our destination. I say our destination, meaning God’s and mine together, the place of joy and completion to my journey that He has prepared for me. If I’ll just stay on the road, He’ll get me there safely and happily.

Perhaps the most disconcerting sign while traveling any distance is the “DETOUR” sign. We are going along our chosen route just fine when all of a sudden a DETOUR sign shows up! We have to endure the inconvenience of getting off the known path and venturing through unknown territory and possibly not reaching our destination on time. However, if we choose to ignore the DETOUR sign and keep going on the way we thought best, we would find that we had made a big mistake. God often places DETOUR signs in our path that we can’t understand at that time. But when we reach the end of the road, if we could look back and see what would have occurred had we chosen to ignore God’s DETOUR signs, we would rejoice that He was in control and forced us to choose a better way!

Isaiah 55:8-9 says: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Thank you, Lord, for Your guidance along my highway of life. Thank you for the “STOP” signs, the reminders to “STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN”; the gentle nudges to “YIELD” and “MERGE” with our co-workers, spouses, and friends. Thank you that you kept me from making that “U-TURN” in the road when it was really best for me to keep forging ahead, and then also for the “DETOURS” that I just couldn’t understand at the time. Help me to stay on the path that YOU have chosen for my life and not be distracted by the billboards that could lead to destruction. Amen.

What about you?  Have you experienced some of these "road signs" in your life?  Have you ever thought about the consequences you may have suffered if you had chosen not to obey these signs?  If, perhaps, these "detours" in your life have led you to a new and better destination...think about that...and if you can, share it with us!  My prayer for you as you travel on the road of your life  is that you will enjoy the journey and arrive safely!