We were taking some friends out in our yacht for the weekend.  We had to take them out in the dinghy (small boat) to get to where the yacht was anchored. They weren’t used to getting into a small dinghy, and went down the steps of the jetty very gingerly, getting into the dinghy  awkwardly and hanging on to the steps of the jetty once they were in. This caused the dinghy to lean over precariously.

“Let go of the jetty!” we called out.

As soon as they did that, the dinghy righted itself with the water balancing the boat.

This reminded us of how tightly we hang onto our problems even after handing them over to the Lord in prayer. Our boat won’t come right until we let go, and let God handle them for us. Just as they had to trust themselves to the boat in the water, so we have to trust the Lord with all our problems, whether big or small. Let’s make sure we do this!

As I was sweeping out the front porch this morning, I noticed a long narrow line of ants scuttling back and forth. Even though I don’t like ants around the house, I couldn’t help but marvel at how these little creatures kept even rank, each one seeming to know exactly where it was going and what it was about. They are such an amazing little creature, that they are held up as an example to lazy human beings in the Bible……”Go to the ant you sluggard! Learn her ways and be wise!” we are told in Proverbs 6:6-9. These verses tell us to be like the ant and not to be lazy but to get up and get going off to our own work.

It is the same in our spiritual life as well….we only get out of it, what we put into it. True, there ARE some hard parts to understand when reading the Bible, but it’s just like having a meal of fish. We eat the meat and leave the bones; so we don’t have to worry about the things we don’t understand, but just take and enjoy the bits that make sense to us. The main thing to do, is to READ it!

Some people are great fun to be with. They can be the life and soul of the party, and always seem to be on top of things. When we first meet them, they are so outgoing that we feel as though we’ve always known them. But on the other hand, these same people can suffer great lows.

King David in the Bible seemed to be one of these sort of people. He had moments of great joy and times when he could praise the Lord with great enthusiasm… Shout out praises to the LORD, all the earth!  he wrote, Worship the LORD with joy! Enter His presence with joyful singing! Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us and we belong to Him; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give Him thanks! Praise His name! For the LORD is good. His loyal love endures, and He is faithful through all generations.

Then on the other hand, he got very depressed when things went wrong, and wrote this….. In my distress I cried out to the LORD and He answered me. I said, “O LORD, rescue me from those who lie with their lips and those who deceive with their tongue. How will He severely punish you, you deceptive talker? How miserable I am!

Other people we meet may be much more reserved and harder to get to know. But persevere with your efforts to be friendly….these ones make good friends in the end. Remember that those who want friends, must show themselves to be friendly!

Friendship is like a BOOK: it takes years to write, but a careless word or action can burn it in a flash. So take care how you treat your friendships, and never take them for granted.

     We were visiting a tourist place where the pearling industry was the big local thing. The pearling boats went out with their divers each day when the weather was right, and the oysters in their  wire grids were lifted so the pearls could be harvested.    A  pearl is the only gem that comes from a living organism. It is the irritation of the grit in the oyster, that forms the pearl. The oyster forms a blanket around the grit over time  which becomes a beautiful jewel, a pearl above price.  The pearl farmer purposely puts a piece of grit (called the “seed”) into the oyster, thus beginning the process that forms the pearl.

   Without the grit and problems in our lives, we will never form pearls that will be a help to others. This is why God allows the grit in our lives, so that He can use them to turn into something of value to other people and to Himself. We read in the Bible that a person with a meek and quiet spirit in spite of their problems, is of great price in the sight of God….just like the beautiful pearls formed in the oysters!

   We had some visitors from another area, and were taking them around the local  sights. One of these was a glass blower at  work behind the gallery that was selling his work. There were some beautiful pieces on display, all brightly coloured and different shapes. The man was in his workshop at the back of the gallery which was open for people to watch him at work.

We went in and up the stairs to the observation platform where we could look down on him plying his art. The furnace was heated up and the tongs he was using were red hot. As he pulled the shaped vase out of the heat, he pulled and twisted at the neck of it to form a shapely edge. But time and time again, he had to put it back into the heat because he wasn’t satisfied with how it looked.

It reminded me of the Master Glass Blower at work in our lives, as He moulds and perfects His people to make them become what He wants them to be. We may not like the heat of the fire we have to go through, or the pulling and twisting that we are subject to, but when it is all over, we are more like the finished article that He wants us to be….a thing of beauty and fit for His use.

I bought one of these new smart phones the other day and am finding it very hard to get used to what it can do. There just seems no end to the things that it CAN do, but how can I find  out how to make it do these things? I came to the conclusion that it is only practice…..hours of practice, turning it on every day and using it!

After all, that is how a person learns to play the piano if they can’t do it by ear. Practice. Hours of it. I know, because I had to do it all those years ago. But it pays off in the long run.

It just reminded me how so many people say they can’t understand the Bible. They say it is too hard and uses outdated language. But that is because they don’t use it and become familiar with it!

If we feel like this, perhaps we have never given it a fair go. Sure, there are some parts that are more difficult than others to understand, but if we persevere, God will give us the understanding that we need. After all, it is His book that He has given to the human race, and it is now translated into so many languages, that He intends for us to read it and become familiar with it. So let’s give it a go, and one day it will all become clear just as this smart phone will start to make sense for me as I use it!