Category Archives: Morning Musings

Morning Musings

Foggy Morning

Leave a comment

          When I went for my morning walk this morning, as I turned the corner the road ahead was swathed in fog and nothing was clear. I couldn’t help remembering times in the past before we had a GPS, when we had been boating and were caught in the fog. Nothing could be seen, and we had to edge very carefully along to make sure we were away from the shoreline. More than once, we found that we had been going in a huge circle and were back at where we had started from!

We are often like this in life and when things are dim and unclear, we find ourselves groping around and very often end up where we started from. We’ve made no progress at all!

But all is not lost! There is no need for us to grope around at these times, if we wait patiently, the fog will lift eventually and we will see our way clearly once more. Another thing about the fog, is that as it begins to lift, it swathes itself around the highest points leaving the lower areas still in its mantle. This often makes for very interesting photos. So it is in life. As we come out of these foggy experiences, the things we have learned are to our benefit, and we can see what the Lord was teaching us as we groped our way through these times. Let’s make sure that we don’t stay in the fog, but keep looking up until it lifts and we are once more in the clear sunlight of seeing all God’s blessings that He has given us!

 

Morning Musings

A Bend in the Road

Leave a comment

The big dog was curled up on the front deck of the house. He looked an absolute picture of misery, with no life or interest in anything. He knew that his family had gone away and left him, and he was going to guard things until they got back. He knew the day before they had left that something was in the wind by the way the missus was packing things up….there was just a general feeling of unrest around the place. And then those other people were back. He wasn’t too sure of them, even though they had been coming and going to their caravan that was parked up the back by the workshop over the last few weeks.

All day he lay there with his head on his paws, and one ear cocked just in case his family came back. He barked all night almost without stopping, at least the people in the caravan thought so. They said to each other, “He’s going to be a little horse (hoarse) in the morning”, and then laughed at their little joke.

Needless to say he was very tired the next day, and slept until mid afternoon. Then he got up and trotted down the track to the caravan with his ears up. He looked like a different dog. He was alert and back to his old happy self. He even smelt the new missus all over when she talked to him.

It was almost as though he had said to himself, “Well, it’s no use moping here by myself, I might as well make the best of it!”

From then on, he guarded the caravan and kept the people there company.  As we watched him lying there with one eye cocked on the goings on (not that there were many!) we couldn’t help thinking how like life this is.  We come to a bend in the road and all seems dark and miserable. We think that things are never going to be the same again, and maybe they won’t be. But there is no use moping about it. The dog couldn’t bring his people back by moping, and neither can we. We may as well get up and go on straight away instead of remaining miserable and making others miserable in the process.

There is a passage in the Bible that says …..            God’s way is perfect! The promise of the LORD has proven to be true. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.                Who is God but the LORD? Who is a rock except our God? God arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like those of a deer and gives me sure footing on high places. He trains my hands for battle so that my arms can bend an [archer’s] bow of bronze.           (Psalm 18:31-34)

We all have enemies at times….enemies of doubts, fears and disappointments. When they seem about to engulf us, we can call on God for His help. He promises this to everyone who will take His salvation as the next verses go on to say….. You have given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand supports me. Your gentleness makes me great. You make a wide path for me to walk on so that my feet do not slip. I chased my enemies and caught up with them. I did not return until I had ended their lives. I wounded them so badly that they were unable to get up. They fell under my feet. You armed me with strength for battle. You made my opponents bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who hated me.  (Psalm 18:35-39)

So when all seems dark and hopeless, let’s remember the dog that found that moping did no good at all, and carry on around the bend in the road not looking back!

Morning Musings

Happy New Year!

Leave a comment

   The year 2018 has gone for ever, and on everyone’s lips this  first morning of 2019, are the words, “Happy New Year!” This may be the wish of each one of us, but for many it is only an empty hope. Some already know that this year will be one of the saddest one in their lives…. those who have loved ones  with a terminal disease can only look forwards with dread for the immediate future.

    Others of course, look forwards with high expectations…..a forthcoming wedding, a new baby to come into the world, a big trip already booked….and rightly so, but are we guarded against the unexpected shocks ahead? A broken marriage in the family? A tragic car accident? The disappointment of broken friendships? A bad report from the doctor?

    No-one is immune from these things, as they are all part of normal life. Not only those things that are unexpected, the normal downhill spiral in age and health that all come our way with time.

   For those who know the Lord, we have the added assurance that He will be with us through all these experiences, both good and bad. It is no use blaming God for the bad things that happen to us. Of course He could have averted them in our path, and how many times He has! But how else would we learn if we did not have to depend more heavily on Him at these times?

   Remember the time that Jesus told His disciples to go across the lake ahead of Him? He knew that they would meet this tremendous storm half way across. He also knew how He would cope with it for them and show His power to them. How else would they have seen that without this difficulty?

   It is just the same for us today. So let’s look forwards to this year of 2019 with whatever the Lord has in store for us with confidence and assurance, knowing that whatever happens can be for our best as we trust in Him.

Morning Musings

Choices, Choices

Leave a comment

    We all have to make choices in life; whether it is business, family life or just in playing games. Our choice today, determines our destiny tomorrow.  I was reading recently, “Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

As I read these verses from Matthew 7:13-14, it made me realise that every person is confronted with the gates of choices in their life. One gate is wide and the way looks easy with crowds of people going along in a downward direction, while the other gate is small, with a narrow path beyond leading upwards and not many people going that way. But what a difference the end result is! One leads to destruction and the other one leads to life.

Our Lord tells people to seek to enter the narrow gate leading to life but this gate is too narrow to allow any baggage through. There is no room for the suitcase of possessions or the bag of good works. There is not even space to squeeze through with the backpack of pride, to say nothing of towing in the trolley of sinful ways and habits! All these have to be left on the outside of the narrow gate….there is only room for the under clothing of contrition and a broken spirit with confession of our need. All our good deeds and self righteousnesses are nothing more than filthy rags in God’s sight!

Once through the gate, the Lord provides clothes of righteousness and a robe of salvation. He gives us new songs to sing, and peace of mind with a light and joyful heart to travel up the path of life. When trials and difficulties come (and they will) He is there to help and to take us by the hand, telling us that His grace is more than enough to see us through. There really is no option as to which choice is the better one of the two….let’s make sure we all find this way that leads to unending life and peace with the Maker of the Universe.

Morning Musings

The Friendship Book.

Leave a comment

  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 this sort of person. 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.

Morning Musings

Ants!

Leave a comment

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.
Whenever there is a bit of food on the ground, those ants seem to find it! They all hurry to the spot, and do their best to get as much of it as they can. I wonder if we are like this with God’s Word? We are told that it is more necessary than our daily food, and yet how many of us bother to even look into its pages! How much time do we take to read it during the week? Or do we just open it on Sundays while waiting for people to arrive at church?
Let’s take these things to heart and to make time for the things that matter most!

Morning Musings

When Ignorance is NOT Bliss!

Leave a comment

Ignorance is bliss so they say. But this is no excuse as far as the law is concerned! One day a new “Stop” sign was erected on a road I didn’t use much, and I slid over it as usual after checking that no cars were coming. Alas for me, a traffic officer confronted me around the corner where he had been waiting to catch the unwary offenders. My ignorance was no excuse for getting out of the ensuing fine, and it was large enough to hurt my pocket. I ruefully thought of the shoes or whatever else that I could have bought with that amount!

It made me realise that just as the law accepts no excuses for being broken, that God’s law is just as inflexible. He says, “The soul that sins, shall die!”

On the other hand is the verse that says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only beloved Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

 

Morning Musings

Whining or Shining?

Leave a comment

I heard a pastor speaking on TV the other day and he asked a question that made me stop and think.

“Do you whine or do you shine?” was the question. You may smile at this, but it  brought me up with a round turn. How many times do I complain about the weather being too hot, being too wet, or too cold? We have no control over the weather, but we DO have control over our attitude to it!

 How do we react when we don’t feel well? Do we take some pain killers and get on with things cheerfully, or do we put up with the aches and pains and make sure everyone around us knows how we are feeling? 

What about when we are standing in a queue waiting to be served at the supermarket check-out  and there is some trouble at the counter and the line  slows down…do we wait patiently or do our fingers start to tap, and our blood pressure rise? (I might add that nearly every line I get in seems to be the slowest one there!)  so this is a good challenge to me! So now I will stop and think….”will I shine or will I whine?” and hopefully choose the right one!

The right choice will make me feel better, those around me feel better, and most of all will please the Lord!