Shake It Up!

 Last week's post influenced by the hurricane stole this post's thunder.  Oh well, better late than never:

CC image courtesy of Jaymi Heimbuch on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaymiheimbuch/5442875782/

~ I am pleased to inform you I survived the 2011 Virginia earthquake with little to no story to report. Building structures sustained little damage, all in all. More importantly, there were minor injuries and no reported deaths, making the 5.8 East Coast earthquake a relatively well-behaved one in my opinion. No, this geological phenomena wasn't God pouring out His wrath on a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. However, while news teams focused on logistics, statistics, and the random local story of a supermarket customer getting hit in the head by kamikaze soup cans, I believe God was broadcasting His own “Breaking News” coverage. The question is, Are we tuning in to His frequency?

If you think I'm going to say God has something to teach us through an earthquake, you get a gold star. While earthquakes don't have the greatest reputation, they are undeniably a part of creation. FEMA defines an earthquake as “a ground shaking caused by a sudden movement of rock in the Earth's crust.” More specifically, Earth has tectonic plates which move around under its surface, sliding past and bumping into one another. The edges of the plates are rough, causing them to oftentimes get stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. Over time, this causes friction and pressure to build up between the plates. The plates are held in place by friction along a fault, or fracture between two blocks of rock. When a plate finally moves far enough, its edges unstick.  This motion causes a sudden amount of energy to be released in the form of seismic waves, which travel through the earth.  The shaking that we feel is the movement of the seismic waves under the Earth's surface.  In the case of the recent Virginia earthquake, reports that seismic waves could be felt as far north as Canada and as far south as Georgia caused jaws to drop.  After all, while a 5.8 earthquake is significantly great for the East Coast, it shrivels in comparison to the popular tremors of its West Coast sister, or the devastating 9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Then God spoke to me:  Size doesn't matter in the kingdom of God, Amanda.  The Lord then reminded me that He calls the small and insignificant to do big things in this world.  Stories that model this lesson for us fill the Bible.  The names of Joseph, Rahab, David, Esther, and Ruth are only a few of the “smaller” people that God used for bigger purposes.  If we look at what each of these characters had in common that led to them being honored by God above others, we will find one simple answer: They each had a humble and willing heart.  Because of their ready hearts, the Lord was able to greatly manifest His power through their lives.

One thing that I have learned from the Bible is that earthquakes can occur when the power of God is upon us. Matthew 26:51 describes an earthquake occurring immediately at the point Jesus gave His spirit to be with the Lord in heaven.  In Matthew 28:2, we read that an earthquake occurs when Mary of Magdala and the other Mary go to look at Jesus's tomb, only to find He had risen and an angel sitting upon a boulder.  As I ponder what a modern-day earthquake has to do with us, the thought strikes me that when an individual has God in their heart and seeks to do His will on Earth, magnificent things can happen. God can cause that one willing person to cause a rumbling in the spirit.

Please bear with me as I paint a spiritual earthquake parallel of sorts.  As a Christian, you may notice that oftentimes when trying to step out and be who God called you to be, you are met with resistance—much like the plates that move back and forth against one another under the Earth's surface.  People may discourage you by saying you can't do something that your heart is set on.  Others may try to persuade you to live a different life if you are choosing to live opposite of their “normal.”  If you feel pressure, don't lose heart.  That's just the Earth calling out for you-- the sons and daughters of God-- to arise.  Keep pressing toward God, straining forward to the prize. Sooner or later, you're going to push so hard toward your destiny and calling that one day you're going to feel a break.  There's going to be an “unsticking” of plates, if you will, in the spiritual realm as you move away from the norm and into the higher things to which God has called you.  That breaking away is going to cause a rumble in the spirit.  People will be affected by you as you step boldly into the shoes of the person God always called you to be. There will be no turning back then.  People will feel the effects of God's energy flowing through you to them no matter if they are near or far.  You're capable of creating seismic waves, yourself, beloved.  It doesn't matter if you are a 1 or 10 on the Richter Scale.  The point is that you have a willing heart that is focused and determined to shake things up for God's sake.  Does this mean we do things a little differently than the rest of the world?  Of course, but no worries lest we forget that Jesus also caused waves.  Some people didn't like the way Jesus shook things up, but that didn't stop him from accomplishing the mission God sent him to complete on Earth. (Thank God!)

As we follow our Heavenly Father's voice which leads us to accomplish our own mission on Earth, we would be wise to look to the model He gave us.  Jesus, himself, teaches us to pray for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.  (Matthew 6:10)  If you will, take a moment and contemplate these words before asking yourself,  “What exactly do we think is going on in Heaven?”  Lots of joy?  Sure.  Peace? Absolutely.  Worship?  Yes.  The power of God?  You'd better believe it.  Jesus isn't simply reciting pretty words that we can repeat in church service...He is instructing us to pray that the things in Heaven be brought to Earth!  It doesn't matter how insignificant you think you are.  The power of God is what will change the world.  The question is do we have a ready and willing heart which He can move through?  I hope so, friends because one things for sure...


God is ready to shake things up! ~

www.fema.gov

www.earthquake.usgs.gov

www.enchantedlearning.com

Sunflower Stance

Sunflower in my backyard :)

~ Yesterday was a bad day. Friends, I have noticed since I started working on this blog I have been stricken twice with a terrible feeling of depression. This is something, with which I would greatly appreciate prayer. I've been fortunate to only have experienced this depleting feeling a few times in my life. Don't get me wrong...I've certainly experienced hardships and feelings of sadness before. I'm just usually able to handle negative situations with a positive outlook. Generally, I am a joyful optimistic person. However, as some of you may know more than I, depression is more than sadness. In fact, it feels so oppressing that there might as well be an elephant sitting on one's chest. It can be overwhelming, accompanied by panic attacks. It is also very debilitating, making it difficult--if not impossible-- to accomplish anything. What brought on this feeling, you may ask. Quite simply, distractions and lies from the devil. I had become distracted by worldly issues--the things I could only see with my physical eyes. I forgot my faith, and soon--like Eve-- came into agreement with the lies that were being thrown at me like darts.

I had been studying the sunflower and really wanted to share in my blog what I had learned. Unfortunately, the depression was inhibiting my ability to write. Instead of sitting in front of my computer, there I was--laying in bed--feeling quite defeated. The truth is that I was in a position of defeat. I had prayed, but my prayer was symbolic of a newborn Christian prayer. It went something like, "Oh God, please take this depression away!" Why do I say this was a newborn Christian response? Let me explain... Newborns can not do much for themselves. They rely on their caregivers to do everything for them--feeding, changing their diapers, cleaning up their messes, etc. However, as a child grows, they begin to model what their caregivers teach them. Soon, they are able to feed themselves, go to the bathroom independently, and clean up after themselves quite well. Wouldn't it be the same for Christians? Wouldn't it make sense for God to spoon feed us everything we need when we are young believers, but to train us to take independent steps forward toward Him as we grow stronger in our faith? I began to realize that my crying out to God to take the depression away was much like a baby that cries out when they have wet themselves and are in need of a diaper changing...a very humbling revelation, may I add. While the kind of prayer I prayed works very well when we are nonbelievers, or infant Christians, I believe God eventually grows us up to a place where our prayers and actions become more mature than when we first began to learn how to walk with God. Perhaps I should have prayed for God to help me stand and grow through the situation. This response would have been much more mature than laying in bed, simply asking for Him to make the problem disappear. It would require a different stance...much like a "sunflower stance."


Let's look at the sunflower's response to the sun: While all flowers need sunlight to grow, not every flower follows the sun. Only heliotrophic flowers move their plant parts toward the sun throughout the day, taking in as much light as they can. This daily motion of plants was first described by Leonardo da Vinci, and is now more often called phototropism. Sunflowers are heliotrophic, which is why people report seeing a change in the growing young flower's orientation from east to west during the day. How does this happen? Well, sunflowers produce a plant hormone called auxin, or indoleacetic acid. The auxin serves as a growth regulator. At night the auxin can be found throughout the plant. However, in the morning it migrates to the shaded west side of the sunflower, which causes the stem to stretch gradually to the east. In the afternoon and as the sun is moving, the auxin moves. This causes the stem to stretch toward the west, making it appear as though the sunflower is "following the sun." As the sun sets, the sunflower resets itself back to facing the east. When a sunflower is mature and the stem becomes woody, it stops moving with the sun. This is why most blooming sunflowers can be seen only facing their sunny faces eastward. Isn't it interesting that the sunflower always goes back to facing toward the east? Didn't Jesus appear to the wise men after they followed a star which first rose in the east?  "...Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child." (Matthew 2:9, The Message) I'm also reminded of the song, (East to West) by (Casting Crowns) (2007). If you get a chance, spend some time listening to the lyrics of that song. You are sure to be encouraged!

As I pondered the information above, I realized the actions of a sunflower portray a great picture of how we are meant to position ourselves before God. Just as the sunflower grows the best when it can "see" the sun, how much taller spiritually do we stand when we are facing God and His Son? What significance does our life really take on when we set our face like flint on God and are unhindered by distractions? I believe God is looking for a people that are really serious about facing Him. When we are facing God, or setting our minds and hearts on the things He sets His mind and heart on, I think we will be amazed at the beauty our life begins to take on. ~

 

"Keep your face to the sunshine

and you will not see the shadows."  ~Helen Keller

 

References

http://sunflowerfestival.tripod.com/sunflower_facts.htm
http://sunflowerfestival.tripod.com/sunflower_facts.htm

http://sunflowerfestival.tripod.com/sunflower_facts.htm

http://sunflowerfestival.tripod.com/sunflower_facts.htm

http://sunflowerfestival.tripod.com/sunflower_facts.htm

http://sunflowerfestival.tripod.com/sunflower_facts.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/2069432-interesting-facts-about-sunflowers

http://lifeofplant.blogspot.com/2011/03/heliotropism.html

http://lifeofplant.blogspot.com/2011/03/heliotropism.html

http://lifeofplant.blogspot.com/2011/03/heliotropism.html

Dragonfly Food for Thought

CC Image courtesy of New Orleans Lady on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neworleanslady/2091865095/

~Wow! So, over the past few days I've noticed there are tons of dragonflies outside. Everytime I try to open my front door, I have to pause to wait for one to fly away from the door knob. Reminds me of the time I used to have to stop my car in the middle of the road in our apartment complex to wait for the mommy mallard duck and her ducklings to cross the street so they could get to the pond on the other side. That's nature... It's almost as if God's creatures are saying, "Hey, slow down! Look at me! Take a moment out of your busy lifestyle to view how magnificent I am." Or, perhaps that's another mighty voice we're hearing... Elijah said we would hear God in "the sound of gentle stillness as a still, small voice." (I Kings 19:11-12) Colossians 1:16 further tells us all things "exist for Him." (Amplified) I believe along with being created for God's great pleasure and delight, the dragonfly--like all of creation--exists to magnify His glory. Just as I knew Christians could teach others about our great God through actions and by being who He created us to be, I believed the dragonfly also had some wisdom to impart.

So, with a curious and determined mindset to learn more, I hurried outside toward one of my favorite places to talk with God and observe nature--underneath an apple tree in the backyard. From this location and for the past two days, I had observed many dragonflies swarming in the same open field. There could easily have been about fifty of them, if not more--it was truly an amazing sight! By doing a little research, I learned that they were having a "feeding frenzy." Dragonflies love to eat mosquitoes, which immediately gained my respect since I'm a magnet for those little blood-suckers. They also feast on gnats, termites, and other small insects. When you see multiple dragonflies swarming about, chances are they have located a large quantity of prey. It seemed that this field was like the all-you-can eat buffet at Golden Corral! Another interesting thing that drew my attention was the fact that not only did these creatures come to the same location each afternoon, but they also showed up about the same time. It never failed: 3:30pm-5:30pm seemed to be their prime meeting time in my backyard. The previous day, I had come out about 2:30pm and had seen no sign of them... too early. The day before that, I had been watching them at 5:00pm for quite some time before returning inside to do some housework. After about an hour, I curiously went back out to see if they were still there. They were not...too late.

Funny--the dragonfly was smart enough to know the best location and time of day for which there would be the greatest harvest to choose from. This is attributed to instinct, or "a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason." (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary)  The creation of instinct validates my belief of how much God cares for the things He created. It reminds me of Matthew 6:26-28, which speaks of God's concern for the birds and flowers. It made complete sense that the dragonflies would know when and where the best time to eat was. These creatures had been blessed by God with a "timer." As I pondered this, God began to minister to me about the importance of timing. "Timing is everything", He said. Oh how true I knew this was. I reflected on my own life and the many times I had rushed into something too fast, only to regret my anxiousness later. There were also the times I had been too slow and missed out on a good opportunity. Then my mind drifted to the magical times I had gotten it just right. It's those times we must hone in on, my friends. As we draw nearer to God and our relationship with Him grows stronger, His spiritual nudges become easier to sense.

What of the times we feel we misinterpreted God's voice and direction? Are those wasted? Certainly not. God doesn't waste anything. When those times occur, I thank God for His amazing grace and for Psalm 37:24, which reminds us, "Though he [a good man] falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him." (Amplified) Another way to look at it is this: When a baby is learning to walk, how many times does he/she fall down? Do we yell at the child for not walking perfectly upright the first time? What about the second? Third? 30th? I am certain a good parent would never get angry at their baby for falling as they learn to walk upright, no matter how many times they have to try again. How then must God view us as we are learning to walk upright, or righteously toward Him? As we study the Bible, we find verse after verse of His unfailing love for us. No doubt, God wants to make sure we know who He is and how much He cares for us. He also wants to make sure we know who we are--His sons and daughters, who are to be holy as He is holy. (I. Peter 1:16) Truthfully, I believe those spiritual nudges are God's way of training us to be like Him. He is training us to be so in tune with him that our timing matches his...almost like a dance--one in which He is the leader. When He speaks, we speak. When He moves, we move. The goal is to be one and the same with God, just as Jesus was one and the same with God. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." (John 5:19 NIV) Friends, isn't it time we heeded what the Great Teacher modeled for us so long ago? Just as Jesus was the Son of God, you and I are called sons and daughters, or "children of God" (John 1:12-13) Jesus's above words not only serve to teach us who Jesus is, but to remind us of who we are!

Going back to the dragonfly, I want to share some interesting facts I learned about his sight and movement because I believe there is a correlation between the above verse and our educational model. Dragonflies have large compound eyes. Though we can not see them with the naked eye, each of its compound eyes are made up of thousands of tiny cone-shaped simple eyes. The dragonfly's eyes allow it to distinguish between colored, ultraviolet and even polarized light. It also enables it to detect reflection in water. Because of their large, multifaceted eyes, the adult dragonfly is able to see nearly 360 degrees around it at all times, which is bad news for its prey. Dragonflies also have superior movement and speed, often flying upward of 30 miles per hour. Further, their four wings and flight muscles allow them to move as a helicopter--sideways, backward; they can even hover in place. They can do all of these movements quickly and accurately, which makes them well suited to eat other insects right out of the air. What a picture of following God! Shouldn't we also be like the dragonfly with its 360 degree eyesight? Whatever God is doing, we are alert and ready to follow suit. And what of the helicopter movements? May we be as agile and flexible as the dragonfly, especially when God's timing requires us to move sooner than we would have chosen--or worse for some of us--to wait.

Truly-- just as God's gift of instinct tells the dragonfly to flock to the countryside filled with small insects, we must discern the move of God and flock to where He is leading us through all the phases of our lives. Sometimes it can be difficult to listen to God if He seems to be telling us to do something that is not in accordance with our life plan and agenda. However, I've noticed that it becomes much easier to heed God's gentle nudges when I remember "His plans are to prosper me and not to harm me" (Jeremiah 29:11). Let's face it--He's our Heavenly Father, and He knows best. If we succeed in listening to His voice and timing, there will no doubt be rewards to reap, just as Jeremiah 29:11 promises. Such as the dragonfly who goes by obedience to the nudging of something within that seems to say, "The harvest is ready. The timing is now," so we too must listen to the still small voice within each of us. ~

   

Dragonfly Research References:

http://www.21facts.com/animals/dragonflies.php

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/dragonfly/

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/dragonflies.html

http://insectzoo.msstate.edu/Students/odonata.html

http://www.mndragonfly.org/journal.html