This morning, as I came to connect with God, I struggled at first. Felt a bit like a zombie - this heat sucks the life out of me, especially when it means I'm not sleeping well. And then I thought of something. Jesus dealt with heat like that too! With no electricity at all!!
In Israel on those hot summer nights, they probably slept on the rooftops! But then, of course, there's the mosquitoes!! He would have had to deal with them too!! And he wouldn't have had a nice comfy mattress to sleep on! Dust everywhere on an unsealed floor was a way of life! With sparing use of water, carried from a well. And food was a precious commodity, which consisted of whatever was available for the day.
And here I sit, in my egg chair, gazing into my sandy-grassed backyard, watered with a tractor sprinkler to slowly bring it green. And I grumble about the dustiness of my tiny, multi-roomed house, so easily vacuum cleaned. And I groan about the heat when I have electricity to help bring coolness! And I drink fresh running water and pour it over my body with abundance! And create menus from the ingredients I have stored on my shelves!!
And as I see my life next to his - and the itinerant, harsh lifestyle that had to be his in order to bring us life, I am suddenly ashamed. We have so much. He had so much less. But he didn't complain. He didn't go on about how much he'd left behind to deal with this life here, for us! He just dealt with it. Living his life as a gift of love for all around him.
And right there - the zombie head is gone - and my heart is melted and connected as I'd hoped it would be when I came to seek him this morning. Jesus life here speaks God to me. When I'm struggling to see God, all it takes is for me to catch a glimpse of his reality in this life on earth here. And I am melted. Every time. He is so very beautiful.
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