I hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine, blue skies and gorgeous leaves over the past week. The maple trees in my yard turned golden orange, and they glow when the sun shines through. It’s absolutely glorious. I’m trying to absorb the beauty of every crimson, tangerine-colored, and golden orange leaf before they fall.
They’ve held on pretty well, considering some of the windy days we’ve had in the Atlantic community.
I hate to think that by the time I write next week’s column the glory of early autumn will be a memory. All but the oak trees will be bare. Only their brown leaves survive winter.
Wonderful Wednesdays, the afterschool program at Jamestown Presbyterian Church where I volunteer in music class, will wrap up this Wednesday with a musical program. The kids will sing three of the five songs they learned for their families. Each song has a phrase that repeats and is the theme of the song.
The first is from “I’m Trusting You,” by Jay Stocker, and says “You are good!” over and over. The second, “Thankful,” also by Jay Stocker, repeats, “I want to be thankful.” And we sing the title of the third song, Chris Tomlin and Pat Barrett’s “Good, Good Father” repeatedly.
These songs remind us that God is good and we should thankful and remember everything God does for us.
At my home church, Fallowfield United Methodist, where I teach elementary age Sunday school, I’m teaching the stories about Moses and the Israelites, beginning with baby Moses floating down the Nile River in a basket. We’re just about to have a lesson on the Ten Commandments. Just as certain phrases repeat in the songs I mentioned, certain themes repeat in Exodus.
First, God is faithful to his people, the Israelites, and provides for their every need. Second, the Israelites forget all the good things God has done. They have pathetic memories and gripe constantly. After God parted the Red Sea and rescued his people from Pharaoh’s army, they followed a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Three days passed. Hunger and thirst obliterated their memories of God’s miraculous power. They seemed to forget he sent plagues that forced Pharaoh to set them free. Our good father, God, provided water, manna and quail in the desert for the complaining Israelites.
What a bunch of whiners, I say to myself as I read the story. Then I’ll catch myself thinking about stressful situations in my life and realize God has demonstrated his love and power so many times this year. I should be reflecting on these rather than worrying or feeling overwhelmed by present and future circumstances. In other words, I don’t want to be an Israelite.
I want to be thankful and grateful. I want to thank him for the beauty of colorful leaves and blue skies rather than dreading brown leaves and bare trees set against a steel-gray sky.
I want to remember I have a good Father who loves me, spared my mom’s life, and healed her over the past two months.
But, doggone it, it’s so easy to see only the here and now and worry about the “what ifs” of tomorrow. I don’t want to gripe. I don’t want to doubt God’s my good father. I want to be thankful and grateful. I want to remember God’s faithfulness.
Easier said than done, I’m afraid. The disconnect between what I want to do (thank God for his faithfulness and love) and what I actually do (worry) makes me feel defeated.
Paul’s words in Romans 7:19 are a comfort when I feel this way: “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (NIV) There’s no use kicking myself if even the Apostle Paul couldn’t get it right.
Mercifully, God knows what we’re thinking and what we need before we even go to him in prayer. And for that I’m thankful. I hope you are, too.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!