Mountain Tops and Valleys

Have you ever noticed that life is made up of times in which you live on the mountain top and other times down in the valley?  Many of us dread those valley experiences when we feel as if our prayers only go to the ceiling and drop back into our laps.  We look at where we are and don't like the place.  We can see the mountain top and know that is place we desire, but climbing that hill seems like more than we can handle.

The Bible is full of stories of people who have gone through the valleys and mountaintops of life.  People that were favored by God experienced the most difficult of times and yet God was always there guiding and leading. 

How long we stay in the valley determines when we make it back up the mountain.  Sometimes we have to make major changes in our life before we get there - changes that are uncertain and painful.  I believe that God will give us what we need in our life journey so that we can get to the mountain top. We can let go of the fear and uncertainty of what is ahead if we know that God is leading.

My prayer today is that I will trust in God and let go of any fear or uncertainty I may have of my future.  Amen.

Holding Up Our Arms

I am mostly on Sabbatical to rest and recharge.  In the last few weeks I have been doing a lot of resting - days filled with no plans or schedules.  I am enjoying the time but the change is a challenge. 

The stories of Moses and the Israelities have been calling to me these last few weeks and I have enjoyed reading about Moses and the wilderness experience. 

The Israelites had to face their enemy and God gave them instructions.  Moses was to hold up his hands and as long as he did that, the Israelites would win.  After a few hours his arms got tired.  When he put his arms down the other side would win. 

So the people put a stone under Moses' arms and two people held them steady.  The Israelites experienced victory.

I give God thanks for the many people who have held up my arms in ministry.  The journey has been long filled with many miles, many faces, and many places.  For the people who have supported me I say to you, thank you for believing in me to be a messenger of God to the people of God. 

How often do we hold up the hands of each other when we get tired?  Or offer to take up some of the burdens of another working along side of us in ministry? 

Another Saturday night with nothing to do to get ready for worship in the morning.  A strange feeling.  

I miss my church - the joy, the love that is given one to the other.  In the next few weeks I will begin visiting other churches in the area to see what it is like. 

I will close for now. 

Entering Into Sabbatical

It is Saturday night and I can't believe that I am not preparing for worship tomorrow morning.  I will  miss my faith community - the joy I experience with this beloved group of people.

It is my belief that we were made to live in community with each other - each community creating themselves - over and over again - as new people come and others leave.  My thoughts often turn to Moses and the Hebrew people as he led them out of slavery into freedom.  But first, they had to journey in the wilderness - the dry, desert for forty long years. 

The people held been slaves to Pharaoh and conditions were unbearable.  Along comes Moses performing signs and wonders as he says "Let my people go."

After terrible plagues the Hebrew people are set free.   They flee Egypt until they face the Red Sea.  Again, another miracle from God saves them.   Many of us may remember that majestic scene when Charlton Heston  (Moses) parted the Red Sea.  

Fast forward a little - the people had been out in the dry, unknown desert for about three days. They could not find water.  They want water, they need water.  Even the animals are thirsty.  They come to a place called Marah and the water is bitter.   Earlier they had been dancing and playing tambourines.  Today they begin to grumble and complain.  Not against God, but against Moses.  

After crying out to God, Moses throws a stick in the water and it becomes sweet.  They head out and end up in a place called Elim with twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees.  

Maybe you have guessed now where I am going with this.  Sweet Waters.  That place of rest and refreshment from the God who heals and invites us to our own place of Elim.  From a place of bitterness to a place of sweetness.  

I have named my blog Sweet Waters as I slow down and obey God's invitation.  I  hear the words of Jesus "Come to me all who are weary......  . "

The story of Elim is a story we are all familiar with as we reflect on our lives.  There is another reason I like the name Sweet Waters.

When I lived on the Outer Banks of N.C.  there was a great restaurant named Sweet Waters.  Good food and  good times with family and  friends.   Sweet Waters - a place of rest and nourishment.   

God make a promise to the Hebrew people telling them that God is a God who heals.  Even when we go from praising God to grumbling and complaining.   When we become bitter and angry because of life's disappointments, God offers us healing.

My prayer for the next few days:  God, I open myself to your healing.  Amen.

I invite you on this journey with me.  Maybe we can all create our own place of Elim over the next few weeks. 

Shalom,

Rev. Judy

This story can be found in Exodus beginning with Chapter 1 - 15.