Be instant in season and out of season

4:36 p.m. Today's project was to get some rest after an Easter weekend that included preparation for a large family dinner, delivery of three days' worth of food to a needy family, a lovely wedding, Sunrise service, CCMV school breakfast, and an active house full of family, all while the Lord allowed me to post blogs about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ! We were joined by new addition Penny Lane Kruckenberg, a darling cocker spaniel pup belonging to Kriss and Marisela!

Exhaustion and preoccupation, along with a couple of honest mistakes on my part, led to an expression of hurt from our youngest son that let me know how much he treasures our family's dinner table traditions...it was an expression of a very tender heart. We talked it out and forgave one another before he set off for Fresno, but I was definitely in need of a break!

The Lord does not allow for us to rest on our laurels; nor, however, is He stingy with His encouragement. The Holy Spirit does send loving approbation to His servants, but how many times is it followed with new challenges? We need to remember that we, the carriers of the treasure of God's Word, are just "earthen vessels," commonplace clay pots, according to 2 Corinthians 4:7, "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Believers cannot accomplish anything for the kingdom without the Spirit's leading, guiding, and filling!

The nature of my husband's Alzheimer's disease is such that every day brings new and sad surprises as to what he can no longer be responsible for. This morning, Steve lost the new registration tags ($598 worth) for our RV while he was in the process of putting the sticker on. I continued to ask him to keep looking, because I still hadn't had a chance to get dressed, after devotions and taking care of breakfast and basic morning chores. Eventually Steve found it in his shirt pocket, but not before the stress level had risen for our daughter Heidi and us! (In a similar situation later in the afternoon, Steve failed to notice he was sitting on my very large set of car keys when I couldn't find them).

The Lord sent His encouragement while my stress level was slowly going down to a simmer, because my friend Monica called me! She is the very one the Lord had told me to ask to be a prayer/accountability partner!! She had called for personal prayer, and we prayed for one another and all of our families' needs. We agreed to pray every Monday at the same time, and to call immediately with any urgent needs. James 5:16 says, "Pray for one another, that you may be healed." I felt as refreshed as my garden was by today's rain!!

But testing was not over for the day! In the snack food aisle of our neighborhood grocery, a lady began to complain about the price of vegetable chips and it came out that she was flying to New York to be with her dying sister and needed snacks for the plane trip. "Ooh, divine appointment!" I thought as I asked her sister's name and said I'd pray for her. It turned out she's a believer, too, but she's still afraid of flying across country. So we talked a while more.

Next thing I know, she's attacking Greg Laurie, his late son, Harvest, the crusades, and Pres. George W. Bush, gossiping, backbiting, letting out some real smears. Turns out she's an anti-war activist who was letting her political positions turn ugly against Christians of other opinions. I shared scripture with her, as well as made it clear that I know Greg and his family--in fact, Topher and my oldest son attended preschool together. I told her that I was also very active in ministry at Harvest, and contrary to her opinion that it's a rich church not giving to the poor, I set her straight with actual facts. Her biggest pet peeve? That Greg Laurie has a security detail, "while he's telling 18,000 people to trust in God!!" I asked her whether Christians should call the police during a break-in? Or whether the Brinks guard who was shot not 2 hours before in that very shopping center should have fired back? What about my home's alarm system? "Well, you're not preaching to people to trust in God!" Unbelievable. I replied, "Every Christian is to be a preacher of the gospel, wherever we go."

People were creeping quietly down the chip aisle, because it did get heated. My bad for debating, but I do not believe that we can allow hateful personal attacks on people we know are godly. John 8:44 tells us who the father of lies is: the devil! And even if she was worked up and beside herself, and went off huffily with "the last word," perhaps she might have something to think about later. I did tell her several times that she is free to attend the church of her choice, but please allow others to do the same. (And Christians who don't agree with her are still Christians!)

Unpleasant and nervewracking as that conversation was, it was still a divine appointment. I thank the Lord for bringing scriptures to mind for the many wide-ranging topics of her rant, and I will pray for her, knowing how afraid she is to fly, and that her sister Gloria is dying. As I think this over, I realize that fear leads people to behave outrageously, and can be a tool of the enemy for disruption and hostility, instead of our fears being given to the Lord.

From the famous to the obscure among the Body of Christ, we all have faults! God knows each of our weaknesses, and we would do well to face ourselves with them, and confess sin speedily.

"For He knows our frame: He knows that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14)