Job 14:15

You would call and I would answer,

   Should You yearn to see the work of Your hands.

 

Note that today is Veteran’s day and this is the day I reflect upon the day a few years back when we buried my father. I’m getting old as it was 13 years ago now. 13 years and a week ago I learned I had another sister and another niece and another nephew and another brother-in-law. A wealth of blessings in that.

 

In a couple weeks I begin helping teach a life Bible study class again for the first time in a long time. I have a plan to focus on three points. My three points for today are the horrendous pain in my neck, the loose pit bull on the street, and the watch in my dream. The highlight of the day has been seeing the cat in the bed I bought him.  All downhill from there.

‘Would’ was also ‘will’, ‘shall’, ‘shalt’, and simply the demand to do so. Kind of hard to get behind telling God what to do, although I may be stretching for effect.

‘Yearn’ was also ‘long for’, ‘desire’, and ‘set your heart on’. ‘The work of your hands’ was also ‘handiwork’ that seemed to remove the emotional sense and replace it will pride.

Pi is my favorite number because it proves to me the unfathomable ability of God is a simple form.
(But I am not a Pi freak.) When I graduated college, my father mentioned that he almost bought me a Rolex but gave me cash instead so that I could use it on what I wanted. I had two watches my mom had bought me for work (that we could actually afford) a black one for formal attire and a Fossil for more normal times. I still have both, but the Fossil has spawned the purchase of a plethora of Fossil watches. In my dream, someone took my watch as part of a ‘show’ and I got really upset that I would not get it back. Luckily my wife woke me up to move the trash before it got to be a true nightmare.

I needed to move the trash because the ‘big dog’ was loose on the street. Granted it is a pit bull, but I met it last night and it is a really nice dog. I obviously can’t keep it, but I do not think it is a neighbor’s that got loose, but a drop off. No one on the street wants it, but none of us want it to go to a non-kill shelter. If only we were so passionate about the salvation of the people on our street.

Every so often in the Bible we hear the story of someone hearing a call from God and responding, ‘Here, I am Lord, send me.’ In the Old Testament, the stories were about God the father or Yahweh. In the New Testament, they are about Jesus. I try to be that way. I think I was with this call to help in the life Bible study class. But I need to figure out what is the call from the pain in my neck. I am sure it is not the ‘you need time in the hot tub’ that I have bene trying so far. I know I am not called to keep the dog, although I was reminded of all the great aspects of having my dog Butch included. I have slowly been transitioning to a more solid effort to not have too many watches, or boots, or baseball cards, but my guess is that something I have been doing with my cards has initiated this back pain. It could be as simple as sitting too low at the desk I type on the computer at while working with them, but it might be something else.

All this to say that God yearns for me to spend time with Him. He yearns for each of us to spend time with Him. He treasures each of us as the work of his hands. Whether it is physical pain, attention of pets, or blessing of stuff, God does all He can to call us to Him. We need to be practiced at answering His call.

 

Written 9/16/24, Posted 11/11/2024, Job 332