I am not a patient person. I would like to think I am, but I have discovered my patience extends just as far as my schedule will allow. Once the “testing” period butts up against my plans, my impatience surfaces.

Which is why these past couple of weeks have been a real trial for me. 

I have been dealing with a pinched nerve in my lower back which is causing incredible pain down my right leg. X-rays have revealed where the problem is but only time and manipulation will solve it. 

I have had back problems ever since I stopped playing tennis. It seems once I quit, the stronger muscles on one side started pulling the now “less used” muscles from the other thereby slowly moving my spine out of place. A back seizure revealed this, and the chiropractor prescribed a series of exercises to correct the issue. The problem was the longer I felt good, the less I did the exercises. Which brings me to the present. The back misalignment is now worse than it was. 

And so is the recovery time.

And so here I am. Having to be patient. Already having had to cancel events that I wanted to participate in and wondering if I am going to have to cancel more in the future. I don’t want to BUT--

I thank God for his loving hand, for if this episode hadn’t occurred, I would have continued forgoing my exercises until perhaps the misalignment was too much to overcome.

The devotional I read the morning I was writing this blog confirmed this. It talked about Jesus receiving Mary and Martha’s plea for him to come and save their brother but choosing to wait two days before going. And in that time Lazarus died. Two passages stood out to me.

First, “At the very heart and foundation of all God’s dealings with us, however dark and mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love of God. Love permits pain.”

And second, “Who can estimate how much we owe to suffering and pain? But for them we should have little scope for many of the chief virtues of the Christian life. Where were faith, without trial to test it; or patience, with nothing to bear; or experience, without tribulation to develop it.”

But for both, Jesus would never have died on the cross.

​Streams in the Desert: Volume 1. August 10. pp.. 234-235. 

It just seemed like yesterday that I was trudging through Numbers, and now here I am again. But just like last time, just when I thought the book had nothing really to offer me, I come across chapter 21, and the bronze snake.

For those not familiar with the story, the Israelites had just defeated the Canaanites and were working their way around the country of Edom when—surprise, surprise—they started grumbling against Moses and God, accusing them of bringing them into the desert to die. Then they complained about not having enough water and having terrible food.

In response to their ungratefulness (and lack of memory over what God had done for them) God sent poisonous snakes, which killed a lot of people. The people then came back to Moses and repented and asked God to take away the snakes.

Well, he didn’t. The snakes remained, but he did tell Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then if someone was bitten, if that person looked at the bronze snake he would live.

A number of things stood out to me. First, that God did not answer their request to remove the snakes. The consequences of their disbelief would remain. BUT the salvation from those consequences was there if they would 1) have faith in the remedy, and 2) obey by looking up at it.

All scholars agree that the bronze snake is a foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We have all sinned and, as a result of that sin, we are going to die. (Romans 3:23; 6:23a) And, as much as we would like to avoid the consequences of our sins, we will not. However, if we will believe in the remedy, the sacrifice of Jesus, on the cross, and accept his sacrifice, and allow him to rule our life, then eternal life is ours (Romans 6:23b; John 3:16).

We will live.

​Forever.

The more I read the Bible, the more I am just amazed at how detailed and specific God has been in his creation of the world and of us. Nothing has been left to chance. Let’s start at the beginning.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, …” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27

Now I know that these verses mean that we are made to reflect God’s character—his love, his holiness, his creativity. That we have been given the power to reason, make moral choices, and build relationships. 

But as I read deeper, I am moved in how God closely aligns our characteristics to his. Take, for instance, our sense of smell. 

Of all the senses, this one is probably not high on our priority of senses. Most of us would not want to lose our sight (and be estranged from our world), or hearing (and be alienated from communicating those around us), or touch (and be put in extreme danger). Yes, we want to taste our food, and while we enjoy the fragrances of flowers we could live without the scent of skunks. So smell might be the one sense we would be willing to forego.

And yet . . .

Smell is the sense that is most closely linked to memory and emotion. To forgo a long scientific explanation, the  skinny of it is the sense of smell bypasses the brain’s sensory station (the thalamus) and goes straight to the seats of emotion and memory (amygdala and hippocampus).

One whiff of a fragrance/scent/odor can remind us of a wonderful childhood experience, our grandparents’ house, or of a food we detest.

Is it any wonder then, that while God sees: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love” Psalm 33:18.
Hears: "But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer” Psalm 66:19

And feels: "The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love…" Exodus 34:6.

It is the sense of smell that he reserves for what is most meaningful to Him—the hearts and prayers of those who love Him.

“The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”Genesis 8:21.

“It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD” Leviticus 1:9.

"For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing”
2 Corinthians 2:15

“The four living creatures and elders held golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
​Revelation 5:8

May we never forget the gift of our senses and that they reveal—yet again—that we were made in the image of God.

That’s my new clock you see in the picture. I purchased it at the local art gallery. Isn’t it beautiful? And you know what? It started life as a vinyl record. 

Which is a wonderful reminder of God’s love for us. After he has restored us, He can take the brokenness, the outdatedness, the feelings of uselessness, and repurpose it for his good. We see this in the Old Testament in the story about the potter in Jeremiah 18:3-4:

“So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.  But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”

We see it again in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

God is relentless. 

First in his pursuit of us:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?" Matthew 18:12

Then in his justification of us:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Then in his sanctification of us. 

“The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son [and daughter].” Hebrews 12:6

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

NEVER — EVER— believe God is through with you. Never feel that your usefulness is over. Instead, be excited. Look forward to what God has in store for you next. 

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

I blame my cousin. She introduced me to this show and now I am hooked. It’s called Restored, and it centers around an architectural preservationist who goes around restoring old homes to the way they were intended to look.

I am fascinated with the show. First of all, by the knowledge the host has of all the various architectural periods and then by his willingness, once given the go-ahead by the owners, to start ripping out what doesn’t belong and restoring the home to its original glory. 

It is amazing what people will do to their houses all in the name of modernization. The mishmash of styles can create a cacophony for the eyes. But Brett Waterman makes no bones about what does and doesn’t belong and what needs to be done, then does his best to direct the decisions of the owners. 

And if they listen to him? Beautiful homes. Appropriate landscaping. Gorgeous woodwork. Stunning features. A home that now stands out because it has been restored to its original glory.

God is in the restoration business as well and we are his subjects. Sin and questionable decisions have marred our lives and broken our souls and spirit. God promises to restore those if we give our lives to him.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” I Peter 5:10.

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” Psalm 23:3.

“'But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’declares the Lord” Jeremiah 30:17.

But we must give God permission to go in and strip away the unnecessary, the social “modernizations,” the personal choices, and restore us to wholeness. We must relinquish our ownership and turn the decisions over to Him. Only then will our intended beauty reappear.