Monday, January 24, 2011

As For the Asses...



Picture this:
A thirty year old man leaves the security and comforts of home in search of his father's donkeys.  He searches high and low and travels from town to town in hopes of returning what must have been an incredible pace of donkeys to his old man.  He searches and inquires and searches some more until finally, he becomes convinced that his dad has long since given up on the asses and has surely become more concerned about his son.  Just when he's ready to make a U-turn and head for home, his servant suggest that they ask a 'seer' or a prophet about the donkeys' whereabouts. That 'seer' not only knew where the prized donkeys were residing, but he also knew that God was going to call the donkey searcher to become Israel's first king. After some 'made for TV' coincidences, Saul finds himself face-to-face with Samuel and the Word of God.  And although God would use Samuel to deliver the astonishing news that all of Israel would soon look to Saul for deliverance, guidance, wisdom and protection, He chose first to set his mind at ease about a few donkeys that, in light of what was to come, were pretty ordinary after all.


"As for the asses you lost three days ago, do not be concerned; for they have been found."

I admit that when I first read these words, I laughed out loud.  Somewhere between Samuel's request for Saul to join him for dinner and his announcement that all eyes in the kingdom would soon be pressuring him for every need, God saw fit to whisper some very practical news to Saul.  By the way, the donkeys you're searching for...

I love this about God.  I love that He's all-powerful and all-practical.  Nothing He does is for naught.  Everything He touches has purpose.  No detail goes unnoticed.  No part of my life is too trivial for Him.

I think that when we begin our love story with God, we spend a lot of time stepping out onto icy ponds.  We test Him.  We try Him.  We make mental notes concerning His powers and abilities.  We nod and smile as time after time, He comes through.  Our hearts melt as promise after promise is kept.  Our faith grows as we allow His Word and work to fill our hearts and minds.  And we spend so much time reminding ourselves how practically powerful He is that we forget how powerfully practical He is. 

As for the asses...

I've both come a long way and have a long way to go in my prayer life, but I wanted to share with you where God has allowed me to be tonight.  I am desperate for His power.  I am starving for the wisdom to live out my purpose.  I am begging Him to tell me how He wants to use me.  I am willing to sacrifice for the nations.   I want to serve and pray and fast and love and give.  I'm  counting on Him to protect my family and bless my husband's heart and hands.  And I'm asking God to be and do all of those things in my heart and my life. And during the same prayer, I'm asking God to help me choose a rotisserie for my kitchen.  I'm reminding God that Algebra is hard for my 14 year-old.  And I'm telling God that even if my friends are mad that I asked, I'd still love to see snow this week.

I'm counting on Him to be POWERFUL and PRACTICAL.

Yes, He's magnificently perfect and powerful.  His ways are higher than our ways.  We'll never fit Him into a box.  If we could define Him or measure Him, we wouldn't also be able to worship and adore Him.  He's far too Big, too Right, too Holy for our minds- and yet He cares about the everyday, walking, talking, dish washing, wrench turning, contract signing, job hunting, diaper changing, bill paying, seemingly trivial details of our lives.  And when you look at it that way, it's almost as though He's deeply in love with us and wants us to share every part of us with Him.  

As for the asses... HE CARES.

Please share the blog with others and or comment if you enjoy and please don't forget to check out Graceful Abandon's edition of Faithful Fridays.  You'll love to hear what Lisa has to say! www.gracefulabandon.blogspot.com

6 comments:

  1. I LOVE THIS Sue! You are so insightful! I have been having such a wonderful time reading along with you, I just wish I could put into words what is going on in my life right now, pretty much due to the Bible Reading and becoming Closer to God! As much as I want to, I can not describe in any words what I'm feeling.

    I couldn't have said it any better!
    "I am desperate for His power. I am starving for the wisdom to live out my purpose. I am begging Him to tell me how He wants to use me. I am willing to sacrifice for the nations. I want to serve and pray and fast and love and give. I'm counting on Him to protect my family and bless my husband's heart and hands." But this could easily be used to describe me!!!

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  2. This is GREAT! You have such a unique way with words that just opens Scripture up to me; reading alongside of you is just awesome :)

    It's awesome to know that God meets us spiritually, but that a large part of that has to do with practically, as well. He CARES about the "mundane" parts of our little worlds.

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  3. This makes me feel like I have a split personality or that I'm BALANCE CHALLENGED. Sometimes I think I am so often looking for the BIG miracles that I forget He is God of the big and the small. He is my Father and if it is important to me then it is important to Him.
    However sometimes I feel that as I learn to give the small things to Him, I begin to build trust so that I can give Him the big stuff too.

    See, I need to find that balance; He should be God of All everyday. Not God of the small stuff this week and well maybe next month I'll give Him the big stuff.

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  4. I love this! He does care even for the most mundane things in our lives and it's so true... "If we could define Him or measure Him, we wouldn't also be able to worship and adore Him." Another wonderful and encouraging post, thank you!

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  5. love this! Your posts always encourage me . thank you so much!

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  6. Oh I love it. A favourite. It's like we search and seek and pray for something for so long and when God finally shows up it's with something enormous and far greater than any little thing we were asking Him for, and we forget all about what we were praying for all that time until He's like, "Oh yeah, that little number you keep asking me about, it's been taken care of."

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