Tag Archives: God’s Gifts

Possums in the Attic

Eastertide

May 20, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
   sing praises to the Lord,
Selah
O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
   listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Ascribe power to God,
   whose majesty is over Israel;
   and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God in his sanctuary,
   the God of Israel;
   he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God! –Psalm 68:32-35

I did not wake up this morning ascribing power to God. I was letting all the mess that is going on around me sap me of my strength, draining me of hope, making me feel helpless. The fault lies with a possum. It wandered into my attic or my crawl space a few days ago. I was busy and hoped it would wander out and not come back, but it did return. I called and made an appointment for an animal removal service to rid me of my guest. They will be here tomorrow.  I fear though that the possum is now receiving the full thrust of my frustration from sheltering at home, trying to follow in Paul’s example being content in all circumstances*  and failing miserably. I was not ready for the upbeat Psalm above, telling me to sing and listen and ascribe power to God, and it was exactly what I needed. Paul recognized and depended on the power of God.

We all, I am sure, are having good days and bad, as we track the news, rearrange routine activities to protect ourselves and others from the spread of COVID 19, and deal with the pesky possums of life that often arrive at inconvenient times. Now is the time, if ever there was one, to awaken to the awesomeness of God and accept his gift of power and strength. Blessed be God!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your sustaining gifts that we somehow fail to see when we need them most. Amen.

*See Philippians 4:11-13

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Using God’s Gifts

Abuse-of-PowerLiving in the Spirit
July 21, 2015

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Then David said to Uriah, ‘Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.’ So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.’ –2 Samuel 11:12-15

David did everything he could to make Uriah think the child Bathsheba carried was Uriah’s. When none of that worked he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. It doesn’t get much more sordid than that. I have always thought it odd this story compared to the stories of David’s loyalty to Saul even in the height of war. Strange ethics, he would cause someone to be killed to avoid what: Being found out as an adulterer or saving Bathsheba from being treated as an adulterer even though he had had several wives himself and concubines. He went out of his way not to kill Saul but saw nothing wrong with having Uriah killed.

We have seen it happen many times when people who have proved to be good, even great, leaders suffered from, even damaged their leadership, by moral failures. How does that apply to our lives? My first thought is we should read the story of the woman caught in adultery where Jesus instructed anyone who was without sin to throw the first stone. We all have sinned. Spiritual development is a journey.

My second thought is when God gifts us with skills as he did David, we need to be diligent in using them for God’s purposes and not fall into the trap of seeking personal gain through their use.

Prayer: God who Gifts us with our very lives, guide us in all that we do so our work is devoted to the development of your Kingdom. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.