Grains of Sand

“ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven ” —Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV. As Spring awakens once more, I eagerly look forward to getting the balcony set up for warmer weather. I didn’t do very well with flowers last year. Being on the road frequently and not being around to water and tend didn’t do them much good. It was really hot last summer—unusual for this part of the world. If we are blessed with more normal temperatures this time around I may be able to go away and not come back to shriveled up greenery. We could still have a bit of winter left in us, but I have already rummaged through the storage locker and brought out a couple of pieces of balcony furniture. Before Abby and Lou get out there, I have to install some fencing in front of the balcony rail to prevent them from slipping through the bars and taking an unexpected tumble onto the ground below. I don’t want to find out if cats really can land on their feet and survive after a four ...

Welcome to Word-Filled Wednesday hosted by Susan at Forever His . Take a look, and be inspired by pictures and the verses of Scripture that make them live. I took a long walk on Monday. The air was filled with the sweet smells of honeysuckle and lilac—the smell of spring. Spring is a sensory illustration of God's promise to bring new life where there was only death, to bring abundance where there was only emptiness. The trees of spring remind me of the promise of Psalm 138:8, NIV: " The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever — do not abandon the works of your hands ."

Life gets so busy just being life. There are times when God has to call us to take a timeout to reorder our priorities. Like spring cleaning, we have to throw out the clutter in our spiritual lives and rid ourselves of things that keep us from God's best design for us. That was the challenge that Haggai presented to the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem from their long captivity. They had gotten so involved with rebuilding their own lives, that they had neglected what God wanted them to concentrate on. And they wondered why rebuilding their own fortunes wasn't going so well. Haggai calls them to reorganize their priorities. " Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it " (Haggai 1:5, 6). It was time to clean away ...