Category: Defending the fortress

Our Place of Refuge: Psalm 5

by Coddiwompling, posted in Bible Study, Defending the fortress, faith, Family, Lessons Learned, Psalms, Refuge, Uncategorized

Trouble happens. Whether we like it or not, this is one of those undeniable truths of life on planet earth. Storms come, literally and figuratively. Whole communities get wiped out by wildfires, loved ones get sick and eventually pass away, our babies grow up and move away, political scandals abound. It would be easy, so very easy, to get disheartened by such things. But, God. In the middle of all this turmoil and sadness and grief, we can have hope. We can have peace. We can cast our eyes beyond our circumstances and onto the God who loves us. Lately I’ve been doing a slow stroll through the book of Psalms. Today I’ll be sharing some thoughts and observations from the reading of Psalm 5.

Psalm 5 NIV selected verses

2) Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.

The day after I read this Psalm my family was to attend a very important meeting. We had prepared as best we knew how. Still, we were nervous and frustrated about things far beyond our control, and honestly, more than a little scared. I believe that our times of greatest desperation can work for our good when they drive us to the feet of the Father. When I have no idea where to turn, Jesus is the best place to start. As I read David’s words, I knew that he knew the despondency I was feeling (and then some). He needed help. He needed his Father.

It’s interesting to me that here David addresses God as “my King.” David, of course, had been anointed as king but had not yet assumed that role. Maybe, like me, he knew what a real dork he was on the inside. David knew the real king in Israel would always be Yahweh, regardless of which man was declared leader. It was to Him that David cried out for help.

That word “cry” got my attention as well. That word carries a connotation of desperation. It’s more than simply stating a need or request. There is an unmistakable intensity behind the words: “I need help and I need it NOW!”

3) In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

One of the things that gets my day off to a great start is to kiss Jeff good morning. On days when one of us is away or working, I feel the weight of that absence. I also like to have a few minutes of quiet, dedicated time with God in the mornings. It sets the tone for the rest of my day. Now I must admit that there are days, sometimes weeks, when my Quiet Time becomes an activity to be checked off the day’s agenda. I show up but I’m not fully engaged. But that’s another topic for another day. Meeting with my Father in the morning changes the trajectory of my entire day. His Word speaks truth into my heart. I may not be, but God is always, always fully engaged in our conversation (aka prayer). He hears the words I speak and the ones I don’t know how to express. I can rest secure in the knowledge that He has heard me and that He is at work – often behind the scenes in ways I could never imagine. I wait expectantly for Him to move. This does not mean that I get everything that I want when I want it. Actually, that’s almost never happened. But what I do get is what I need. And it’s better, so much better.

7-8) But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple. Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies – make your way straight before me.

Since this verse begins with a “but”, we can know that something significant was stated in verses 4-6. In this case David talks about wicked, arrogant, bloodthirsty, and deceitful men. We want to make a point of not being like these people because God detests and destroys them. We do not want to be an enemy of God!

Just look at the perspective here. David is allowed to enter into the presence of a holy God, not because he is such a wonderful guy, but because God has graciously allowed him in. Notice how David’s respect and affection are reflected the words he uses to refer to his Father: “Your great love”, “Your house”, “Your holy temple”, “Your righteousness”, “Your way”. David is clearly acknowledging the supremacy of the Father. Notice, too, David’s response to that: “In reverence I bow.” He then asks God to lead him and make His way straight before him. To me, this says, “You are God and I am not. Please show me which way to go. I’ll follow Your lead.” In this exchange, it is clear that God is the authority, the source of wisdom and strength. Too many times I approach God in prayer like I’m the coach giving instructions to my star quarterback: “All right, Lord, here’s what we’re gonna do. Now get out there and make it happen!” How arrogant of me! I forget that I’m just the waterboy.

I can lean hard on the goodness of God, but it is important – essential – that I continually check my own heart.

11-12) But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Here’s another “but” so we know what the previous verses dealt with those malicious, lying people, calling their throats “open graves”, and entreating God to banish them for their rebellion against Him.

In these verses I see three snapshots of progressive intimacy with God:

First, He is our refuge. This is like a city set apart from the dangerous territory that surrounds it. Inside its walls I can let my guard down. Not only that, I can sing for joy. Trouble and those previously mentioned evil people still exist, but here I am completely safe.

Second, He is our protection. The city has a King. The city is safe because of the authority and provision of the King. Because I love Him, I can rejoice. This is what our times of corporate worship are designed for – to clap and dance and sing, giving honor to the One we love.

Third, we are blessed. This is where things get really good. We are inside the walls of a city, protected by the King, and we have the honor of a personal relationship with Him. We are surrounded with His favor as a shield. Read that again: we are surrounded with His favor as a shield. Eventually we will have to face whatever lies outside the walls of the city. We can’t carry its walls with us everywhere we go, but the Lord of Hosts goes with us. We can stand secure behind His shield. The flaming arrows may come our way but His shield is impenetrable, and it surrounds us on all sides – protecting from the threats we expect and the ones that totally catch us off guard. We are safe. We are blessed.

If I could add one element of caution here, it would be not to assume that we in all ways and in every circumstance understand the mind of God. He is mighty and holy and wise far beyond our ability to understand – or to manipulate. We do not get to tell Him what to do and how things should go. Reading a psalm, even one as encouraging as this, does not mean that we can claim it as our own at all times and in all situations. God has purposes and methods that we will never fully comprehend. Difficulties will come into all of our lives. Being a Christ follower in no way suggests that we will never have troubles and that life will be all rainbows and unicorns.

What we do have in the middle of life’s struggles is Hope. Remember that important meeting my family had to attend? Nothing – and I do mean NOTHING – went like we expected. In fact, we ended up rearranging our schedules and driving several hours for a meeting that never took place. Talk about frustrating! But there is always more to the story. While we waited, we were able to have a conversation with one person, who then connected us to a second person. Had the meeting proceeded as planned, we would not have had that conversation and we never would have met the second person, who is an absolute game-changer in our particular situation. One of the things I’m learning about God is that He is always at work in our lives, in the things we see and the things we don’t. He has orchestrated events that are pretty much the opposite of what I expect to happen, yet in the end I see that this is actually the most perfect way for things to go.

As Christ followers, we are continually surrounded by the shield of His favor. The thing is, we can’t stand ten feet away and expect a shield to protect us. In order to be protected by someone’s shield, we have to get close. Really close. That, I believe, reflects what God wants most from us – our devoted trust and dependence, our willing response to His deep, deep love. The arrows will come our way, but they are no match for our King.

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Photo credit: thehopeanchor.co.uk (Bodium castle)

Adventures with Carlos the Cardinal

by Coddiwompling, posted in Adventure, Defending the fortress, enough already, Lessons Learned, Perspective, Uncategorized

Not too long ago, my husband and I received a pet we neither expected nor asked for. A cardinal has taken up residence on our porch in a most bold fashion. We’ve all seen the adorable pictures of bird nests in mailboxes and in attic rafters. In all fairness, birds are creatures of nature and in many ways we have encroached upon their habitat. As such, they tend not to recognize or respect our property lines. While I don’t blame them for that, the simple truth is that sometimes their presence can be cute and charming, at others, annoying or even destructive.

As spring bravely attempted to arrive in GA (truthfully, this took several tries), our back yard was suddenly filled with birds – bluebirds, cardinals, finches, woodpeckers, sparrows, and doves. In a flurry of stunning songs and colorful feathers, they clamored and flitted and staked out nesting sites. It was quite a spectacle for several days, I must admit. Eventually turf was established, nests were built, and things generally settled down into a comfortable rhythm. Then there was Carlos.

Carlos is a beautiful red male cardinal. He and Mrs. Carlos have a nest among the wisteria vines on the trellis twelve feet off our back porch. We’ve had nesters here before and were perfectly content to share the space with them. We’ve always enjoyed having birds around, especially now that we don’t have an attack cat trying to single handedly consume the entire Southeastern bird population.

I learned that there is quite a bit of mystique about cardinals. Here’s what Google had to say:

“Cardinals have long been symbolic of beauty in the midst of darkness, hope in the midst of sorrow, and renewal in the midst of winter. Whether these symbolic meanings came from the folk proverb, or the proverb came from the traditional symbolism, in any case many people are reminded of the presence of a departed loved one when seeing a cardinal bird land nearby. “

I was home alone a few weeks ago, just wiping the sleep from my still-groggy eyes when I heard a racket on the back porch. Our elderly chocolate diva Lucy is now rather ottoman-shaped and more inclined to napping than frolicking these days. Surely that wasn’t her. It sounded for all the world like someone beating on the back glass. I dressed quickly and tentatively stuck my head around the corner to see what it might be. There he was. Carlos. Rather I should say, the cardinal-soon-to-be-named Carlos. When you invest this much time in a bird, he gets a name.

Carlos sat on the porch swing, then hurled his body at the window, wings spread wide, beak crashing into the window. Over and over and over again. For thirty minutes this went on. I thought surely he would eventually tire of whatever game this was and move on to catching worms or something. Surely I was wrong. He never stopped. That sucker was relentless.

I did some further research and discovered that male cardinals are prone to this behavior. They see their reflection in the window and believe it to be a rival male. They are highly territorial and seek to ward off the offender. Swell.

In an effort to distract Carlos and end this madness, I decided to cover the window. In doing so, I reasoned that it needed to be outside so he wouldn’t continue to see his reflection. Wouldn’t you know it? There are no curtain rods on the outside of my house. Eventually I duct taped a beach towel over the window then added a piece of cardboard at the bottom. Success! The window was covered! Carlos inspected this new development and flew away. For about ten minutes. Then he was back – at the next window. Have mercy!!!

So it has been all day every day for the last two weeks. Sunrise to sunset. On and on and on he goes.

Since this is how my brain works, I began to consider what observations we might take away from Carlos the Cardinal, or as I sometimes call him, Tenacious C.

  • He bravely defends what’s his

Those soon-to-be-born baby chicks have a father who valiantly defends those under his care. He is not afraid to take on that shiny red bird in the window if it means protecting his little brood.

  • He never seems to tire

Day in and day out, Carlos never calls in sick and he never sends the Mrs. out to do his job. He is fiercely dedicated and untiring in his efforts to protect his family. His beak must be throbbing, yet he shows up again bright and early the next morning.

  • His focus is entirely wrong

Like Don Quixote, Carlos spends his entire day fighting a foe that is no foe. The shiny red bird in the window is an illusion. There are, however, bigger birds and probably snakes in the vicinity of his nest. None of these seem to have his attention. How often do we burn emotional energy on all the wrong things, while very real dangers go ignored?

  • He does not want or welcome my help

I went out of my way to help Carlos. In the past, we’ve had birds come crashing full-tilt into our back door, knocking themselves to the ground. The moment they landed, there was a dog or cat, highly offended at the encroachment upon their home, who gobbled them up without blinking. I was hoping to spare Carlos this fate. He did not recognize my assistance for what it was and simply moved on to the next window. This can happen to us as well when we see someone else’s need and step in to offer assistance. Sometimes they are too deeply involved in their circumstances to recognize that they even need help. Sometimes they don’t appreciate us butting in uninvited. Sometimes we are the towel hanger; sometimes we are the bird. Not every situation requires our input. It takes wisdom and discernment to know the proper time to offer and to receive help.

  • He made a mess

Having camped out for two weeks on my porches, Carlos has left behind some tangible evidence of his presence. There is bird poop strategically placed near the porch rail, the bench, the swing.  My windows are covered with literally thousands of marks his beak left behind. I can tell exactly where Carlos has been. Eventually someone will have to clean all that up, and you can rest assured that it won’t be Carlos.

  • He’s incredibly distracting

It is hard for me to even hang out in my own living room right now. The fluttery attack, tap-tap-tapping on my windows take place ad nauseam. It is difficult to think of anything else. I keep hoping that it will be like having a home near the railroad tracks and eventually acclimating to the rumble so that you don’t even notice the trains anymore. We have not yet reached this point. While I appreciate his efforts as a good father, I must confess that there are days I contemplate cooking up a little Carlos cacciatore. (I’m kidding. Mostly.)

  • He’s both endearing and frustrating

Some days I feel sorry for Carlos. He will never, ever defeat that bird in the window. Likewise, he will never completely rest because obviously attacking that shiny bird is always on his mind, his first and last act each day. Some days I’m amused by all the flutter. Some days I’m frustrated by the non-stop tapping. It can be that way as well when dealing with problems in life. Something that should be a minor irritation, when it continues and continues and continues, can grow into something much bigger in our minds. Our attitudes definitely shape our perspective.

Short of reapplying our wooden Hurricane Irma window coverings, I’m not quite sure what to do with Carlos. Like the rest of us, Carlos is a mixed bag of positive and negative attributes. We can be fiercely dedicated to an ideal and invest every ounce of our time and energy into it – but it matters greatly whether or not that passion, that chosen path, is worthy of our time and effort. Is it really accomplishing what we hope it will? Or are we wearing ourselves out over illusions – perhaps well-intended, but illusions just the same?

How can we tell the difference? I leave you with two verse of Scripture that speak to this question.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” – James 1:5

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on these things.” – Philippians 4:8

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Cardinal info found online: http://www.usurnsonline.com/memorials/cardinal-appears-yard-visitor-heaven/