Rev. David preached at Paradise Beach this morning and my thirsty English soul sipped deeply on every Afrikaans syllable of truth.
People can change.
People's ability to hear too.
There is a photo doing the rounds of a stone pile. In it, you are asked to stand back three feet and then look again. And suddenly you see that the spaces between the stones spell out the truth: "the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40).
If our intelligence and skewed sense of self-worth keep us from giving our Creator the glory He deserves, then the stones will.
In the same way, we can believe that the Lord will find a way to make us hear His voice.
If the church doesn't do it on a Sunday morning, the flower seller will on a Friday afternoon.
If the flower seller doesn't do it on a Friday afternoon, the billboard next to the highway will do it on a Monday morning.
If the billboard next to the highway doesn't do it on a Monday morning, the song on the radio will on a Saturday night.
If the song on the radio doesn't do it on a Saturday night, the scrawled message on the back of the toilet door will at midnight on a Friday.
If the scrawled message on the back of the toilet door doesn't do it at midnight on a Friday, two sentences on page 54 of your favourite magazine will do it at three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon.
If two sentences on page 54 of your favourite magazine don't do it at three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, the yellow daisy against the sheep's water trough in the back camp will do it shortly after sunrise on Wednesday morning.
If the yellow daisy against the sheep's water trough in the back camp doesn't do it shortly after sunrise on Wednesday morning, the misquoted ChatGPT answer in the university library will do it on a Sunday night.
The Lord has an inexhaustible source of ways to get His message to us.
To get to our heads.
And to our hearts…?
With that, the Holy Spirit is entrusted.
His record of change is ever growing.
Like Phinehas in the old testament's time, Saul in the new testament's time, the Spirit changes Maxie, and those like her, in my time...
Let us never underestimate the endurance of our Good Father!
He will not rest until the last lamb has heard His voice.
"But God is being patient with you. He doesn't want anyone to be lost, but
He wants all people to change their hearts and lives.”
2 Peter 3:9 New Century Version
Your inspiration for the week: Honestly, I think we just need Jesus