Oswald and the Landlord

There once was a landlord who had extensive holdings in the hearts of people but only one holding with a tenant.

The landlord wanted to be gracious and kind but as she struggled with her own financial strain, she was unable to bear the tenant’s financial strain.

As was her usual way, she scurried about trying to fix it herself but in the end could see no solution.

The morning her sorrowful anxiety seemed untenable, she sat on her porch, praying. Hoping the cool, bright day would ease her heaviness.

Her friend, Oswald, a learned, holy man, was out for his morning walk and found her there.

As she looked up, he could see the strain on her face and he sat down quietly next to her, taking her hands in his. They sat silent for a long moment.

“Tell me, child, what troubles you so?” he gently asked.

She intended to hide her struggle but his clear and certain perception of her need broke her tenuous hold and her struggling flowed out in waves of quick, sharp words and tears.

As her bursting ebbed, she wiped her eyes and haltingly managed to say, “I was praying for guidance when you came.”

After a breath of silence, Oswald responded, patting her hand,

“It is good you asked for help,” he said. “We are not made to live this life in our own power. We are made for connection with God,” he paused, “His guidance gives the strength needed for the journey.”

“Yes,” she nodded wordlessly, still feeling the emotions of her tale but also understanding that Oswald offered his words, not as a scolding, but rather as the gentle reminder she needed.

Oswald continued, “Jesus tells us in His book of John, verse 16:33, ‘In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Suddenly ashamed and before she could control her words, she blurted out roughly, her hands shaking, “But what if my ‘tribulation’ is the result of my own doing?”

“Oh, how you struggle so, my child,” he said softly, nonplussed by the force of her words, “Our God is not a God of blame, dear one. Our God is love and uses our weaknesses to show His strength through us.”

These familiar words, somehow, calmed her shaking. Oswald looked into her wide, blue eyes. “God gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life, whether through our own weakness or not, is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength.”

After a time of silence together, her fear subsiding, Oswald continued, “Overcoming your own timidity, as you did when you prayed, was your first step. Now God is able to give you nourishment.”

“Nourishment,” she considered this.

“Yes,” she said to herself. “There is nourishment in the living water of God’s Word, especially when shared through the kindness of another.” She began feeling hopeful, lighter, as gratitude filled her.

Seeing her soften and relax, Oswald added one more thought.

“Our temptation, always, is to face adversity from our own common sense. But Jesus says ‘be of good cheer’ even when we are seemingly defeated by our adversities, because victory is absurdly impossible for everyone, except God.”

With this, he patted her hands and smiled as he got up and silently continued on his way.

~~~~~~~~~
AMRB, 8/2019
Flagstaff
Activated by O. Chambers’
My Utmost for His Highest:
August, 2 entry.

Friday Night

It is our last night in Cooperstown Dreams Park. The cool darkness of the night is accentuated by the brightness of the lighted field as the ninth-seat Michigan Motor City is up against the fourth-seat California Tri-County for this week’s championship game.
The stands are full. The excitement palpable as a fly ball clears the stadium only to be called a foul. The bleachers erupt with animated booing, reminiscent of some old time baseball movie but the Umpire does not budge.

Joe races up the steps past us chasing his own teammates to the top. There is uncontainable joy shining from his face; that smile is the reason we have driven so far. Roaring up from his toes, consuming every fiber of his being as it irresistibly bursts from his face.
Winning or losing is beside the point. The team, the game, these are the only points that matter and he relishes every moment.

It may have been a week of ups and downs but the smile that just whisked by me proves that the connecting power of teamwork is worth every drop of sweat, every challenge, every victory.
Thank you, Cooperstown Arizona Fire!

AMRB

“Wait on the Lord and he will work.”
Psalm 37: 34.

“Don’t wait just because you can’t see one inch in front of your face. Waiting is not sitting with folded hands doing nothing, but it is learning to do what we are told.” O. Chambers

And we are told to wait on the Lord and He will work. It’s a promise. He will work.

He may not work in the way we want Him to…thankfully, because He will work in far more abundant ways than we can even ask or imagine. (Ephesian 3:20)

It is His way and His promise.

✨🥳✨
AMRB!

The Homerun

The day held overcast skies, cool breezes, and fresh forest air as the batter took his place at the plate.
He is one of the few of his teammates who have not yet managed to breach the 200 foot fence. Though his team rallies around him, their fierce hope and the force of their wanting will not,alone, carry the batter’s ball to victory.

There is a slight sweat on his brow as he feels the pitcher sum him up. He knows the feeling well having just left the mound himself after pitching several no run innings. He wipes those thoughts away as he wipes away the moisture on his brow.

He focuses. Looking first into the eyes of the pitcher then solidly back at the ball. His eyes follow it, like a shell game, never wavering, as it is released into the shining gray day.

His decision-making is lightning-fast though it is a slower pitch than some. When he does swing, the crack of the bat is unmistakably sharp. For an instant, he thinks, “it was too low, I shouldn’t have swung!” but, nonetheless, instinctively, he drops his Marucci and begins his flight to first.

Running hard, the roar of the erupting crowd enters his perception and he turns his eyes toward the ball. As if in slow motion, he watches, amazed, as the ball sails high over the green outfield wall into the field beyond. Then, as if time suddenly catches up, exhilaration speeds up from his toes and rockets out of the top of his voice, breaking uncontainable joy all over his face and the faces of his teammates. He has done it!

“It seems,” he says to himself with a smile,
“it was a good hit after all.”

Wednesday

The overcast skies of the morning, lend a brilliance to the many colors of green that surround me in the forest. There is a captivating little creek along the edge of the thickness of the trees. As I come near, I hear the gurgling of the brook and just barely see the tadpoles as they dart and hide under the rock shelving. They are so swift in their retreat it is hard to get a good look. I find that if I stand just right and still enough, for long enough, they venture back out. I can then see that among the tiny tadpoles are also a marvelous little school of small fish.

I breathe deeply of the fragrant forest air and consider the fish. I think of myself this week darting to and fro, in and out of fear for my player.
He is such a relational person. When the coach doesn’t play him, he feels disconnected and doesn’t play as well, so coach doesn’t play him… round and round it goes. It’s the personal connection that fuels his game of both baseball and life.

Yesterday, he was mightily challenged. It was hump day and fatigue was high as was my concern for him. But, it turned out that his struggles opened up communication with his coach and the next game was the best of his Coopertown experience. My player was back, energized with his diving catches, rifling throws to first, his racing slides to third. I suspect it was the connection to coach that turned him around.
So as I stand still and watch the fish who now come out to play in numbers, Psalm 46:10 comes unbidden: “Be still and know that I am God.”
It makes me consider how He takes my darting thoughts, my in and out of fear and brings clarity to calm my silly soul. When I stand just right on His promises and am still enough, for long enough, I can know that He is God. And when I stop to know, He opens me to the stillness of His beauty alongside a gurgling brook and the fantastic greens of His forest.

Tuesday in C-Town

“Behold, he is coming in the clouds”
Revelation 1:7

“God often manifested Himself in an energized, blazing light called the Shekinah or Glory cloud. No one could see it fully and live so it had to be veiled, but when Christ returns the glory will be completely visible.” -MacArthur

How fitting that a day of clouds is followed by a morning devotion about God’s glory cloud. As the clouds rolled in yesterday and granted me some relief from the heat, they also covered the baseball field where Joe was pitching. Close your eyes and imagine God coming on those clouds.

Imagine Him present as Joe pitched and the batters hit home runs. Imagine God lending some of Himself to Joe, though we, and especially Joe, did not recognize it. Imagine God coming on those clouds to empower Joe to extend His mercy and grace through Joe’s weakness; through the opportunity for Joe to give out of his own need to others in need thereby meeting everyone’s need.

And finally, imagine, if God’s present glory can be veiled in the weakness of a struggling 12 year old pitcher, how, then, will He show it through your own?

Monday in C-Town

The overcast skies with their rain laden clouds bring intermittent yet cherished respite from the searing sun and the damp blanket of air that lays heavy about my ears and shoulders. I combat my discomfort with weak attempts at distractive cooling. I pace, fan, drink ice water but to little avail until game 4 begins.
As the game gathers forward motion, the heat is easily defeated by the almost linear succession of homeruns that arch high over the green wall of the outfield.
We celebrate these victors, some of whom glory in the accomplishment of their first home run ever! But we, also, search for the elusive words of encouragement for those yet to glory.

Winning by a significant lead, I am surprised that the boys stay so focused on playing well. Their heart break is almost palpable when they miss their own expectations. Caught in the intensity of the moment, they are unable to notice the victory and joy they allow others to receive because of their own undoing.

It is a hard lesson to embrace but it is, perhaps, the one lesson that allows us to experience the true glory of being beautifully human.

Game Day

It was Joe’s first game at Cooperstown and he was on the bench. I told myself to trust the process but sharp memories of days gone by and the spirit-breaking of another son as he sat on the bench, gripped my heart. I was already overwhelmed by the morning with tired, hot, cranky bones and an attitude of parched unsettling. I felt disgruntlement creep up from my toes. As fear began to take a foothold, I knew I needed the breath of God to turn me around, to redeem my attitude and revive me.

As I prayed for God to intervene, I thought of how my devotional life had been disconnected as of late but I opened to Oswald Chamber’s July 28 anyway and read:

“God’s purpose is for me
to depend on Him and on His power now.
If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life,
the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me…
What He desires for me is that
I see Him walking on the sea
with no shore, no success, no goal in sight
but simply having the absolute certainty
that everything is alright.”
Mark 6:45-50

Remaining calm, faithful and unconfused in the absolute certainty that all is well. I repeated those words over and over and let their living water sink into the dryness of my fear.
When I looked up, Joe was playing third and smiling and, to my surprise, I found my heart was smiling too.

AMRB, 2019