Sunday, March 7, 2010

Encourgement for the times ~ The Bone ~

The Bone

My co-worker shared a story of how she took home a left over ham bone from our office party to make soup. Once she got home, she decided not to make the soup and offered the bone to her gardener. My co-worker said “she felt bad offering her gardener a bone, but knew he had a wife and five kids. She told the gardener how she felt. He immediately assured her not to feel so. He got very excited about the bone and began to tell her how his wife would be happy about receiving it. He went on to explain to her that they were going to cut all the left over meat on the bone off and use it to make sandwiches for the week. Afterwards, they would use the bone to make a pot of lentil soup.

My co-worker told me that since he got so excited about the bone she decided to go and buy him a whole ham. She said “He’s really going to roll over when he sees the ham.”

As she shared this story, I know that some people would have found it offensive to be offered a bone; however, this man didn’t take offense at being offered the bone. He was able to see beyond a bone. He saw enough food to feed his family for at least a week.

The gardener not only expressed appreciation at the receipt of the bone but also had enough faith and vision to see the provision that the bone was going to give. Due to his appreciation and faithfulness, he was blessed with even more provision.

There are times in life where we turn our noses up at things that don’t appear to be very appealing rather than taking the time to look beyond the appearance and see the whole picture. If we take the time to look, we might find that beyond the exterior of the appearance is a wealth of abundance. After all, God doesn’t judge us by our exterior. He looks at our heart. I Samuel 16:7 for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Many years ago, my husband left me and I had to find a new place to live. I prayed and asked God to direct my path. He led me to a townhouse in Sylmar, California. The townhouse looked awful on the inside; it was a work in progress. The couple that owned the townhouse, said to me, “we still have some work to do, but it’s yours if you want it.” At the time, it didn’t look appealing at all. However, I needed a place to stay and I chose to see beyond what I saw. I lived in that townhouse for seven years. My rent was never raised. My children and I were able to get on our feet. My credit was restored to A rating and I was able to purchase my own home. I thank God that I chose to exercise faith and see beyond what I saw on that first day.

Often times, we missed out on blessings because things don’t look the way we want them to look or aren’t what we envisioned them to be. God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts aren’t our thoughts; however, everything works to good for those who are called according to His purpose. The question is do we want His purpose? Do we want His will when it goes against our will? I have found that like the man with the bone, God’s provision may not always come the way we want it to come. However, when it does come, don’t walk away from it, even when it’s in the shape of a Bone.

In all things give God praise.

Don’t overlook the small things; from small beginnings, come great things.

©Dale Birdsong

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