The photo above is a picture of our flower gardens over 10 years ago.
Rebuilding And Restoring
Talk about withering storms. Poor little fellas, year after year I have
put them outside and by the time I bring them in .. . they are literally losing
their straw heads. Not only are they
losing heads they are losing straw arms.
Every year I put them away and then pull them out again, they have been
faithful but they have been through a lot. Not only did they need to be rebuilt, but this is
the first year I had to include a makeover for each one. They were just plain faded and needed hair
transplants.
If you haven't guessed yet, They are the scarecrows
I put out in my gardens every year. I
guess I could have bought new ones.. but no, thrifty I must be. So I pulled out the glue gun, the wire, extra
raffia, the paint, the buttons, and orange
sparkles and started rebuilding. I was able to get two done so far.
I gave them special care though they will never be
perfect, two of them are standing outside, with sparkly cheeks. Ready for all kinds of weather and ready to
do their job scaring off crows. All the
while making the season a brighter place.
I decided to use these straw-trimmed scarecrows to talk about the storms we go through in life.
The times that our faith is tried and our joy lost.
The storms of life, like our problems, or
hardship. Sometimes they can leave us
feeling broken and in some cases not just feeling broken, but literally broken mentally
and spiritually. It seems when a person
goes through his hardest blows in life, is when friends tend to forsake him,
thinking, " You're not as strong as I thought you were." Then one day, sad to say, their storms blow
and they find out they weren't that strong either, none of us have arrived spiritually. We are always learning about God and about ourselves
through both good and bad.
I think of John the Baptist, after a lifelong
faithfulness, finding himself in prison questioning if Jesus was who He said He was. He was questioning his whole life's work. Before his beheading, Christ sent messengers
to assure him He was the Christ.
John was martyred for the cause of Christ. Know for sure, that John met God on that day and was given a crown. He was instantly whole and joyful in the presence of God in heaven's bright land. The Bible describes John the Baptist as the
greatest man who was born of women.
Luke 7:28a
For I say unto you, Among those that are born of
women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: (KJV)
Now our hardships may not be the kind that John
had to go through, because life brings different people, through different problems.
Life always has difficulties that we must wither and we have choices
through those difficulties. The biggest
way to overcome this is to believe God and trust
in His grace. Let him rebuild our broken hearts as we trust him through our
storm.
God uses people in different places in life. He has made us, especially for the place He
wants us to be.
The place that God wants us to be, is the place where we can shine the brightest. Some problems we face are simply because we
are out of God's will. God sometimes
will direct us back to where we need to be by presenting us with difficulties.
(chastisement) The Bible teaches us that
life WILL have problems ... Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks
fly upward.
Some problems are not because of chastisement but
have a purpose far greater than we may ever know. All the biblical prophets went through problems that God has used to
teach us some of life's greatest spiritual lessons. The examples are too many to
mention all. Job comes to mind as one
of the greatest examples of undeserved suffering. If you read to the end you'll find God restores and rebuilds Job's life.
Sometimes our problems are designed to get us ready
for what God has for us next. God will
sometimes strengthen us for greater responsibility. The problems are there in order to change us
for a greater purpose.
The most important thing to remember through life's
storms is to remember Jesus calms the storms, rebuilds, and restores them.
Praising him and trusting him as Paul and Silas did in the prison house. God was so moved by the praise that He broke
down the prison walls.
Act 16:25
And at
midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners
heard them.
The Bible is full of problems overcome by
Christians who remained faithful and
joyful in the things of the Lord. No
matter what if we are His children heaven awaits us and everlasting joy is our
inheritance.
Father, help us to trust you and stay faithful
through life's difficulties. Put a song
in our hearts and praise upon our lips. Let
your presence shine through our lives even through life's tears and sorrows.
Use our lives to touch others in a way that will
make a true difference for righteousness' sake and the cause of Christ.. I pray
this in the name of Christ Jesus, Amen
I still have several scarecrows to rebuild and I'm
planning where to place each one.
Hopefully,
these guys will remind us that life gives us
problems, but we have a God who is molding our hearts and lives as we love and
trust him. He has a purpose that we may never know until we set by his side in
heavenly places.
Susan Y Nikitenko
Object lesson: Scarecrows
Rebuilding The Broken
Scarecrow Devotional
Scarecrow Devotional
2015 © Adjustable for ages K- and up
Psalms 23:3
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness for his name's sake.
Poetry And Other Materials On This Site Can Be Used ForChristian Bible Centered Non-Profit Ministries And must Remain Unchanged In Any Way. All Other Purposes Are With Permission Only. You May Make Requests At "susannikitenko@gmail.com. All my poems with stories are both real and fictional designed to illustrate a biblical truth. All Rights Reserved. Please Include Site Name And Link Back To This Blog. Thank-You.
