Stretching Me, Stretching You

I feel helpless ... It's been raining for days. Several in our congregation had their homes and lands flooded by the rains of Tropical Storm Debby. Although we are all grateful for the soft gentle rains that are filling the Floridan aquifer, and we are certainly very grateful that the “promised” winds did not materialize, we can't help but feel a little chagrined that there was still destruction. There is still a degree of upset. Here are a few examples:

One family who was supposed to move into their brand new house this week cannot because the rain water flooded it. It will have to be repaired before they can move in. So, moving into their dream home has been pushed a month further away. So close, so far.

Another family runs a business in a shop on their property. The shop was waist deep in water. This means all their equipment has been destroyed. They were rescued by other family members and taken to safety. When we last spoke, they did not know the condition of their house. Their “back-door neighbor's” house was covered with water to the roof.

I was sent pictures of a town 25 miles away. The entire downtown is under 3 feet of water. Roads buckled and crumbled. Sinkholes swallowed homes and cars as if they were toys. Many lost all they owned. Remarkably, only three fatalities in the whole state are attributable to the storm.

We are SO VERY GRATEFUL for the mercy extended by our loving heavenly Father. Although there are tears, fears and bewilderment, we are not beaten, we are not destroyed. We are being trained up. We are being tried. We are being stretched.

Several years ago, I read a book called “The Garden of Emuna” by Rabbi Shalom Arush. Emuna means 'faith' or 'trust' in Hebrew. The gist of the book is that things happen for a reason. We cannot see beyond this moment; we often don't remember what happened in the past. All that we know is 'now'. But YHVH Elohim knows all. He is well acquainted with our past and our future. He has our best interests at heart. Romans 8:28 says, “All things work for the good of those who love YHVH and are called according to His purpose.” We see the equipment and household furnishings ruined by the flood. He sees their replacements, or perhaps better yet, our realizing that we are not as dependent on things as we thought we were.

So, getting back to my feeling helpless. How can I tell my mishpokha, my family in faith that I love with all that I am, while they are sandbagging and pumping out their homes, that YHVH has something better lined up for them. I worry that it may seem trite and minimalizing to their sense of grief. Yet it is the truth.

In Ya'akov / James 1:3 we read: for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. 4 But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.

And in Luke 6:47 Everyone who comes to me, hears my words and acts on them — I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like someone building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the torrent beat against that house but couldn't shake it, because it was constructed well.

So it is with this flood. The torrents have beat against us, (literally and figuratively) but when we trust in Yah, we will be complete and whole, lacking nothing because we are on the solid bedrock, our faith in YHVH Elohim. Does this mean we will have a splendid home or a massive 401K? No, but we will have everything we can imagine, in this world and in the world to come.

As I walked Gila in the cool evening after the storm, watching her little black and white body bounce over the wet grass, I looked up and saw the half-moon smiling from the dark blue-black sky. Stars scattered across the sky sparkled like diamonds on that same blue-black velvet. What a lovely evening! It seemed that, in the moon and stars, Yah provided lovely promises that life would go on. A sense of normalcy. A confirmation that He is still in control.  How privileged I felt, once again, to know Him and be known by Him. As it was said of Messiah Y'shua, “Who is this that the winds and waves obey Him?” I praise His name that they obey Him still!

Psa 116:1 I love that YHVH heard my voice when I prayed;

2 because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death were all around me, Sh'ol's constrictions held me fast; I was finding only distress and anguish.

4 But I called on the name of YHVH: "Please, YHVH! Save me!"

5 YHVH is merciful and righteous; yes, our Elohim is compassionate.

6 YHVH preserves the thoughtless; when I was brought low, He saved me.

7 My soul, return to your rest! For YHVH has been generous toward you.

8 Yes, you have rescued me from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from falling.

9 I will go on walking in the presence of YHVH in the lands of the living.

10 I will keep on trusting even when I say, "I am utterly miserable,"

11 even when, in my panic, I declare, "Everything human is deceptive."

12 How can I repay YHVH for all His generous dealings with me?

13 I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of YHVH.

Shabbat Morning

Shabbat mornings are always special ... they are the one day of the week that our Creator set apart to Himself as holy. (Gen. 2:3) It is the observance that He said was the sign we are His people (Exodus 31:13) – our wedding ring, if you will. This morning, though, I think He outdid Himself.

As I sat in the back yard, I drank in my surroundings: The sun shown brightly in the summer sky, yet the air was cool and refreshing. The birds sang their praises from tree tops. Squirrels raced from limb to limb in the trees in an on-going game of 'chase', with the occasional trip to the ground for a nip of wild mushroom. One cat at my feet, industriously cleaning her front paws while the other was married to the food dish at the time; and Gila sat contentedly in my lap, giving the air an occasional sniff and me an occasional lick. Sweet contentment, Sabbath delight. What a lovely oasis in time!

My heart welling up inside me brought forth the words of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4: “Shema, Yisrael! YHVH Eloheinu, YHVH echad.”

Shema – The word literally means hear, but the connotation is that once you hear something, it effects you and you must conduct yourself accordingly because the sound has become part of you. Some would say, “Hear and obey”.

Yisrael – Not the contested piece of real estate known as the state of Israel in the Middle East, but all who follow the Elohim / God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. In Psalm 147, our Creator says He has made His covenant with no other. Repeatedly in the Torah, He says there is one law for the native born and those grafted into the family of faith. In Galatians 3 He tells us, “If you are in Messiah, you are seed of Abraham and heir according to the promise.” What is the promise then? That YHVH would raise up a nation from the one called barren and from that nation would come a Redeemer and part of that covenant promise included rules to live by and a plot of land on which to live. By faith, those who believe are part of that covenant community. Not to usurp those who are in the covenant since before birth (our Brother Judah – 'the Jews') but to stand alongside them in support and in compliance with the role we've been given to play.

YHVH – The Tetragrammaton, the four letter Name of the Creator. Written in Hebrew, it is the yud, hey, vav, hey [יהוה] It is the name He gives Himself in the Torah. Before declaring His Name, Yah describes Himself as “I am / will be what I am / will be” in other words, The Eternal One, The One who was, is and will be forever. Modern Hebrew is the descendant of paleo-Hebrew which was a pictograph. The individual letters each have a meaning. The yud ( י) means 'hand'; the hey ( ה) means 'Look! Behold!'; the vav ( ו) means 'nail'; the hey ( ה) means 'Look! Behold!' Essentially, “Behold the Hand; Behold the Nail”. Strikes a familiar chord to believers in Messiah, doesn't it?

Eloheinu – our El / God. Through this simple word, meaning OUR Elohim, we are taking YHVH as our Elohim. That means we are “pledging allegiance' to Him. Otherwise, we would have simply called Him, Elohim / God or ha (the) Elohim / God. In saying 'our' we bind ourselves to Him and to others who believe in Him.

YHVH

Echad – One. Not just 'one' in the sense of being unique, the one and only, which He is; but also in the sense of compound unity. In Hebrew, a cluster of grapes is echad and a husband and wife are echad. The latter illustration, the husband and wife, is a perfect example of the relationship we're supposed to have with Him, intimate and seeking the welfare of the other above our own. Echad: there is only ONE elohim, YHVH who was able to manifest Himself as Fire and Cloud for the Israelites of old; and who manifested Himself as a man to demonstrate how to live out the commandments and how to be fully committed, even to the point of death. YHVH echad.

The rest of the Shema comes from the Talmud: Barukh shem kevod malkhuto le olam va'ed. Translated, that is: Blessed be His Name whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever.

Matthew 12, Mark 2 and Luke 6 all record that Y'shua / Jesus said that the Son of Man (His favorite title for Himself, mentioned over 80 times in the Brit Chadesha / Renewed Covenant) is “lord” of the Sabbath. I do not think that the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever is declaring His lordship over the Sabbath to change it or negate it in any way. Rather, I believe He is declaring a special relationship to it; it is His kingdom, so to speak. Why would we not want to be in His territory since it is He who has rescued us from bondage to the wages of sin? Why would we not want to enjoy the Sabbath which demonstrates our resting in the salvation He provides? We see this theme being played out in Hebrews chapter 4: Heb 4:9 So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for Yah's people. Heb 4:10 For the one who has entered Yah's rest has also rested from his own works, as YHVH Elohim did from His. Heb 4:11 Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.

Yes, Shabbat / Sabbath is very special – to me and to the One who gave it in Genesis chapter 2 and exhorts us to keep it dozens of times in the Tanakh / Old Testament. Blessed be His Name forever.

Psa 92:1 [A psalm. A song for Shabbat:] It is good to give thanks to YHVH and sing praises to Your name, `Elyon,

Psa 92:2 to tell in the morning about Your grace and at night about Your faithfulness,

Psa 92:3 to the music of a ten-stringed [harp] and a lute, with the melody sounding on a lyre.

Psa 92:4 For, YHVH, what You do makes me happy; I take joy in what Your hands have made.

HalleluYah!

Shabbat blessings from our home to yours --

Yocheved

Death Dark Ravines

Only a few days ago, the quiet of our evening was broken by my phone ringing at 8:45 pm.  Certainly, this is not an unusual occurrence.  It was who was on the other end of the line that was unusual: It was my husband's vascular surgeon. "Mrs. B.," he started,  "I won't be in the office on the 18th to do your husband's procedure.  Can you come in on the 7th?"  Knowing what my husband has been through during the past 8 months and his angst to get blood flow restored to his leg after the injury sustained last year, I readily agreed.  "We'll be there!"

The next few days sped by. I marvel at where time 'goes'.  One moment we sleepily shuffle our way into the day; next moment we're shuffling back to bed at night. The days are crammed with activities - even during 'down times' there is a 'busy-ness'. There were things we both wanted to do to prepare for the days of recuperation that follow his procedures.  I had to pare Mount Wash-more down to size and he wanted to mow the grass …  all 5 acres.   In between time, we discovered that Gila needed her ears attended to and the bugs that accompanied the barley I bought for some soup I intended to make suddenly and swiftly overtook my kitchen.  YUCK!!!  So we added to the work-list a whole lot of scrubbing cabinet shelves and washing every can before they went back in the cupboard. Who knows where those little bugs had been and what eggs they left behind! I am happy to report they are now returning to the earth from whence they came!

This morning, the 7th, came and, as usual, we made a mad dash out of the house and down to Gainesville, some 50 miles away for the procedure. We arrived at 11 am and he JUST went into the cath lab at 2:45 pm.  I'm not upset. .. in fact, I am happy that he got moved to last so they can take their time and get it right. So now …  I wait.  The first procedure he had, back in November, was supposed to take 1 hour; they worked on him for four. So I stand at the precipice, staring at the death dark ravine and I wait; and I pray.  Again.

Psalm 23, a psalm of David --

YHVH is my Shepherd

Shepherd!  What a lowly title for the Creator of the universe and everything in it!  But He means it and He fulfills it.  He watches us, He guards, He guides, He supplies, He takes joy in us, He longs for quiet times with us. He is gentility personified; He is authority; He is YHVH.

I shall not want

I must say that through the 60 years of my life, I've been well fed and well provisioned.  Even in those years of wandering and drifting, looking for love in all the wrong places, I did not lack.  Anything and everything I ever needed and everything I will ever need has already been created.

He has me lie down in grassy pastures

YHVH knows we need to eat.  YHVH knows we need "things" be it a place to live or clothing or even stuff for fun.  Grassy pastures is more than a place to be at rest and be satisfied.  It is, essentially, sheep heaven! When we follow Him, even through the difficult times, we will be able to rest. But we've got to trust Him as the sheep trust the Shepherd.

He leads me by quiet water

Sheep are not so very smart. But, this is one thing they do know, that if their wooly furry selves get wet, they get heavy. They fear drowning.  The Shepherd knows this.  He doesn't put the sheep through undue stress. So he leads them to quiet water instead of loud rushing water so that they are not afraid. Our Shepherd has told us, "I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind." Whatever fear we have, does not come from YHVH.

He restores my inner person

Just when we feel depleted, empty, and spent, His grace fills us with strength to continue. 'Restores' could be re-phrased as He makes new again. His mercies, His grace are new every morning. We are renewed every day.

He guides me in right paths

Literally, the Hebrew reads, “He guides me (leads me forth) in the cycles (circular track) of righteousness.  Each one of His feasts in the yearly cycle speak to us of His saving power and His supplying a way to restore us to the time when we walked with Him in the garden.  Those are the paths He wants us to take …the paths of righteousness that lead us back the Garden with Him.

for the sake of His name

Yes, YHVH does all these things for us, but He also realizes that He has a reputation to protect. If He wants people to follow Him, and I believe He does for the word says that He is not willing that any should perish, then He will demonstrate constancy forever. He cannot change, He cannot be capricious. He is ever mindful of the obligations He has taken on Himself (the well-being of all those who follow Him) and so He acts accordingly.

Even if I pass through death dark ravines,

Death dark ravines are particular to the person experiencing them.  If you are a teen and tonight is your prom and you've got a zit the size of Mount Everest on the end of your nose, you may feel it is a death dark ravine moment.  If your baby or spouse is very ill, it is a death dark ravine moment. If you have 6 children and you just lost your job, it is a death dark ravine moment. We each experience the troubles of this life in our own way. Don't let anyone tell you you're being silly. Your pain is your pain. But next comes the good news:

I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

YHVH is the Maker and Giver of all -- There is nothing He cannot do.  There is nothing that escapes His notice. He has promised in His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us.  He has told us to be strong, because He is with us WHEREVER we go. The father of evil and lies has NO POWER over us!  NONE!!! You are YHVH's beloved. He is with you always!

Your rod and Your staff reassure me

Rods and staffs to the shepherd are instruments of correction and tools for rescue.  The Shepherd of our souls has played both these roles in our lives.  He has corrected, because if we go too far astray, we might be lost forever.  He has rescued, because we've pushed His hands away, wanting to do it ourselves and we've made quite the mess. So when we trust Him, His rod and His staff are reassuring to us; they are evidence that He has our best interest at heart!

You prepare a table for me

When a table is loaded with food, we get ideas of plenty, of celebration, of festivity.  In the Hebraic mindset, we see that food was shared during the making of a covenant. The table YHVH prepares is all of this. We who are either 'Jewish' or grafted into the House of Israel have accepted His covenant. Psalm 147 says He has made His covenant with no other people.  And notice WHO is setting the Table!  He is!  This covenant is not dependent on what WE do; it is dependent solely on His Will.  Just as when He had Abraham sleep through the making of the original covenant.  

even as my enemies watch

Ever eat something in front of someone and notice hunger or envy flash across their eyes?  The same thing is happening here, but on a much grander scale.   The Creator of the universe has rest His favor on us!  Can you imagine the chagrin, jealousy, ire of all the other nations of the world? And they are powerless.  All their machinations cannot change how our Beloved Shepherd feels about His Chosen People. Smile! It will make them wonder what you've been up to!

You anoint my head with oil

In the scriptures, Priests, kings, prophets and the recovered lepers were anointed.  Anointing was a demonstration of setting someone apart for a certain task in Yah's kingdom. Priests ministered, taught and were the people's liasion to YHVH; kings wrote their own copy of the Torah and ruled Yah's people; Prophets "told it like it is" from Yah's perspective; and recovered lepers were restored into the community of YHVH after their time of being outside the camp because of their disease, which was usually because of their dissatisfaction with their lives.

from an overflowing cup

YHVH created and owns all the resources of the entire world. The fact that this cup is overflowing shows the unlimited supply of, not only the provision of oil, but unlimited supply of His grace, strength, Spirit and joy. Don't limit Him or 'put Him in a box' with unbelief! He won't lose -- but you would!

Goodness and grace will pursue me

Inescapable goodness, inescapable grace pursuing us, chasing us down to bless us!

every day of my life;

Not just the high times, or the low times; the times we've been good, or the times we've been bad, but every day YHVH will manifest His loving-kindness to us -- if only we would receive it!

and I will live in the house of YHVH

For a moment, consider the magnitude of that statement. Living in the very house of YHVH!  Beyond one's comprehension really.  Even Rav Shaul / the Emissary Paul said that mind cannot comprehend the awesome things that are prepared for us! To try to address such a monumental topic within the confines of this blog is …well …unreasonable.  As infinite as Yah is, so is His abode!

for years and years to come.

As infinite as His abode is, as infinite as time is, as infinite as He is, so is the time we will dwell with Him.  What we are seeing here is not all there is!  Don't get so caught up, staring at the death dark ravine that you lose sight of the beauty around you! And, as a dear friend used to say, "It takes the bitter to appreciate the sweet".

As I write this, it is now 5:43 pm. Three hours have passed since my beloved was taken into the cath lab. The nurse just came in to tell me that they will be wheeling him into this room in a moment. He'll be groggy and silly from the sedation.  I'll be rejoicing that the love of my life will be sharing more days with me, and praising my Heavenly Father, YHVH Tz'va'ot, that He has turned us away from the death dark ravine one more time.  HalleluYah!

PS. We are now home at 10:30 pm. Still praising the Father for a day full of miracles. 

Blessings from our home to yours –

Yocheved

Midnight Rendezvous

Having a puppy has had an unexpected benefit, besides new uses for my kitchen sink (puppy bath tub) and more exercise (walking her every four hours, round the clock). I have found another “rendezvous point” with my Heavenly Father.

It's 1 am and I've just come in from walking “Gila” (as in Hava nagila) our 6 month old Havanese puppy. She's a pretty little black and white powder puff on 4 legs – very sweet, very anxious to please, but still a puppy with a tiny bladder and an avocation of sniffing every leaf and blade of grass on our property. But I digress ...

The Midnight Rendezvous with the Lover of my soul is so sweet. Walking along with flashlight in hand and Gila at my feet in the cool midnight hour has a charm to it that I find difficult to fully express. It's quiet, but not really: crickets sing their praises as do the owls and a dog's bark in the distance punctuates their chorus. Occasionally the neighborhood mocking bird wakes up and steals the show, singing unto Yah a new song ... sometimes for several hours! The moon floats above us, playing tag with wispy clouds. Fragrances from the water plants in the pond gently perfume the air. All in all, each night (even the rainy ones as tropical depression Beryl made its way through here recently) is perfect. It is as if He gifted ME with each of these walks. Sounds crazy, I'm sure.

I think about these things just as I am about to let loose with the latest barrage of needs, fears and trivia ... and then I stop! How could I not praise Him for these nightly gifts? How could I not tell Him how awesome I think He is and thank Him – even for little Gila and her tiny bladder -- so that I could savor the serenity of the moment? Truly, He has prepared a place for me, in this world and the world to come. Oh, my Father, my Sovereign Master, I thank you for Your abundant loving kindness! There are just not enough words to praise You adequately. Please accept this meager offering of words. May they be a fitting sacrifice of praise to You, my Creator / Redeemer / Bridegroom and Sovereign Master!

Walking back to the house through the inky darkness into the light of the back door lamp, the words of the 23^rd psalm float through my head. “You prepare a table for me ... you anoint my head with oil ... goodness and grace will pursue me every day of my life ... I fear no disaster for You are with me. Suddenly, the realization that all the fears and griefs that I was going to belch out at YHVH just a few short minutes previously no longer were the trouble. My own impatience and unwillingness to “Be still and know that He is YHVH” was the real 'problem'.

Hmmmm ... “Be still” ... I wonder if that is the real issue all the while.

Thank you, Abba, for the Midnight Rendezvous ... and Gila's tiny bladder.