Powerful Storms and Personal Scars

By Brenda Black

Giant trees uprooted. Branches strewn across a freshly cut lawn. Leaves and twigs litter a stretch along either side of the highway about a half mile long. No news will cover this small swath of a summer storm's havoc. No volunteer help will come from two states away to saw through fallen timbers or rake scattered leaves. Only a few homes are affected. No big deal.

I don't know the folks who hunkered down inside their old farm houses and heard the howling winds rip over their homes. I have no idea how many years ago they planted those lovely trees, full of bloom and beauty. So, whether the damage came by tornado or straight line winds is irrelevant. If it only ravaged their few acres and missed a nearby city far more populated doesn't matter. The gaping holes in the ground once filled by sturdy roots still leave scars. The fear brings real tears, regardless of the scope of the storm.

Usually only news of big, bad stuff that impacts multitudes is brought to the forefront. In the meantime, every human endures their own small storms; winces from their own scars. Every one of us is broken or uprooted in some way. And each time, it is a big deal – to the broken one and to the One who heals brokenness.

I passed those storm-hit homesteads early one morning. By evening, when I drove by, headed the opposite direction, I noticed a contrast between neighboring properties. Obvious clean up at one and nothing at the next. A big fallen tree in one yard transformed in a matter of hours into stacks of firewood with the help of friends and family. Scattered limbs became brush piles through the work of many. Next door, the yard remained covered in shattered remains. No activity. No help. No change.

Inevitably, storms will slam into our lives. The mess they leave will demand our attention. We can go it alone and take longer than necessary to clean up the clutter. We can call for help and hasten the healing. Or we can ignore it and let it lay in our lives and wilt and wither or slowly rot and kill the green grass underneath.

Honestly, there is no excuse in the body of Christ to ever endure the hard things alone. Often, the best help comes from someone who's been through a similar storm and knows exactly what you need to pick up the pieces. Jesus calls us to be His hands and feet, His heart and His helper. He also calls us to reach out and receive. It's a two-way street.

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” (1 Peter 3:8)

That's heavenly advice. And it comes in pretty handy when neighbors are in crisis. Harmony makes the work easier. Sympathy soothes an aching heart. Love just makes the world a better place and certainly covers over a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). Compassion goes a long way in a broken life because we just need to know that someone cares and understands. Somehow that makes it possible to press on and shapes the family of God into the Father's image.

 The final act is humility. Living in a world with hurt may call on us to sweat a little and haul some wood or we may need to sit and listen and pray unselfishly. You can't care about the trial in someone else's life if you are consumed with your own real or imagined tragedies. Sometimes, the best medicine for brokenness is to help somebody else mend. You just might find your small gesture is a very big deal in the middle of someone's storm.

Unexpected Vet Care

Courtesy of www.equisearch.com 

By Brenda Black

Seems there is always something that needs doctoring when you have kids, pets or livestock. At the moment, around here, it is all of the above.

When it comes to the four-footed segment, in addition to administering annual spring protocol for every parasite that bites or crawls on four different species, I'm now tending to an equine eye injury.

Though I don't have answers yet for a family member's health issues and I have no idea how long it will take for this horse to heal, I know patience and compassion make all the difference while I await results for each. My vet demonstrated both of these traits perfectly when he tended to our little bay gelding, reminding me once again of the kindness God delivers through the hands and words of others.

In order to appreciate what I'm about to describe, you need to get acquainted with the patient. 

“Cowboy” can be a fist full of spunk at any given moment. I warned the vet of his spirited personality, atypical for most 29 year old Quarter Horses. Considering the precarious location of the wound and the fact that I was the only assistant for the task, I sure didn't want anyone else to get hurt. This is the mount that I can ride like a dream for two hours, but never without keeping weight in the stirrups and a deep seat in the saddle since I know he can come unglued over a rabbit scurrying through the grass 20 feet ahead. He blows like a freight train on crisp, foggy mornings if I accidentally surprise him. Get the picture? He's full of vinegar at times and the reason for his name – it takes a real cowboy to ride him. Oh, did I mention, I love him!

No doubt, the veterinarian has seen his share of wild ponies and ragged wounds, but lucky is the horse that gets his tender mercies in their worst moments. Some would liken his method to constant chatter as he talked in a low, comforting tone. He chose kind words like “Buddy” and moved quietly and fluidly as he tended to every detail. Not every procedure was pleasant or painless, so he purposed to hasten those tasks – all the while, talking and touching and reassuring a beast who outweighed him a thousand pounds to his hundred.

I was thankful for his gentle ways. I'd seen him offer it before in an even more sobering moment, like the time another equine family member suffered a stroke. Then and now, as he spoke in hushed tones, he assured these creatures that he meant them no harm. I thought to myself that's how God treats me when I'm hurting or troubled. He speaks constantly in soothing tones with kind words and encouragement. Sometimes it's a lingering thought or a Scripture that comes to the forefront of my mind, compliments of the Holy Spirit. It may be a song I hear on the radio at just the right time or an old hymn that pops into my head and rolls off the tip of my tongue. God touches my life with generous portions of His gentleness.

Sometimes the Almighty still allows pain to accomplish the greater good. It might be to sharpen me or teach me a lesson. Could just simply be a loving correction. His medicine for many a spiritual ailment comes in hard-to-swallow forms like discipline or disappointment. But only for the moment. In the long run, He is always right and good and knows what is best. If we listen and follow the Great Physician's prescription, we get better.

If there is such a thing as irony, both my son and my horse are dealing with eye problems. So when I went to the Word today, imagine my delight to hear God chattering encouragement from the book of Matthew: “'Lord,' they answered, 'we want our sight.'

“Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” (Matthew 20:33-34)

I hadn't gone searching for anything so specific! But, oh my, that was just the shot I needed!

Medicine or surgery may be the path to wellness, but the beautiful, compassionate touch of Jesus and His continual whisper of peace are the two greatest aspects for true healing. Thank you Dr. Brown for being so kind to the animals. And thank you for looking and sounding like Jesus to me. I was grateful for the reminder from my vet and my Lord.

What the World Needs Now

By Brenda Black

“We've got to consider creating a more non-violent society,” Bernice King, daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, professed during a live interview with CNN. She says her daddy was first and foremost a preacher. He was a pastor and a healing leader says his daughter. King added that she believed our country to be significantly divided and it was essential to find a way to heal this nation.

I agree. We need less violence. We need healing. But no new revelation by the powers that be is going to trump the plan for both to be achieved that was laid out by the King of Kings a long time ago.

Step One: “'...love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.'” (John 13:34-35)

Step Two: “'...come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)

Honestly, it's hard to live separately in a world that glorifies sin and blasphemes my Lord continually. Just recently, we visited with a young man for a matter of minutes about a quite benign topic. In the short course of that conversation, he swore needlessly with every sentence. He was handsome, intelligent, even actually polite, but filth just oozed out of him and all over us. The vulgarities never waned in the company of ladies, they did not cease once he learned that my husband was a pastor. He was totally ignorant to his disrespectful habit of profanity.

Unfortunately, I've encountered a few Christians along the way that are just as flippant with their tongues and condemning to their testimony. As Christians, if we don't look, act, speak, and think differently from the world, how will “all men know?” We can get so covered up with hatefulness and worldliness, we stink as much as those without hope. We can become indifferent to our Savior and King and more transfixed on all things Hollywood. We talk about stuff that doesn't matter when we ought to be seeking the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! Love isn't just sentimentality. It's action that conveys a sold-out commitment to the Christ and to His family! Is it too much to ask that we come together and worship once a week or that we open the Bible some day other than Sunday? Is it obvious to those we meet that we are redeemed through our words and our deeds? Are we thankful, joyful, patient and kind? Are we loyal, disciplined and faithful? Do we say “no” to the flesh and “yes” to the spirit?

I regret that I allow all too often my heart and mind to be tarnished by the junk of the world instead of being polished by the Word. I fall into the trap of anger, bitterness and hopelessness sometimes – especially after I read the news. And I, too, fall entirely short of God's glory in a multitude of ways every day. I am, therefore, overwhelmingly grateful for God's grace! I'm also glad that I tend to become highly convicted when I go astray and genuinely desire to live a life of integrity. I know that God honors repentance and blesses such longings.

“Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.” (Psalm 97:10-12)

I want to be righteous and it is definitely a work in progress. How about you? Only God can make any one of us less violent and more loving. Only God can bring the healing. It begins with every individual before it can sweep across a nation.

Eyes for Eternity

By Brenda Black

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'

“'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'

“Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 'Go,' he told him, 'wash in the pool of Siloam' (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.” (John 9:1-7)

We don't know exactly how old this man, but according to his parents' testimony before the Pharisees, “He is of age; he will speak for himself.” And boy howdy does he have a story to tell! But rather than debate those gnawing questions of right and wrong, fairness and hardship, disabilities at birth and miraculous healing like the contentious Pharisees, my thoughts are drawn to the details of this amazing encounter with Christ.

Notice, this man does not ask to be healed. He may have begged for money or mercy as Jesus and his disciples passed, but he did not ask for his eyes to be opened. The passage doesn't actually indicate that he spoke to the group at all. Still, Jesus, who speaks of him, then addresses him. He touches him and asks something of the beggar himself. He commissions him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, at least a half mile's walk.

Rolling through my mind is the nagging question of why a grown man would let somebody spit in the mud and then wipe the nasty stuff on his face. Why did he obey this stranger he'd never seen or with whom he'd never conversed? My only conclusion is that the man heard sincerity in the voice and felt certainty in the Master's touch.

He made the journey to the water and came back seeing! Before he could search for the one who healed him, he was swept up in controversy and whisked away to tell and retell his story to the skeptics. The stark contrast between the loving kindness of Jesus and the sarcastic criticism of the Pharisees only solidified the man's child-like faith in this unseen stranger. He boldly answered their antagonistic accusations with resolve, “One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!” (Jn. 9:25b)

And here's the part of the story I love the most. Jesus just shows up and introduces Himself!

“When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, He found him and asked, 'Do you believe in the “Son of Man?”'

“'Who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?' he asked.” (Jn. 9:35-36)

There you have it...now the blind beggar with eyes wide open is asking a clearly profound question. It's a query that won't just fix his eyes temporarily while he lives on earth. It's the beginning to eyes for eternity. And Jesus, the same Jesus who healed him without a request, now waits for the seeing seeker to search the heart of God.

“Jesus answered, 'You have seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you.'

“'I believe, Lord!' he said, and he worshiped Him.

“Jesus said, 'I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.'” (Jn. 9:37-39)

The moral of the story: “This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him.” May the blind man lead us to the sincere and certain “Light of the World” -- Jesus – so that others see His glory revealed in us. Remember, all you have to do is ask and Jesus shows up to touch your life eternally.

Old Hurts Heal

Old Hurts Heal
By Brenda Black


I once received an anonymous letter with hateful, hurtful accusations that can sting to this day if I visit the memory for more than a minute. I've advanced past the shocking assault and I'm far removed from analyzing it through fitful, sleepless nights as a young pastor's wife. Now I look back on the cruel injury with grateful assurance that God used it to move me and mature me. But what of the person who hid in anonymity behind a manually typed memo and left it unsigned? God knew their jealous motivation then and He knows their heart this very moment. I don't need to remain on duty trying to correct their misguided meanness nor do I need to now be defined by their past erroneous assertions. There comes a point where there's no point to licking old wounds, for some can never be reached by my own doing.

What's the first thing humans do when we get a boo boo? We blow on it, kiss it or lick it. So let's just say you scrape your elbow. Go ahead, try to reach it with any part of your blowing, kissing, licking apparatus. I'd venture to say, you are trying to prove me wrong in this very moment. But I'm right. You can't touch that wound with love from your own lips. It can only be soothed by another.

It was God who healed the ache in my heart, the trouble in my mind that was delivered by the hands and words of another. He alone softened the brutal blow with time and tenacity as He passionately pursued me. My loving Father in Heaven never let go even when I was so wounded I wanted to quit the preaching team, curl up in a ball and be alone. God is an expert at healing and forgiving.

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:23-24)

I remember vividly a song that echoed over and over in my mind when I felt so unloved, so helpless to remove the hurt and so sinfully angry that it ever happened. As sin tried to creep into my heart, this song pleaded with me to not hate those who viciously and senselessly attack. The lyrics beckoned me to cling instead to the cross and trust that justice and healing don't have to be parallel or simultaneously wrought. Sometimes justice never comes here on earth. But healing is possible even when the enemy tries to destroy us.

“Keep me near the cross, Near the cross. May I never stray so far, That I cannot see, What flowed down for me, At the foot of the cross... Now I'm not looking back, I've heard your voice.
And Im staying here, I've made my choice. Now it's real, Now I kneel, At the foot of the cross” (“At the Foot of the Cross” - 1996 Shepherd Boy MusicASCAP)


That's where true healing takes place. I wept again as I listened to this powerful song just now and realized how very far I've come. Instead of God desperately holding to me, I'm joyfully clinging to Him. I'm praising Him with arms outstretched and the full assurance that nothing can harm me at the foot of the cross where Jesus' shadow is cast over me. No wicked words, no hate-filled criticism, no jealous immaturity can stop me from being whole and happy.

When you can't lick your own wounds, let the Savior kiss your boo boo. His loving touch is all you need for healing.