Missing My Harrow.

I know, I've been quiet, right?  It's what happens when people insist on being people & I get fed up. *sigh*  I could say we've been busy [which we have] but not that busy.  I could say we've been fluey [which is true] but not that fluey.  I could say we've had house guests [Luke], also true. I could get up a real head of steam & rant about innuendo, malicious gossip, falsehoods, lies spread by those who certainly should be mature enough in the Lord to know better.  I could joke as St Teresa of Avila did of God,"If that's how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them!" St Teresa also said, " May God protect me from gloomy saints!"  It seems no matter what I do [or don't do, as the case may be] I can't do it right.  If I take my KJV to bible study I'm showing off.  If I use the NLT ~ it leaves soo much out! Really?  Try the NIV!

When the Lord was finally able to prise me out from under the harrow I was happily inhabiting He pointed out that I had been warned.  It was not His fault if I was not listening up, because what He told me, way, way back was,... Having done all, to stand....  Just our presence as a church is whipping certain people into a frenzy.  We don't have to do anything.  Both John & I have a fairly wide streak of stubbornness & have just quietly been persisting with what we believe the Lord is asking us to do & in so far as it is possible ignoring everything else.  Sometimes that's simply not possible ~ like at bible study.

I love the word of God & once I get going I can quote scripture till the cows come home because I love beautiful language, which the old KJV is.  Super.  Always.  I've always read the bible just for the lovely language ~ even when I didn't believe a word of it!  And I happen to think God is logical rather than random ~ which I can see makes me a total pain in the whatsit in some quarters [especially other pastors] because if you are a child of God & believe God is good then you cannot attribute disease & sickness, tsunamis, earthquakes et al to God.  He says He gives good things to His children.  He says He works all things to their good.  However, this is a fallen world & Satan is still the ruler of this world.  You can only overcome through Christ, who has overcome the world.  There is an internal logic to all of scripture & it flows all the way from Genesis to Revelation because God does not change.

John, initially, was not so happy with me going to the bible study ~ & I never asked the Lord why He wanted me there; I just obeyed the Holy Spirit's prompting.  However The Spirit got on John's case & told him in no uncertain terms I was doing as I'd been instructed & he was to leave me to get on with it.  He worries.  He knows I loathe living in a wrangle & my tolerance level for idiocy of a certain type is non existent.   He knows I'm not a people person & my social skills are lacking.  I'm not there to chit chat & exchange banalities. I'm not there to eat. I'm there to talk about God & His word & I'm palpably impatient if it takes too long to get there!  I did say my social skills are lacking.

Then we have church ~ which is lovely but John insisted we do morning tea, which is hard for me.  I'm not into the food bit & if I don't have something to say I don't say anything.  Awkward.

The end result is I have been relieved to sit & read while Cait rehearses twice a week.  It has been a double blessing to have concerts to attend. Then there is the every 2nd Friday ministry & Rhema on Friday nights also requires some socialising on my part.  The end result is I am peopled out.  I don't want to be constantly grumping & dumping all over my blog & there are days when I would appreciate a pea shooter & a little target practice.  You know how it is.  I miss my harrow.