A Change in Nature....Ours

If you’ve seen the photos on my Facebook page, you’ll clearly see that I love trees. Water and a breeze on my face are some of my other favorite parts of nature. Whether I’m on the open car of a train feeling the force of the winds created by our passing through a canyon or sitting on a blazingly hot, humid beach when God sends the relief of cool air to tickle my skin; I’m blessed and exhilarated. I’m often happiest when being kissed on the face by a breeze, even happier being kissed on the face by the man I’m blessed to call my husband.

Don’t be mistaken. I don’t like the cold. The older I get the more compelling warmth makes its play for me. I understand there’s a purpose and place for the cold, but my body appreciates it less now.

This year spring is slow in getting here, taunting us with warm, sunny days, only to hide again behind snowflakes. It’s a game Mother Nature’s playing with us. Warm temperatures, accompanied by mood-altering, brilliant sunshine and life-asserting breezes have begun to take over the season. Then we wake up to extremely chilly mornings taking us into another cold day.

Yet we are shocked at the ‘games people play’. It seems we merely imitate nature with our unpredictability, immaturity and sudden changes in thinking and behavior.

Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us this: Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.