March 10

"Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it" Ezra 10:4.

So many days we want to give in and give up! We have such a difficult time believing that God and our loyal friends do support us. On the other hand, matters in another's hands means our support and loyalty and love to that person. We may be just the one to hold up heart and hands of someone in need: "Aaron and Hur held [Moses'] hands up–one on one side, one on the other–so that his hands remained steady..." Exodus 17:12.

"That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain..." Exodus 18:22c; "They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone " Numbers 11:17c. Pride often says no to help. But here God helps us to bear by telling us to share. Often just a listening (h)ear(t) lifts the load off the heart and mind of another.
"Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus..." Mark 2:4. Here the paralytic's friends demonstrated the faith that moves a friend through a mountain of difficulties and discouragements. This is the kind of love and support we all need at times, both to give and to receive. This man's friends had courage and faith to do the unthinkable. We, too, may need to make an opening for someone we love.

"He went to him and bandaged his wounds..." Luke 10:34. Perhaps our friend has a heart wound that needs our compassion and heart muscles that need strengthening so he or she can go on with duties. We can bandage and bolster with an unconditional love that understands. We each have our tasks to fulfill, but at times the tasks seem overwhelming; it is then that God grants a gift of a faithful friend who can talk it through with us.

Pat Nordman ©

March 11

"There in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!" Genesis 8:11b.

The fresh leaf! The sign of hope! We have new leaves every day; in fact, each day itself is a new leaf. A new and exciting idea is a new leaf that grows into many leaves of an article or book. A delicious meal, a visit from a friend, an unexpected letter with good news, a compliment, an unusually beautiful sunrise or sunset, an affecting cantata: these are leaves of hope and love. It's an appealing thought.

Sometimes all we want is a leaf of a thank you that will stimulate us to further actions; perhaps our child needs a leaf of appreciation; a student gives a professor a leaf when she tells him that others have recommended his course because he is such a good teacher; our friend receives a leaf when we write and say, "I love you and I miss you."

There is yet another compelling thought here: if we but wait, as Noah had to, we will have joy again. The waters seem about to sweep us away. At times circumstances seem impossible and it is easier to give up. The black raven of despair, the carrion bird, settles in our hair and in our heart and we are so tempted to let it make a nest and eat away at our vitals. But our gracious God will not allow that! The dove, symbol of gentleness, brought Noah the sign of deliverance, and He will do the same for us.

Our dry and fruitful land may yet be far off, but God will finally send us His dove with an olive leaf of deliverance! In the meantime, God asks that we trust Him; that we remain within the ark of the circumstance until His good time. How difficult this is! For now He is asking us to prepare ourselves for a great mercy from Him that we can share with others. It is the broken heart that understands other broken hearts. It is yet another converting experience when we are in the Ark, but God is getting us ready to share leaves!

Pat Nordman ©