Thus Saith the Lord

I’m sure we all get sick of hearing the news every day. Depending on what station you listen to or news broadcast you watch, you get to hear their side of the event for the day, whatever it may be.

CNN, NBC, CBS, Fox News and all the others have their own way of putting a slant on things. Some people follow these networks and shows as if they are the gospel. Whatever is said on the morning or evening news, people repeat it. So and so says. . . Just fill in the blanks.

It used to be I saw it on Oprah, or Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz. Depending on who you followed you would set our thoughts in line with them Undoubtedly one of those people that we follow makes a mistake or goes against our internal thoughts then all of a sudden we don’t like them anymore.

I don’t study God’s word as much as I should, it’s just the simple. I don’t put in the effort to turn off my surroundings that are distracting me to sit in silence and read. 

What would happen if I really did that? Really study what God tells us through the Bible. Really sit down and read what Jesus tells me about living life. 

How would that conversation go? Well NBC – I mean Jesus says. . . Dr. Oz told me to eat such and such for better health, oh wait that was examples I found in the Bible not Dr. Oz.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching all those I have listed, but it does make me think how life would be different if I changed my way of spending time with The Word.

How many times do we use the term “thus says the Lord” except when we are in worship or a Bible class. 

I’m going to really try and make a better effort to spend more time in the word, less time in TV fantasy land. Less time on the computer, less time on Pintrest, less time comparing my life to anyone other than what God wants from me.

Hopefully you will hear more of “the Bible said. . ,” from me. 

May God Bless

The Buddy Bench

Reposted from "Proverbs 31"

Written by Alicia Bruxvoort

"What'd you do at recess today?" I asked my 7-year-old, Magdalene, as we lingered with ice cream cones on the back deck at the end of a hot school day.

My daughter licked a chocolate drizzle from her lips and closed her eyes as if the answer to my question might be painted across the back of her eyelids. She paused for a moment; her cone dangling drippy in mid-air as she gathered her thoughts. Then a toothless grin spread across her face. Her eyes popped open in sync with her smile. "I played a game on the monkey bars,” she said. “And kept an eye on the buddy bench, of course.”

It may not be a timeless staple like the chain-link swings or the classic monkey bars, but the buddy bench is my favorite feature on my daughter’s elementary school playground.

A simple wooden seat planted on the edge of the kid-filled chaos, the buddy bench is a silent summons to be seen instead of overlooked, fortified instead of forgotten, loved instead of lonely.

When a child needs a friend, she sits on the buddy bench. When a child feels left out or left behind, he sits on the buddy bench. When a child longs for a helping hand, a listening ear, an empathetic soul, she sits on the buddy bench.

This precious playground seat carries no stigma nor shame; it merely issues an unspoken invitation:

Will you join me in my time of need?

It’s a question we’ve all asked, isn’t it?

When the discouragement looms large or sadness swells sore, we wonder —

Who will offer hope in our hopelessness?

Who will extend mercy in our mess?

Who will proffer prayer in our pain?

That little buddy bench paints such a poignant picture of childlike friendship that the first time my daughter told me about it, I swallowed down a lump of tears and swiped at a few drizzles of sadness that zig-zagged down my cheeks.

Maybe it was because I was stumbling through a wearisome wilderness of my own, and I longed for a friend to share my steps. Or maybe it was because sometimes, it feels like no one notices my silent struggles. But for whatever reason, on that particular day, I returned my daughter’s smile through a haze of hot tears and whispered, “I wish I had a buddy bench, too.”

Later that evening, as I opened my Bible to the book of Hebrews, God reminded me He’s already granted my wish. I may not have the perfect pal planted on a wooden bench outside of my window, but I have a Faithful Friend seated on Heaven’s throne (Hebrews 12:2). And thanks to Christ’s accomplished work on the cross, I’m invited to sidle up to Him in prayer and find help in my time of need. And so are you!

Hebrews 4:16 puts it like this —

“So … come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

In elementary playground lingo, that sounds like an invitation to Heaven’s Buddy Bench!

So, next time there’s no one to sit with us in our struggles, let’s seek our Savior who stands in the gap. And with childlike faith, let’s ask Him the question that’s burning on our hearts: Will You join me in my time of need?

And I’m guessing that when we lean in and listen, we’ll hear Jesus say, “I’ve been here all along.” 

May God Bless