Tis the Season

Beckie and I have an apple tree in our yard that bears fruit twice a year. When I write “bears fruit,” I mean in abundance. Apples have to be cleaned off the ground every week in the early summer and then again in the late fall. They grow in bunches and then they grow again. It’s been a remarkable experience. So, when it happens I make pies. One of my favorite things is apple pie for breakfast. I went to a local grocery store to pick up some ready-made pie crusts as I was already doing all the work of peeling and chopping and cooking and baking. (My recipe for apple pie includes cooking almost all the ingredients for 5 minutes, to let some of the juices cook out. The apples keep their shape and consistency when they bake then.) I looked around for pie crusts and then finally asked. I was told, “Oh, we only carry them when it’s the season.” I said, “Oh… well my tree thinks it is the season.” And I went off to find the crusts at another store… which I did. When is the season for God’s work? For some reason this particular tree seems to think that it can be almost any time. That might be a good perspective for us to have. Some people choose the timing of God’s work. “Now’s the time, God. Do something now!” Other people are just prepared for God to work and are keeping their eyes open to discover what he’s put in their path. They don’t direct God. They listen and watch. There are a lot of words from Jesus, stories and direct comments on being prepared. He says that we need to be ready for the moment of his coming. That’s not just when he is returning for us, or wrapping up this existence for the new creation. It’s for the work that God is about now. We want to be ready and so we study, we worship, we pray and we talk with each other. Good guidance helps us to prepare our eyes and ears to be ready for what’s happening, what God is doing in front of us. Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Our God is always about doing a new thing. He is the God of creation and it is our joyful act of partnership with God, that lets us get in on it… right when it is happening. Blessings, Geoff