Rocks and Circles
Picture a beautiful lake, glistening like glass under a warm summer sun. Trees, lifting their arms of various shades of green, greet the blue sky, where an occasional cloud scuds in view. Birds chirp and sing their various songs.
A child on the bank looks at the lake, like a mirror, and sees the reflected cloud. The child picks up a small rock from the shore and throws it toward the lake. It arcs in the air, and falls into the lake, creating expanding circles. The child watches in fascination and counts the circles and sees how far they travel. The child tries three rocks thrown in quick succession into the lake. Three sets of expanding circles widen and intersect with each other impacting the size and the shape of each of circles.
This describes our lives as part of our own families and the larger family of Jesus. The rocks that are thrown into the lake of life are the decisions we make every day causing ever widening circles that impact lives not only now, but in generations beyond.
When I was a teen ager, I rebelliously said, “It’s my life, it is my decision, to do thus and so.” Now I see the wisdom of thinking beyond myself and seeing with spiritual eyes.
I Corinthians 13:12 – We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
When I began to focus this blog on family history, I saw the many rocks that were thrown into life and how the resulting circles widened from generation to generation. And I could see that the decisions made by my ancestors impact my life, even today.
- What would have been the result if Grandma Suderman had become bitter in losing four babies?
- What would have been my life now, if Great Grandpa Suderman had not made the decision to leave Russia for this land?
- What effect would it have been if I had not had the example of servant-hood in the name of Jesus from all of my ancestors?
- How would it have affected my life if my Dad was not a man of integrity, saying, “I don’t have much to give you except my good name….protect it”?
- What would have been my life if I did not have the example of giving and studying God’s Word from Mother?
- Yes, if they could be faithful to Jesus and live for Him, it gives me strength to keep my face turned toward Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1 (Message) Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it.
Not only the heroes of faith whose stories are in Hebrews 11, but also anyone who lives for Him. Where did my family get their strength? The Word of God. The picture of my Grandfather Suderman is etched forever into my mind, as he read the scripture before breakfast in German and then in English. He raised his blue eyes and I saw wonder in them as he said, “Why, I never noticed that before!” Yes, so many nuggets of truth that applies to our lives can be found in the Word of God. Nuggets that give us strength and speak to our very souls in a timely manner!
The slender Thread of Gold that ties us together in our physical and spiritual families is the Holy Spirit. We have that in common, the love of Jesus, the kind of love written about in I Corinthians 13.
What can I do to perpetuate this family of and in God? Remain true to Jesus, pouring my life out for Him. Study the Bible and pray. Always praying for my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and those who come after. I pray, too for my spiritual family here, and in many parts of the world…. James 5:16.
The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
Even as Paul wrote in Philemon: All the best to you from the Master, Jesus Christ!