Author

Lois Flowers

4 Truths that Steady Us as the World Spins Faster

by Lois Flowers
by Lois Flowers

Inside: When time flies by and it seems like the world is spinning out of control, the Book of Isaiah offers comfort and encouragement.

I’ve been blinking so much lately it feels like I’m in a perpetual dust storm.

I blinked and it’s November.

I blinked and the vibrant fall leaves are blanketing the ground.

I blinked and Thanksgiving is two weeks away.

I blinked and my daughter turned 21.

I blinked and I turned—well, another year older.

It’s as if we emerged from some kind of weird Covid-19 time warp into a world spinning so fast we can hardly keep up. Add in any number of societal changes and challenges, and it sometimes seems as if our entire planet is spiraling out of control.

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Warm Memories and 5 Thoughts about Time

by Lois Flowers
by Lois Flowers

Inside: My dad’s metaphor for time and what we can learn from it that might help us use our time wisely. ~

A metaphor for time that will help us use our days wisely.In his classic book On Writing Well, William Zinsser lamented that “Memories too often die with their owner, and time too often surprises us by running out.”

As I went through the papers my dad left behind when he died, I often wished I could ask him about them. Why, for example, did he save so many newspaper clippings about the space race with Russia? What made him so interested in the Russian Revolution, and racial issues, and seemingly endless other topics?

Why did he like maps so much? Was it hard to obtain patents (which he did three times)? Which did he enjoy more: writing Bible studies or penning children’s stories?

Who knows?

Maybe some of my siblings know the answers to some of these questions, but unless I ask them, I’ll never know. They’ve died with their owner, as Zinsser said.

I do have my own memories of my dad, though, and of my life with him. And—just as my GriefShare leader promised—as the grief has softened, those memories have become warmer.

What That Looks Like

My family and I are able to sit around the dinner table and reminisce about my parents. When Molly turns up her nose at the chicken tikka masala on her plate, I tell her how I used to sneak my mushrooms onto my dad’s dinner plate when I was a kid because I hated them so much.

We laugh about how he used to slice up blocks of ice cream with a knife instead of scooping it—we all got a rectangle on our plates. I’m sure my mom bought the blocks because they were cheaper than tubs, but his method of serving the ice cream was the perfect engineer way.

Whenever Randy comes home with a new joke that makes Molly roll her eyes all the way to the back of her head, we look at each other and smile. “My dad would have loved that one,” I often say.

Manna as a Metaphor

The second half of Zinsser’s thought—the part about time running out—came to mind when I found, on the very last page of a yellowed notebook full of my dad’s handwritten children’s stories, something called “Manna as a metaphor for time.” I have no idea if he ever shared these thoughts with anyone—a small group or a Sunday school class perhaps?

But they’re thought-provoking, and worth sharing here.

As you may recall from the Old Testament, God provided manna until the Israelites entered the Promised Land and were able to eat its produce. The white flakes, which Exodus 16:31 says “tasted like wafers made with honey,” appeared on the ground every morning, six days a week. The people were instructed to gather only what they needed for each day, except on the sixth day, when they also collected manna for the sabbath.

According to my dad, manna is a metaphor for time because of the following reasons:

• Everyone got exactly as much as he needed. Even if somebody got greedy, it ended up the same. (Exodus 16:18)

• You could do a lot of different things with manna—cook it in pots or make it into loaves, for example. (Numbers 11:8)

• Some people were bored with the manna; they didn’t appreciate it. Instead, they looked back to a “better time” when they ate all the fish and melons they wanted in Egypt. (Numbers 11:4-6)

• Manna had to be used as it came; it couldn’t be stored. (Exodus 16:20)

• There was a time when the manna stopped, but there was something better to take its place. (Joshua 5:10-12)

How Manna Relates to Time

It’s a good metaphor, as my dad’s metaphors usually were. We each get as much time as we need—not more or less. We can do many things with the time we are given. Sometimes we look back fondly at the “good old days,” conveniently forgetting the struggles and challenges that came with those seasons.

We can’t store up time to use later (although it would be nice if we could). And finally, eventually our time will run out, but—if we are part of God’s family—something better awaits in eternity.

“Lord, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how short-lived I am. You, indeed, have made my days short in length, and my life span as nothing in Your sight.” Amen. (Psalm 39:3-4)

♥ Lois

We each get as much time as we need—not more or less. Share on X Our time will run out eventually, but if we are part of God’s family, something better awaits in eternity. Share on X

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Sweet Tea & Friends, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.

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Mere Christianity: 7 Helpful Quotes for Modern-Day Readers

by Lois Flowers
by Lois Flowers

I read Mere Christianity for the first time when I was in my late 40s. I don’t know why it took me so long. I love C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia are among my favorite books in the whole wide literary world.

I was late to the party, for sure. But once I read Mere Christianity, the non-fiction title Lewis is perhaps best known for, I felt like someone who had just discovered pizza and wanted everyone else to know about it.

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When Doubts and Fears Erode Your Confidence

by Lois Flowers
by Lois Flowers

I have a pretty good idea what my strengths are. You probably know yours too. We might never broadcast our talents to the world, but part of knowing ourselves is understanding how we are wired and being confident in our gifts.

Hopefully, we’re not like those tone-deaf people who were convinced they were going to win American Idol because nobody ever had the heart to tell them they couldn’t sing. But we all have skills and abilities that are helpful and useful.

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How Gideon Can Help Us Respond with Courage and Boldness

by Lois Flowers
by Lois Flowers

Inside: Gideon asked God for three signs, and God performed a miracle each time. Keep reading to find out why—and what happened next.

God sometimes gives us the strength that we need, and other times tells us to use the strength we already have.I meant to write this post last year, when my word for the year was strength. I’ve actually been thinking about it for much longer than that, though, and it sometimes happens that the longer I ponder something, the harder it is to write about it. I tried several times last year, but the words just didn’t come. After giving it another shot recently, I finally got it done. I hope the two-part series that begins today encourages your heart.

• • •

The account of how Gideon rose up out obscurity to save the Israelites from their oppressors is one of my favorite narratives in the Old Testament. Perhaps you remember the story. Israel is in chaos. The judges who are supposed to be in charge are not leading well, to say the least.

Gideon is threshing wheat in a wine press when “the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’ ” (Judges 6:12)

That’s not exactly the greeting you’d expect God to give someone who is so obviously hiding out from his enemies. But when Gideon responds with a barrage of questions about why all the calamity had befallen Israel if the Lord was really with them, the Angel is unfazed.

“The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?’ ” (Judges 6:14)

Gideon clearly doesn’t think he’s the man for the job. But when he describes his family as the weakest in their tribe and himself as the youngest in his father’s family, the Lord simply says, “I will be with you. … You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.” (Judges 6:15-16)

Then the story gets really interesting. Gideon asks for a sign of God’s favor, and the angel brings fire up from a rock and consumes the man’s sacrifice. (Judges 6:17-22) Later, Gideon wants even more assurance that God will deliver Israel from the Midianites. So he asks for not one, but two additional signs.

“Then Gideon said to God … ‘I will put a fleece of wool here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that You will deliver Israel by my strength, as You said.’ And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.

“Gideon then said to God, ‘Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.’ That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.” (Judges 6:36-40)

So, a question. When God calls Gideon a “mighty warrior” at the beginning of their encounter, is He being sarcastic, or does He see something that even Gideon himself has missed?

Armchair theologians—maybe even serious students of the Bible—might chastise Gideon for his apparent cowardice, his seeming lack of faith, his relentless requests for signs. I don’t know, though. I actually see resourcefulness in his means of threshing and boldness in his request for proof.

I’m guessing the Angel of the Lord scared Gideon half out of his wits, but he still asks for three signs. And God performs the miracles. Every single one.

He doesn’t chastise Gideon for his unbelief or strike him mute for his lack of faith (which did happen to other people in scripture, by the way—Sarah and Zechariah come to mind).

Perhaps this was because God knew Gideon’s heart. He knew how Gideon was wired—his personality, his internal drive, his willingness to do what was necessary, even if it was unconventional or he had to sneak around to do it.

Maybe that’s what the Angel of the Lord was talking about when he told Gideon to go in the strength that he had.

What happens next makes that argument even more convincing. Once Gideon accepts his new assignment, he has to recruit an army. He starts out with 32,000 volunteers, but God has some very specific instructions about how to narrow down the troops. (Judges 7:2-6)

By the time everyone who is scared or demonstrated a lack of readiness gets sent home, Gideon is left with 300 soldiers, armed with nothing more than trumpets, empty pitchers and torches. (See Judges 7:9-25 for details of the actual battle.)

Talk about unorthodox military strategy. Ridiculous is more like it. And yet, there’s no record in scripture of Gideon questioning any of it.

When he finally decided to step out and boldly go in the strength that he had, God did amazing things. The end result wasn’t up to Gideon, his job was to do what God told him to do. And the outcome was an astounding victory for the Israelites.

So what does all this have to do with us today? Click here for Part Two—How to Cope When Doubts and Fears are Eroding Your Confidence.

♥ Lois

Some might chastise Gideon for his apparent cowardice and relentless requests for signs. But I see resourcefulness in his means of threshing and boldness in his request for proof. Share on X The Angel of the Lord probably scared Gideon half out of his wits, but he still asked for three signs. And God performed the miracles. Every single one. Share on X

P.S. I’m linking up this week with OneWord2022, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.

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