It Can Melt Away

We’ve had a lot of foggy days recently.  I’m not a big fan of fog, but one thing it does is put frost on the trees.  It makes them look really pretty, especially when the sun comes out and shines on them.  

But of course, the beauty only lasts for a little while.  The sun may make the frost-covered trees look pretty, but it also melts the frost.  Which means that if you want to see that beautiful sight, you have to be looking at the right time.  If you don’t, you’ll miss it.

It reminded me of when God gave the people of Israel manna.  Remember that story from Exodus?  Everyone was supposed to gather as much as they needed for the day--no more, but no less.  If they were not ready at the right time, we’re told, “When the sun grew hot, it melted away.”

God provides what we need when we need it.  No more, but no less, either.  But the thing is, we need to be ready to receive it.  Because if we’re not ready at the right time, what God has provided may melt away.  God may give us a second chance--God did provide more manna the next day, after all.  But getting a second chance--in anything--does not always make up for the first chance that we missed.  And if we still aren’t ready, we’ll miss that second chance, too.  And at some point, we run out of chances.  Not because God is not good, but because that’s simply the way life works.

So, we need to be ready.  All the time.  How do we do that?  Well, for one thing, we need to pray.  Pray for God’s will to be done, rather than our own will.  Pray that we will be open to the leading of God’s Holy Spirit.  Pray that we will be willing to go where God leads us to go and to do what God leads us to do.

And no matter what your situation, you can always do something.  You can be a friend to someone who needs one.  You can listen when someone needs to talk.  You can just sit with someone when they just need to know someone’s there.  You can give a smile to someone who may not have seen one today.  You can give an encouraging word to someone who’s having a bad day.  There are all kinds of things you can do, no matter what your situation.

And here’s one other thing to pray for.  Pray that God will give you chances to serve Him.  My experience is that this is a prayer that God will always answer.  And usually, God answers it pretty quickly, and in a way that we were never expecting.  But again, we have to be ready for the chances to serve that God gives us.  If we’re not, those chances will melt away.

So let’s pray.  And let’s be ready to serve God.  Let’s not let any more chances melt away.