Sometimes only for a season is something of significant import in your life. Like Barbie dolls maybe. Or butterfly nets. Or Sluggo.
My older sister and I were crazy about our Barbie dolls for a couple of years. Then we moved on to . . . I’m not sure what. But I hadn’t thought much at all about Barbie dolls for years until this past Sunday. One of the delightful girls in our church body proudly waved her Barbie doll at me as she headed upstairs to her Sunday morning classroom. She had the biggest smile on her face! What a charming reminder of a sweet time in my own childhood. Our mom made most of Barbie’s clothes – designer originals for the picnics and bike riding and whatever else we imagined. Barbie even went to battle against GI Joe and the girls usually won! Afterall, it was two Barbies vs. one Joe. It was not long before our brother lost interest as soon as girl dolls showed up. He put up with our girl power ways until he was about 4 or 5 and that foretold of a decline in Barbie keeping our attention too.
Sometimes it is just a season you grow-up through, like Barbies.
Sometimes it is a season of finding your way through unexpected territory. Over the years you can (I did) begin to forget the ways you were lead through a particular season. But then God allows a reminder. That’s what I experienced when recently reading through Proverbs 11. Reminders of God’s care and comfort, of His correcting and strengthening.
Two of the passages of Scripture that carried weighty significance for seasons of my life – through grief and comfort, growing reliance, restoration of equilibrium, and moving beyond the protective cocoon to care for others as I had been cared for – those two passages are right there in Proverbs 11.
I circled verse 14 in my Bible in 2012 when seeking safety and security and certain I needed guidance so that I could make my way through. God began (and continues) to bring me toward an abundance of counselors. Wise, honest, honorable men and women. When I have attempted to be my own advisor, it has not been much fun nor profitable.
Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 11.14
Recognizing it was time to move out of my cocoon or melancholy would set in, I found that I was refreshed as I began to make an effort to help others, that they might find refreshment and comfort as I had experienced. Verse 25 is such a reminder for me . . .
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. Proverbs 11.25
Significant in this season and in each season to come. Building on what you have come to know about Jesus. Looking for Him in the Old Testament Psalms and Proverbs. Safety, security, salvation. Jesus allows us this when we trust Him enough to declare I will not be afraid, I will trust in the Lord.
Your memorable verses will likely be different than mine and that’s okay. It’s a big Book from The God of the Universe! It is always so good to rehearse what we know about Jesus and watch for further evidence that He is the Son of God who became a man, died on the cross, and is resurrected so that we might be redeemed and called children of God. Praise, praise, praise!
It is not too late! Come be a part of regular reading through the Psalms and Proverbs from Sundays and in small groups. Let this be a season of significance in your journey.
Blessings, Colleen