The Spirit has whispered consistently to me this past week. And He does so when we least expect.
It is berry-pickin’ season at the Beaumont’s, when Sue and I brave our carnivorous blackberry bushes to harvest a bounty of blackberries and raspberries.
We have noticed that when either of us believes we have found every single berry in the tangle of leaves and thorns, the other can walk up and find many more, just because a second person sees the bush from a separate angle, with sunlight locating berry colors the first person cannot see. The biggest, best, sweetest berries often linger undetected down in the middle of the bush, under a huge bunch of leaves, protected from hot, withering sun, bunnies, and other predators like me!
Just a few minutes ago, I was picking alone because Sue is away, and I was captured by a blackberry branch, stabbed in the back by dozens of not-so-little thorns and barbs that go into skin a lot easier than they come out. And the more I struggled to get free, the more the branch clutched my shirt with intent to maim.
Lessons from the berry patch:
Then it hit me, and I sat down here immediately to blog. Writing is a lot like pickin’ berries. The fruit is sweet, but the harvesting can be painful. That does not mean that pickin’ berries is bad. It means I need help and fresh angles of light along the way.
These lessons came to me after a full week of the Spirit revealing to me an entirely different angle of light for Streamside – how to tell the story of perfect unity rather than publishing just the research. But now I feel caught in the thorns, unsure how to proceed, which means I am going to get some help before I decide whether to proceed.
But I must say: if I truly believe this comes from the Holy Spirit, can I afford to disobey after praying so hard?
Stop by next time – this could be loads of fun for every believer in Jesus.
It is berry-pickin’ season at the Beaumont’s, when Sue and I brave our carnivorous blackberry bushes to harvest a bounty of blackberries and raspberries.
We have noticed that when either of us believes we have found every single berry in the tangle of leaves and thorns, the other can walk up and find many more, just because a second person sees the bush from a separate angle, with sunlight locating berry colors the first person cannot see. The biggest, best, sweetest berries often linger undetected down in the middle of the bush, under a huge bunch of leaves, protected from hot, withering sun, bunnies, and other predators like me!
Just a few minutes ago, I was picking alone because Sue is away, and I was captured by a blackberry branch, stabbed in the back by dozens of not-so-little thorns and barbs that go into skin a lot easier than they come out. And the more I struggled to get free, the more the branch clutched my shirt with intent to maim.
Lessons from the berry patch:
- Always team up to make sure that you are seeing things from more than one angle; and
- Always team up to make sure you can get help when captured by a berry branch.
Then it hit me, and I sat down here immediately to blog. Writing is a lot like pickin’ berries. The fruit is sweet, but the harvesting can be painful. That does not mean that pickin’ berries is bad. It means I need help and fresh angles of light along the way.
These lessons came to me after a full week of the Spirit revealing to me an entirely different angle of light for Streamside – how to tell the story of perfect unity rather than publishing just the research. But now I feel caught in the thorns, unsure how to proceed, which means I am going to get some help before I decide whether to proceed.
But I must say: if I truly believe this comes from the Holy Spirit, can I afford to disobey after praying so hard?
Stop by next time – this could be loads of fun for every believer in Jesus.
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