The Pastor's Porch
July 21, 2020
Can I share something strange? Maybe you can help me figure out the meaning of something that happened a few days ago in my vegetable garden. So for the last couple of months I have been preaching on spiritual warfare that is occurring in our country. There has been so much violence, hatred, division and fear in the news. As I contemplated what our response as Christians living in rural Massachusetts should be, the answer clearly came that we can use the unbeatable power of prayer to effect change and to bring healing to our country. Hence the series on spiritual warfare, followed by four messages on the armor of God as presented in Ephesians 6. The series ended a little over a week ago. One of the challenges of this time is getting almost no feedback from people who hear the sermons. Can't see faces and expressions, can't sit and discuss following worship. I simply have had to trust that the Holy Spirit is faithful to use my often inadequate words to shape the hearts of my people. Okay, so here is the strange thing. My son was out in the garden early last week. Our garden is fenced to keep out deer, and has a latched gate. Imagine his surprise when he discovered a tiny toy Roman soldier in full armor standing, yes standing, on the corner of one of the raised beds. What?? How did it get there? The little guy is about 1 inch tall and appears to be very old. At first I was just surprised and puzzled. Then I got chills when I realized that it was dressed in the same type of armor about which I had been preaching. Sure it was probably put there by a congregant--wait, would they really come into my yard, open the gate to the garden and put it there? Or maybe the wind blew it there and left it standing perfectly on the small corner of the bed. I don't know, but I tell you what I think. No matter how it got there, in my heart I knew that I had preached exactly what God asked, and that He was pleased. In what ways has God spoken to you lately? Be on the lookout. You never know how He is going to speak!
Lord, thank You for a tiny soldier who carried a tender message for You. Help me to continue to look out for unexpected signs of Your love. Amen.
Zephaniah 3:17: The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
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