It is a special time at Honey Lake in that our wildlife population has reproduced its youngsters and they are running around everywhere. Practically anywhere I drive on the plantation I’m seeing little spotted fawns, mama turkeys with bands of youngsters in tow, and pairs of Bobwhite quail being followed by a dozen or so babies the size of bumblebees. Even the fish are getting into the act, and daily I’m seeing spawned out minnow schools rippling the surface of the water along the banks of our many ponds.
A little after 3:00 a.m. this morning I took my little pup Coopie outside and the full moon was brightly shining across Honey Lake. I sat out on my porch just admiring the scene for quite some time and listening to the various sounds of the night. There were no sounds of sirens racing through the streets, no irritating traffic noises with honking horns, and no street lights; just the inky black night eerily illuminated by the moon.
I heard a couple of whippoorwills mournfully calling to each other across the lake only to be answered by an owl hooting and hollering back at them for all it was worth. Their musical contributions were accentuated by an entire concert of bullfrogs encircling the lake and singing in harmony. Just then way off in the distance, (perhaps five miles away as the crow flies), I heard a train roaring its way through the night and blasting a warning at the Aucilla train crossing.
I watched fireflies light up, only to quickly go out like dazzling orange embers scattered through the blackness of the night. I stared at the big moon shining through the centuries old live oak and cypress trees surrounding Honey Lake. The warm humid summer night felt good to my old bones. It was quite the peaceful scene and I felt blessed of God to be able to sit there with my little pup in my lap, softly rubbing the bases of his ears as he slept, as I silently observed the wonders of God’s creation.
My thoughts turned dark and wandered to the civil war going on in Syria and the fear that must be gripping the children of that nation. As I munched on an oatmeal crème pie and took another sip of coffee I thought about the hordes of kids around the world who haven’t eaten in days. I wondered how many violent crimes were being committed, suicides were being contemplated, drunks were staggering down the streets, addicts were shooting up, and families were grieving and weeping as they mourned the death of a loved one.
I thought of God and felt His presence. I reminded myself that He sees it all up close and personal. The Bible states that a bird cannot fall to the ground without His seeing it. I don’t understand how He can be everywhere at once, any more than I can understand how television signals and microwave bursts invisibly make their way through the night and even reach me way out at Honey Lake. I believe that those signals exist because I can watch the Olympics real time a continent away, and I can talk to my dad on a cell phone in Mississippi and hear him as clear as a bell. Likewise I believe God exists because I can see His glory in the Universe everywhere I look, and I can feel the warmth of His presence.
I get exceedingly weary of the seemingly insolvable problems, the fussing and fighting, the injustice, the cruelty, the politics, the sorrow, and the corruption and sin of this world. I yearn to be with the Lord in heaven and as bad as I hate to admit it I’ve even contemplated suicide myself at times.
I know that is not the answer and God would never bless such a selfish act, but I long for peace, serenity, and harmony and desperately want it sooner rather than later.
My family criticizes me for expressing my desire to enter the next life sooner rather than later, but I can’t help myself. I sit and stare through my tiny Honey Lake window and get a small taste of what God’s peace is really like and I want more. I want to live in a world without pain, fear, hunger, hate, death, sorrow, and corruption.
It occurred to me that my problem is one of focus. I think the answer is to focus more on God’s plan and purpose for our lives and not on this fallen world and its problems.
The Bible assures us that this world is fading away and a new one will be ushered in that is free from all of the pain, sorrow, and grief caused by sin. That event will happen soon enough at a time of His choosing, (and not our own), and until then there is work to be done and we should focus on God and His work.
I realize that and I try to labor away and persevere, but I still dream of the day when God will return and I urge Him to come quickly. If that is wrong, then I’m wrong.
Matthew Henry once said, “Whatever labors may try us, whatever difficulties may surround us, whatever sorrows may press us down, let us with pleasure hear our Lord proclaiming, Behold, I come quickly; I come to put an end to the labor and suffering of my servants. I come, and my reward of grace is with me, to recompense, with royal bounty, every work of faith and labor of love. I come to receive my faithful, persevering people to myself, to dwell forever in that blissful world. Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus…
Well said Matthew Henry – Well said…
Rev. 22:20
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.