SHAPES IN THE CLOUDS

When I was a small child I never knew anything about God...not in the ways that we all do now. My ideas of God were more of that as a friend who was invisible to me, and yet very much a part of who I was as a person.  From that tender age of around 5 years old I guess now that I think about it my concept of God and my relationship to Him was much like it is now.  I have of course come closer to and gone away from God during my life because of things that have happened to me, and also because of the sin that has tried to grab hold of me and drag me under.

In a way I have looked for God most of my life always thinking  I might be able to find Him on my own around some hidden corner or through some secret way that had been discovered by someone much smarter than myself.  My actual first encounter with God on a true basis was as a small child while I was laying out in my parents back yard at the age of 5.  It was a spring day and everything was in bloom.  My mom always kept a flower garden that wondered around in a a good achier of land on a back yard hill, and I liked to lay back there in the grass and watch the shapes of clouds change.  I used my imagination to see various shapes that formed anything from dragons to flowers in the sky, and as the wisps of clouds would roll by I found myself often talking to God as though He were laying right there beside me on the hill.  "OH look at that...boy that's neat...is that a deer or a bunny rabbit?" While I would lay there having this conversation within my own mind I could actually hear Him speak back to me.  In those days my small mind had no limits as to what I would be able to do, but I always felt that I had been made for something important.  I would lay there in between the show of clouds and talk openly about what I wanted from my life, and among those childish thoughts of cowboys or firemen, or Superman was the desire to have wisdom.

For me Wisdom was more like a super power than an attained skill, for all I could remember about it was the small bits and pieces I heard from a Sunday school class in a small Baptist church I was sometimes aloud to attend with my brother.  In those encounters I heard such stories as Samson, and Noah, or David and Goliath, but among my personal favorites was the stories about  Solomon and the great wisdom he had as a gift from God.  I thought how great it would be to be seen as a man of wisdom because within that must be all of the other gifts and traits combined from God.

It was during one of my sessions with God on that grassy hill that I asked God for wisdom, and not just any kind of wisdom...spiritual wisdom so that like those who Solomon had helped I too could be seen by the world as being blessed that way.  While that year eventually went away and the time changed in my life as I grew I never forgot that day, and the feeling that on that day God said yes to me.  Since then I have lived a life of turmoil and difficulty that I have felt was more of a curse than any kind of gift spiritually, but as I get older I realize that my life has been a preparation to receive the gift of wisdom in Christ that I now can share with you.  In order for anyone to gain the kind of wisdom that will help others one needs to have a tremendous number of experiences with situations and trials that a normal life would perhaps not encounter...that has been my life  from the time I left that backyard hill until God has placed me with the ministry work of the Gathering ministries I have been prepared for what is going on right now.

The work that we do is that of drawing together the elements of the Bride of Christ in this age from every corner of this community to begin a movement and a work never before seen in this country, and rarely seen in this world.  It is the design of God's Spirit to begin to mentor people by cultivating a return to the basic teachings of Jesus Christ here and now.  I don't know how much time I have left to do this work but I know that God is not finished with me as yet because I remain.  As long as we have the chance to do this we will pursue God's wisdom and Spirit and I will be here for you.  I want you to know that our walk with God changes over time, and if you have been desiring a closer walk with Him now is the time for He continues to call each of us out.  Who among you will respond?  May you richly bless God through your life in Him.

THE UNWORTHY SERVANT