A WORD FOR TODAY, May 19, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, May 19, 2025
“Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be. He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap. As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.” Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, WEB
We once decorated a newly planted tree in our yard with plastic Easter eggs. It was just beginning to take root, with leaves just beginning to poke from the tips of the branches. The eggs offered color on the nearly bare trees. It looked a little silly, but made us happy in the days leading up to Easter.
One day I noticed a bird in the tree. He had a strange look on his face as he hopped from branch to branch, looking at the eggs. I wondered what he was thinking, but he was obviously trying to figure out what those colorful things were. Were they food? Were they a strange flower with nectar? He finally found a branch and egg that he could reach to get a closer look. He pecked at the egg all of a sudden and was taken aback when it was hard and swung back at him. He hopped into a few more branches and then flew away. The eggs were useless to him, but he would never have discovered that if he had not tested one with his beak. Those eggs might have been something good to eat and the only way to find out was to adventure forth and try.
I can’t say I’m terribly adventurous. I do try new things sometimes, but usually only after careful deliberation. Take restaurants, for instance. My husband and I will talk about a new restaurant, often saying “We should try that the next time we go out,” every time we see it. Then, when we do go out, we are always in the mood for one of our favorites. “Next time,” we think. We waited so long for one restaurant, that we noticed it had gone out of business before we got around to trying it. We often find, when we get around to trying that new place, that we really like it. Several restaurants have become our new favorites because we stepped out of our comfort zone and tried something new.
I’m sure we aren’t the only ones who get stuck in old routines. We have recently been thinking about the way we use our resources, asking the question, “Is this the best way to glorify God with our money?” We are generous and have been very consistent with some of our donations. I know when it is time to write a certain check or purchase in-kind gifts; it has become a habit. I don’t think twice. Yet, I’ve recently realized that there are so many other places that can use our gifts. We have had to think about whether or not we are truly glorifying God with our habits, or whether He is calling us to something new. It is hard to make the decision. Can we be sure about the new charity?
I was thinking about this situation when I read “Cast your bread upon the waters,” in today’s scripture quotation. This seems silly. Bread on water will melt away and disappear. Or it will be eaten by fish or birds. Yet, the teacher says, “You will find it after many days.” The point that the teacher is making is that we should not be afraid that we will be wasting our bread by casting it upon the waters, but that God will use it according to His good and perfect will. “Give a portion to seven, yes even to eight.” We are not to worry that what we are doing, but to step out of our comfort zone and try something new because God can make good things happen out of our courage. There is so much we don’t know, but if we listen to God and trust in Him, we’ll see amazing things happen.
There are so many wonderful things for us to do in this world, however we often avoid doing them because we do not know what it might be like. We reject new groups of people, new activities, new restaurants, thinking they will be useless. We keep doing the same old thing because it is comfortable, not knowing what a blessing something new might be for us. When we reject new things outright, we miss out on the adventure and we lose out on so many good things. We do need to deliberate about our actions as we move forward, because there are reasons to be cautious, but God has called us to be like the birds, venturing forth in faith that He is with us and will guard us through any misadventures. When we trust in God and let go of ourselves, we find that He returns our faith with many blessings. If we stick to only what we know, we may find that it will fail eventually. But when we try new things and spread out our gifts, we will see success in something even if another thing fails.
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