When God Used a Rubber Chicken

By Dawn Wilson –

The macho men stared me down. I stared back. They folded their arms, unreachable. I sent up a quick prayer for help.

While at a conference working with teachers and school administrators in Central America, I was introduced as the small group leader for six men and two women, local school administrators. The men in the group were clearly not accepting me and my two young interpreters. I prayed, “Lord, how am I going to share what you’ve brought me here to give?” I felt intimidated, conscious of a wall of … what? Distrust? Pride?

The words “rubber chicken” popped into my mind. Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard God say, “rubber chicken,” so I prayed again. “Father, I need for you to overcome the cultural differences and help these macho men listen to a simple woman like me. I don’t know what to do.”

Again, “rubber chicken.”

I suddenly remembered the silly rubber chicken I’d packed in my computer bag—a travel “mascot.” When I pulled it out, and made my chicken “nod” his hello, one man laughed and pointed at the squishy fowl.

“I want you to introduce yourselves to the group and tell us what city and school you are from,” I said, “and when you finish, pass my friendly rubber chicken to someone else in the group.” As one of my interpreters repeated my instructions, two of the men sat up, intrigued.

One man practically begged me to give him the chicken first. He squished it a bit and made the chicken “talk” to the group.

I watched as they introduced themselves, laughing the whole time. They didn’t just pass the chicken, they threw it! (Later, one administrator told me he might need to get each of his teachers a rubber chicken to encourage shy children to get involved in their classrooms.)

At the end of the week-long outreach, my new friends wanted a group photo. My chicken, which they named “PioPio,” had a starring role.

As I later considered the week-long outreach, I was struck by two things.

I wondered how many instructions I’ve received from God that I did not hear because I was either too proud to ask Him for help, or too busy to listen.

Also, I was reminded that God often uses simple things and people to accomplish His will and work.  The apostle Paul wrote, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26 NKJV).

God often uses the foolish, weak and base—what the world might describe as “nobodies,” sometimes even the “vile” or “unworthy” in the world’s eyes. And why? Verses 29 and 31 of 1 Corinthians 1 tell us: “that no flesh should glory in His presence… He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (NKJV).

God used a really old man (Abraham), a stutterer (Moses), a frightened judge (Gideon), a prostitute (Rahab), a widow (Naomi), a worrier (Martha), a young guy (Timothy), and so many others—the foolish, the weak and the base.

This gives me hope. If God can use them, He can use me too. From God’s perspective, it’s not a matter of our worth, but our availability and a heart surrendered to Him. As the old song says, “Little is much, when God is in it.” Even a wiggly rubber chicken.

God’s Billboard Company

By Cheri Cowell –

I love to read billboards. Of course, there are some vulgar and inappropriate things on some and I have to quickly turn my eyes. But for the most part, I find a lot to think about on these giant-sized commercials. A few anonymous Christian businessmen banded together several years ago to create the now famous God-sayings on billboards across America. Some of my favorites are Let’s meet at MY house Sunday before the game, That Love Thy Neighbor thing…I meant that, and Have you read my #1 best seller? There will be a test. Did you know that God invented billboards? He sure did!

Today’s scripture includes the instructions given for the first sanctuary on Mount Schechem. Later, the Samaritans would rebuild a sanctuary there to their God, and Jesus would tell the woman at the well that He was that God. In this passage the instructions are given for a sort of billboard. God must have really wanted them to make the writings clear so all would see them and be reminded of them, and not be able to dismiss what they said. Likewise, God’s Words need to become so familiar to us that they become like a billboard in our souls.

“And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister” (Deuteronomy 27:3-4 KJV).

PRAYER: O Lord, help me make Your words and promises like a billboard in my heart so I will always be reminded and not be able to dismiss Your greatness.

Next Breath

By Makenzie Allen –

I listened on the phone as my dad’s voice gave away his excitement. “Makenzie, there is a baby raccoon down here. I need you to come get him.” Bounding down the stairs, I shoot out the driveway, kennel in hand, and hurry down the road to where my dad waited for me. I scanned my surroundings until my eyes landed on a baby raccoon pacing in my dad’s boat. As I walked home with the raccoon in a kennel, quietness enveloped me. And in the quiet, I prayed God would keep this baby alive.

The days passed slowly as I cared for Jasper the raccoon. Something had happened to his mom and he had been left alone. I did everything from giving him a bath to feeding him with a baby’s bottle. Cradling Jasper in a blanket as he held on tightly to the bottle with his perfect little paws, I resolved to restore his health. Only one problem stormed away my resolution. I didn’t control the times.

Comprehending why things happen when they do has been challenging for me. Why is God okay with people dying if He is good? If He really cared wouldn’t, He stop this from happening? Questions of this nature tend to scatter throughout my thoughts and words. Questions, when God is saying, “My child, why do you doubt Me?”

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 KJV).

I cannot pretend to know all the answers, but God in heaven does. He alone controls the times, and that indeed brings me comfort because I know He has my best in mind. Rather than questioning the Lord, I should be questioning my own trust.

“My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me” (Psalm 31:15 KJV).

Not many attributes are more fulfilling than trust. Love always trusts and so, in order to love the Lord, I must first trust Him. People of old were commended for their brimming faith, as it says in Hebrews 11. Looking at past relationships between God and man, one can’t help but see the promise lying just underneath the surface. Bubbling and bursting forth, radiating out of men’s faces in smiles, in eyes, in actions. Daniel, Esther, Noah, Mary, all from different backgrounds but sharing common ground, they trusted in the Lord with all their heart.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5 KJV).

Jasper filled his lungs with the gift of God’s grace for the last time. In the same way, each breath I take is a gift and all I can do is trust God to give me the next.

Bless the Woman Who Loves Him Now

By Cynthia Ruchti –

The message came through Facebook, as crisis messages often do these days. An urgent message. My son needed help.

So here I am, bringing ice packs for twenty minutes every hour. Keeping a cool washcloth on his forehead. Urging him to try some crackers so the medicine won’t upset his stomach. And listening to him snore a very manly snore.

My son is twenty-seven. I’m his mama, but the call came from the woman who loves him now. The one who had to go to work today. The one who cares so much that she didn’t want to leave him alone when he was in that much pain. So she called us, his parents. Dad took the first shift. I’m taking the second.

Yes, the chicken soup is on the stove, even though it’s more tradition than anything. I don’t remember chicken soup listed as a cure-all for torn tendons in the neck. It’s the thought that counts. And that delicious smell.

I’m praying for my son while he sleeps, even though he didn’t and wouldn’t ask. As I pray, I’m thanking God for the woman who loves him with a tenderhearted love and who reached out to make sure someone was here when she had to be gone.

I wonder if that’s how God feels when His people rally around those in trouble, the hurting, those sick to their stomachs with grief. I wonder if He says, “Bless you, dear one,” to those who care so much they’ll call in reinforcements rather than leave the hurting person alone to fend for himself or herself.

My son is temporarily broken. But it’s a deep comfort to know someone else loves him.

Our churches and neighborhoods are full of broken people. Can God count on us to love them? For whom are you making spiritual chicken soup today?

PRAYER: Lord God, our Healer and Sustainer, it’s an honor to care for the hurting in Your Name. When I get caught up in my own schedules, my own routines, my own problems, yank my chain, Lord. Jerk me back into consciousness of those all around me who need someone to sit with them for a while, listen to them, or to love the ones they love no matter what’s going on in their lives.

“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:36 NIV).

Back to the Basics

By Pat Hodges –

The other day I was listening to Christian talk radio and a caller called in. I immediately noticed two things. First, he misquoted scripture and then he misapplied it in his conversation with the radio show host. The radio show host never challenged the caller on the misquote or challenged him on the misapplication of the scripture. I could understand this happening once, but this has happened numerous times on this radio program. The sad thing about is, the radio host claimed to be a minister of the gospel and claimed to be a pastor of a church.

In a day and age when most Christians rarely take the time to open their Bibles, let alone read them except on Sundays, we’ve learned to subsist on Bible “bytes.” A Bible “byte” is much like a sound byte. It can be easily manipulated and twisted to fit whatever we want it to say and mean.

Have you ever heard someone quoted, knowing the quote was totally twisted and taken out of context? It’s happening more and more in some media venues. That’s what can be done with a Bible byte and it seems to be happening more often than not. This is not just limited to the Bible, but it often shows up in our prayer lives to. We give God little snippets of prayer in our hurried chaotic lives. I find myself guilty of the same. God is looking for relationship, true relationship. Not a snippet of a prayer life that was once flourishing and is now withering on the vine.

Now is the time to come back to our First Love and rediscover the simplicity and joy of a prosperous devotional life and prayer life. This is the time to bring it back to the basics, and begin to rediscover who He really is, slow down a bit, and let Him really speak to our hearts, rather than wait for a sound byte from Him. Go ahead. Take the plunge of rediscovery.

Prayer: “Father, I thank you that you’re always present with me, but more than that, I thank you that you are so interested in me and my life that you honestly desire to be an integral part of it. I thank you for giving me the grace in the midst of my hurried chaotic schedule to take time out with you and for giving me a listening ear for what you have to say to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

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