Transparent Trespasses

Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. Isaiah 61:7

                                                   

In the Old Testament, The first born son of the family received the inheritance. Tying the Old Testament to the new… we as children of God are His first born and we are to receive our inheritance in heaven. When we identify ourselves as Christians, we then have the freedom to work for His honor and glory. The opportunity to have a job, to continually serve in all things, and a reason to rejoice that gives us everlasting joy.

As we move through our lives, God brings people to support us and assist us with our decisions. When we have Godly friends that really know us….. That is a blessing! You have heard me state the phrase many times that God puts the RIGHT people at the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time to do His will.

Last week my husband and I planned a boat trip with another couple down the Intracoastal Waterway.

We were to all meet at the marina at 9:00 a.m. to pull out for our adventure. Bobby and I spent the night on the boat the night before and we were busy getting things ready for the arrival of our friends in an hour. The phone rings and “ you guessed it”… they were delayed and instead being only an hour away, they were just pulling out for their 2 hour travel to get to us.  Putting the time line in perspective… This was the first of a domino effect of events yet to come. My husband then had a problem with the boat that was not evident earlier, the friends called and informed us that they had to turn around ten minutes from their home, after their departure due to one thinking that the other had completed a task and after their conferring in the car, they realized the other had not completed and so.. on…

My first reaction was, “Satan, get behind us!” As we worked through the series of events to finally depart the marina 3 hours later than planned, my thoughts moved from negative to positive. Why am I to question the series of events in our life? God’s timing is perfect!  Did the late departure of our friends and the boat problem put us at a location to complete a task or answer the prayer of someone else?  Was there a danger that we were averted from?

We did find out that during the time that we were scheduled to come through a very narrow passage, the channel was narrow and shallow with silt. If we had gotten to that point three hours earlier, we would have had less water. Going through the passage when we did, we only registered 2 ½ feet of water below the hull. What would it have been at a lower tide table? Was this danger avoided due to the timing of our domino effect events in our lives?

All of the people that we interact with and speak with or smile to are put in our path for a reason. I want to make sure that I am not an obstacle in someone’s path but a support.  I also celebrate with my friends. I think that with our Godly friends and family, we need to remove the PRIDEFUL facade and allow our hearts to be humbled. When friends and family share JOY… it is doubled. When SORROW is shared… it is halved. 

Who do you have in your life that you can truly experience transparent trespasses? Are you aware of the many blessings that are present everyday… even the engine problems, the flat tire and the birds singing outside the window?