“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matthew 5:44

Plant zinnias, reap zinnias.

February 24, 2019. My apologies to those who may not be enjoying sunshine today! You will eventually.

It’s been two weeks since I shared a thought or two here; (thank you Linda Pugh for missing me) and as of Wednesday, I was finished with 2018 tax preparation for our farming operation. Whew! I don’t know which was worse, that, or the torrential rainfall of this month! Neither one inspired me to write (Understatement). The sunshine of this morning couldn’t be more welcome, and I know you were happy to see it too!

We had a truly inspirational Ladies Retreat this weekend with four fabulous speakers who brought inspiration from the depths of their hearts. Chelsea Hendrick, Rebecca Simons, Vicki Simmons and Kelly Mackey each filled us with encouragement from real life hard stuff, and I applaud them for allowing us to warm our hearts by the fires of their own trials. The light from all the beautiful hearts present this weekend helped me find my way through another otherwise gloomy weekend.

Speaking of light, have you noticed how one color takes on different hues according to the light around it? Paint on the wall in morning light, a dress on the rack under fluorescent light, or even your make-up in daylight compared to the bathroom bulbs, have all looked so different in varying sources of light.  Just like those colors, my understanding can change somewhat under the light of different moods. I know I’m not alone in this. So, I’m thinking it was this glorious sunshine that made me happy to get out of bed, even before the alarm sounded, and even made me wear a purple shirt! No, I’m not a purple girl; give me greens and blues, yellows and browns, but I leave purple to my daughter, Stephanie. She loves it. Maybe it was even the bright morning, on the heels of the awesome speakers, that made me see something I hadn’t before, as we looked this morning at the sermon on the mount by Jesus.

The meaning of turning the other cheek, blessing your enemies and praying for persecutors is still what I’ve always thought – be like Jesus. And it is still in hopes of helping them see God, and pointing to Jesus. I also believe it is to praise God since we are “in His image”.  But what struck me this morning – and I’m sure most of you already knew this – is that it’s also about the one being spoken to here; the stricken, the persecuted, the wronged. God loves His children like we love ours, but more. And He is perfect in the instruction He gives us, for our own sakes! As I read Matthew 5, I thought of the heart as fertile ground, which we all know sprouts what is planted in it. The more it is cultivated, the more it produces, and eventually you no longer see the ground, but the leaves, vines, and blossoms of the garden.  What if God said, curse those who curse you, go ahead and stir the strife when another starts it, and tell the world how unfairly you were treated. Oh my, what a harvest of hardened hateful feelings we would be growing; and rather than perfecting the peace of Jesus, we would be perfecting the practice of evil.  He knew that to cultivate peace and goodness, we need to practice it in the fertile soil of our hearts. Oh yes, I’ve done it both ways! And I can tell you first hand that in the days when I spit back in the spite of others’ meanness, I felt the strife. When I learned to pray for them, I felt the peace and warmth that God desires us to feel. Isn’t He wise? How marvelous to bask in the sunshine of His love for us!

Verse 45 of Matthew 5 finishes Jesus’ thought: “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Have a beautiful week, whether rain or sun, bless others and be blessed!