Many of the people here have harvested their groundnuts (peanuts) and are spending long hours from daybreak to long past dark, protecting their rice from a variety of creatures, monkeys,, cutting grass (a cross between a very large rat and a groundhog), and birds. One or more members of the family must always be there to protect the precious heads of rice as they swell to fullness under the hot sun. I am struck by the survival perspective of the people here. They don't even imagine abundance, they simply strain towards the hope that they might have almost enough. Not having "feeding" for a day or two is practically normal, and pretty much expected. A good harvest is one that will allow them to eat for the year and plant a farm of equal size next year. The very idea of having "enough" is a luxurious thought.
Yet, God is a God of abundance. He can do abundantly more than all that we ask or imagine... How can the people here possibly even grasp that idea?? To be really honest, I am not sure that I do. I am coming to the realization that the God that I think I believe in is actually confined to the cell of my imagination. We were discussing the children of Israel in Bible study the other morning (we are going through Hebrews) and Noah asked why the children of Israel didn't understand about the greatness of God when His wonders and signs were right in front of them. Good question, right?? I think I often pridefully think that I would not be like them... but, I really am. How quickly I forget, or worse, don't even notice His blessings and interventions in my life.
As I pondered this I started to get hungry... Hungry to experience the God that really is, the one that can shatter my world with His abundance, fracture my expectations with His goodness, and explode my imagination with His blessings. I want to shudder with awe-filled terror at the unlimited power of the God who shook Mt. Sinai with His voice, parted the Red Sea with His hand, and sent fire from heaven to Elijah's altar, yet still speaks to each of us with a still small voice in the quiet of our hearts...
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:
Earth's crammed with Heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes-
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries
I don't want to be a berry eater when there is a chance to set people free...do you?
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