Learning to Cherish

Do you also tend to feel a sense of frustration/astonishment as you read in Exodus, how God freed the children of Israel fromtheir bondage and oppression in Egypt in ways that they beheld His mighty power,Then how, though they had a visual reminder of His presence in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, (Ex.13:21) How, though God parted the Red Sea so they passed through on dry ground, before the waters swallowed up the Egyptian army pursuing them.and yet, how quickly their praise turned to murmuring when they were hungry and thirsty,when present unpleasantness drew their attention and worship from He who had proven faithful over and over...Oh!!! suddenly this sounds very familiar! forgive me, Lord!! Moses' reprimand to the children of Israel is the same for you and me...Because if we believe we too have been freed from bondage and oppression in the wilderness of Sin! (I jotted half of this poem yesterday from a totally different train of thoughtbefore finishing it this morning after today's scripture reading from Exodus!) We take it as it comes; Blossoms and butterfliesWishes that don’t come true and some that do to our surpriseWe cannot seize what was or leap beyond todaySo, we cherish what is because there is no other way We take it as it is; of new not yet turned oldOf old that once was younger and of gray that once was goldWe cannot stay the hands that mark the march of timeSo, we cherish duty’s demands and beauty’s season-chime We take it as it goes; the high road and the lowWhere only God, who grants it knows what life waits to bestowTo teach us how to trust and love Him all our daysTo cherish His goodness to us and live a life of praise To He who does not faint or weary of our cryMay we withhold thankless complaint and vanity of 'why' But cherish that which flows from Mercy's patient nod/rodWhat comes, what is, what goes unfurls the soul's return to God © Janet Martin ...in the morning we shall see the glory of the Lord!Ex.16:7 Isa. 40:28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.