Friend To Friend
As I sat on my screened-in porch early one Spring morning, I was taken aback with the beauty surrounding me. A layer of mist rose from the serene waters of the lake and hovered just above the surface. Sunrays slanting in from the east elongated shadows that all too soon would stand at attention in the noon-day sun. Pampas grass plumes praised their Creator with a gentle sway.
I held a steamy cup of coffee in my hand and placed my open, well-worn Bible in my lap. As if on cue, as had been our routine for the past several weeks, a visitor hopped from the shrubbery and onto the night-cooled patio. "Good morning Peter," I cooed to the little brown bunny I'd watched grow since early spring. "And how are you today?" I just love bunnies, I mused.
Peter skipped and jumped from bush to bush, and kicked up his heels like an Irishman ready to meet the day. As usual, he stopped right in front of the porch and blinked his big brown eyes as if to say "hello." Just as I was enjoying watching my furry friend, he hopped over to a flower pot, stood up on his hind legs, and yanked a rather large stem of petunia from the plant.
"Good grief," I moaned. "Stop that!" Bounding down the steps, I came face-to-face with the wrascally wrabbit. "Stop eating my flowers," I warned. "Get out of here. Shooo."
Apparently, the bunny didn't see me as much of a threat and didn't budge. He just continued munching away. I could have touched him if I'd wanted.
"I mean it," I continued. "Shooo." It wasn't until I clapped my hands several times that Peter scampered behind the bush to finish up his breakfast.
Back on the porch, I grabbed my lukewarm coffee and placed my Bible back in my lap. It wasn't long before a dainty hummingbird buzzed up to the hummingbird feeder just outside the screen. I watched in amazement as its wings fluttered and it hovered in mid-air. Iridescent colors of green and blue glistened in the sun. I just love hummingbirds, I whispered.
No sooner had the thought entered my head than a second hummingbird dive-bombed the first. Quickly a fight ensued. Beak to beak, they fought for their terrain. Right jab. Left stab. "Guys, stop it," I pled as if they cared. "There are six perches and enough nectar for the entire country. Good grief!" And as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone.
Taking a sip from my now cold coffee, I tried once again to concentrate on my open Bible. But in the corner of my mind, I saw our heron approaching. A beautiful heron lives on our lake and occasionally he passes our way. I marveled at his long legs pointing behind him and his slender beak leading the way. With exaggerated movements, he slowly flapped his magnificent blue-gray wings and glided before me. But then, like a Boeing 747 with a leak in the fuselage, a stream of poop fell from the bird and made a trail in the yard.
"Good grief," I moaned for the third time in one day.
Back to the Bible. As I tried to concentrate, God began speaking to my heart about what I had seen. "Are you willing to take the good with the bad?" He seemed to say.
"What do you mean, Lord?" I questioned.
"You love bunnies and they eat your plants. You love hummingbirds but they constantly fight. You love the heron but he makes a mess in your yard. Are you willing to take the good with the bad?"
"Well, yes. I am willing to take the good with the bad. I love your creatures!"
"What about people? "He seemed to continue. "If you are willing to take the good with the bad with mere animals, are you willing to take the good with the bad in people created in My image?"
"That's not funny, God," I argued.
"Well are you?"
And then, as God so often does in my life, He left me to think about it. I began to think about people in my life that I have rejected or relationships that I have walked away from because of annoying behavior or emotional messiness. It seems I was willing to take the good with the bad with God's creation- but when it came to people created in God's image...not so much.
God is a Master at taking the good with the bad. Abraham believed God, but he also made some terrible mistakes, namely Hagar. David was a man after God's own heart, but he committed murder and adultery. Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, but he was also a deceiver. Moses was a leader but he also struggled with taking matters into his own hands.
In the New Testament, we see the same pattern of Jesus taking the good with the bad. Peter was a bold believer, but he also was brash and impulsive. Martha was hospitable, but she was also bossy. Andrew was loving, but he was also loud (he wasn't called a son of thunder for nothing). Thomas was dutiful, but he was also doubtful.
And then there's the woman I look at in the mirror every morning. I'm not going to list my annoying qualities, but let me tell you they are there. And yet, God takes the good with the bad. He loves me even when I make a mess.
So here's the question for us today. Are we willing to take the good with the bad? Are we willing to overlook the annoying behavior of others and embrace their positive qualities instead? I'm going to leave you to think about it like God left me to think about that particular morning.
