“Waste Not, Want not, is a maxim I would teach,
Let your watchword be dispatch* and practice what you preach,
Do not let your chances like sunbeams pass you by,
For you never miss the water till the well runs dry.”
*Dispatch: promptness and efficiency in performance or transmission
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I heard this chorus a lot when I was growing up. I’m not sure I understood it, but I liked the catchy tune.
I was reminded of it recently while I watched the sparrows, with gay abandon, fling the last of the seed from the feeders until it was all on the ground. There, ground feeders took over, and it was truly all gone.
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That was at the end of February. According to the calendar, spring was right around the corner. Little did we know that March would bring Covid-19 and the world would grind to a halt.
No one could have anticipated the magnitude of loss. Add to that the climate changes that have burned or flooded so much or our country. Loss upon loss upon loss: social contacts, free movement, health and financial security, the optimism that “tomorrow will be better.” And the fear that nothing will ever be the same. We miss “the water,” the water we may not have appreciated, that we took for granted.
I am guilty of not appreciating everything God does for me. The truth is that I do not earn or deserve blessing; it is a gift of grace. And so I find myself placed again where I can learn that lesson, the class that everyone seems to be taking right now: You know that your brothers and sisters all over the world are having the same sufferings that you have. 1 Peter 5:9b Easy-to-Read Version
But at the end, God promises restoration.
Yes, you will suffer for a short time. But after that, God will make everything right. He will make you strong. He will support you and keep you from falling. He is the God who gives all grace. 1 Peter 5:10a Easy-to-Read Version
First suffering, then strength – and grace. So I will practice honoring the One from Whom all blessings – past, present, and future – flow.
I will learn the lesson, because I absolutely do not want to repeat this class!