The Toad...

When my wife and I moved to North Carolina in the summer of 2014, we rented an apartment for a little over a year that was situated close to our oldest daughter and her husband, in the town of Morrisville.  Then after countless fact-finding trips around the area, we purchased a home in a rural neighborhood about a half hour south of Raleigh, near the town of Fuquay-Varina.

The country neighborhood consisted of 38 houses, each with about an acre of property, located on two streets that dead-ended into forested areas.  Our property was located in the back of the community and edged up to forested areas on two sides. 

In the waning years of my wife’s life, as the ravages of Alzheimer’s continued to take their toll on her, that house became a peaceful refuge and retreat for us.  We could go out on the covered front porch in the mornings to enjoy a cup of coffee, read the Bible and take in the sights and sounds of the neighborhood.  Then in the late afternoon, retreat to the back deck, as the day came to an end, and watch and listen to the wide array of colorful birds that lived in the trees around us.

Because of its proximity to the pine forests, we had all kinds of critters visit us over the four years that we lived there.  You name it… and we saw it!  From snakes, to hawks, to voles, beautiful Cardinals, rabbits, deer and even a sighting of a bear near our neighborhood.  But for me… Okay don’t laugh… the worst was the ugly big brown toads that appeared at night… and especially the one that would come up on our deck and sit near the siding doors!

So, yes!  I admit it… I don’t care for frogs or toads!  I could put up with the small green tree frogs that came down to our little pond and croaked like a duck on summer evenings… but the toads… Well, there is no way that I wanted them around and worse yet… to sneak into the house when I went out back! 

So, I determined to keep him out and learned to tap on the glass or to lead with the dog each night when I took one of the pooches out for their last adventure before bedtime.  (Which was funny because Piper – when she was healthy - had a natural curiosity and absolutely no inhibition toward just about any creature and would pick them up to examine them… and there I was, her big brave husband taking care of her and disturbed by a little amphibian!!!)

Then to rub salt in the womb… On the first night of when the kids all flew out to visit us in 2017, our oldest son Josh went outback to look around… and low and behold… came back in with that TOAD in a jar, and preceded to show everyone and take pictures for his kids to see back home in California!  Ahhhhh!  So, I immediately made him take it back out and PROHIBITED him from bringing it in again!   ---------

That’s kind of a long introduction to the short point I wanted to bring up this morning, but it is a good… be it funny… example!  When I was studying in my Bible this morning, I felt led to turn over to a very familiar, often quoted portion of scripture, found in the Psalms.  Here in the 23^rd Psalm, David begins by declaring,

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (KJV) 

The modern Passion Translation give us a little more color and definition to the verse by explaining that,

“The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough.” 

I was drawn to The Passion’s expounded verbiage because of the thought and personal experience I had when I first got to know and understand my future wife’s relationship with Christ back in high school… and then later on, as I began to experience it myself.  Mainly that the Lord really can be your “best friend” and that by faith in His promises, we can have the potential to “always have more than enough.”

The original Hebrew definition of this phrase in the King James holds the key!  According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions, the “I shall not” describes someone who has made up their mind to “never” allow or exercise “absolute prohibition” of lack in their lives.  It is a love-of-the-Lord based action that takes the right attitude, a firm conviction of faith and some hard and consistent work on your behalf!  The Oxford Online Dictionary defines the word ‘prohibit’ as the action “of refusing someone or something entry to a place or area in your life.”

My example above with the toad is funny, but I was determined and refused to allow that critter in my house!  On the more serious side, when Piper was sick, we had a plan that we felt was led of the Lord… and when I stepped out and quit my job at The Home Depot to care for her 24/7… I took on the attitude that I would prohibit any thought or presence of lack in our finances or with her medical care.  I was determined to believe for His provision, while at the same time, to do all that I could to bring in a regular income… in the face of some very vocal deterrents within our circle of family and friends who continually told us that we were going to go broke and be out on the street!

And as I’ve joyfully reported before… it wasn’t necessarily the easiest path to take… but it was the best one for Piper and her needs… and the Lord kept to the promises in His Word and every need of ours was met (sometimes very creatively… but they were ALL met… to the point as The Passion Translation put it… “to have more than enough!”)

Now, this post doesn’t tell the specific workings of this subject, but it does serve to get you thinking and introduce this truth to you!  I’ll get into more of the “inside workings” of this process in the next few posts!  So… think about it and in the meantime – keep working on and developing your friendship with the Lord - through personal time in His Word, through prayer and at church!

Have a great rest of your week, keep seeking Him and in doing so… EXPECT His BEST!