Sometimes an idea for a blog will practically hit me in the head, and then there's weeks like this. It seemed like every way that we turned something was going wrong. I didn't think that I had really prepared enough to write anything because I was so caught up in all the "wrongness" in our lives right now. (So do you want to know, really? Ok, here you go. Our grandson graciously shared his stomach bug with each and every one of the Chadwick family, along with several of the other side of his family. And it wasn't pretty. We had to miss church a couple of times, and it seemed that in itself just made the week feel all wrong. Someone I care about is about to leave this life. An unexpected encounter with chiggers is driving me nuts. And just this morning our ice maker bit the dust.) But I made a promise to God that I will honor Him with my words, and even though I'm not exactly sure where this will go, I'm going to write about dew because that's the topic that keeps nagging away in my little brain, in spite of the stomach bug and the chiggers and the ice maker.
But the title says "Dew On The Roses" and here's a picture of dew on a spider web. What's up with that?
When we moved from our house on the highway to our forever home in the pasture, we had no yard whatsoever. We were smack dab in the middle of the cow pasture - literally. So after 6 years, we're slowly beginning to see the results of the early years here. We have a few flowers, a few trees, a few shrubs. Green grass is a day-to-day situation. We've sat on our back porch and enviously watched life-sustaining drenching rains come as far as our fence line and then just stop. Although Stan waters every day, it's just not the same as a good downpour from God. We've become quite appreciative of a good heavy dew that comes down like manna during the night while we sleep. Without that dew and those somewhat cool evenings, I'm sure that our grass would have never known anything but brown.
But again, what's up with that spider web?
I've been watching the newest member of our rose bush family struggle throughout the summer. It's pitiful at times. My friend, Linda V., will post pictures of her beautiful last roses of summer and they look like something out of a magazine. She has the green thumb touch. Me, not so much. So I go to the back yard every morning to see if it's time for last rites to be offered for my pitiful rose. But as I sat with my coffee on the back porch a few days ago (still somewhat weak from the hand-me-down stomach bug), I noticed the most beautiful, intricate, dew-covered spider web. I'm not sure how the overnight dew was welcomed by the spider, but it was a pretty sight nonetheless. I have no real fear of spiders as long as there is a fair distance between us, and I've been watching this particular spider work her magic every day, weaving her handiwork between the railings of the porch. She is not deterred that a cat will probably destroy it. She doesn't seem to be discouraged that flying insects know to avoid her trap. She just knows that she has a job to do, and she puts her whole little spider heart into it. Although she may not have a deep spider appreciation for the nightly dew that falls, I look at her beautiful spider web and see God's beauty and God's provision. Not only is there dew every morning on the spider web, and the brown grass, and the last of our summer garden, there is always dew on my rose bush, nudging it along to better health.
And isn't that exactly what God does for our souls? If we will only be aware, we can see that God provides for us much like He does for the hard working spider, the brown grass, the pitiful rose. The sole purpose of my pitiful red rose is just to be there and look pretty, but it's not yet had the chance to do that. But then comes the early morning dew after a cool night, and my pitiful rose looks just a little better each day. My little spider seems to be weaving her web just a little stronger and today she had captured a pesky fly. The brown grass is not quite as crunchy as it was even a week ago.
So ironically (not really at all), the devotion I read this morning out of "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young says, "As dew refreshes grass and flowers during the stillness of the night, so My Presence revitalizes you as you sit quietly with Me." There's that "dew" word again. Soothing, refreshing. And of course I remember the lines to one of my favorite old hymns, "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses." That old hymn reminds us to spend a little quite time with our Precious Savior. Just as a cup of coffee with a dear friend on the back porch in the cool of the morning is so very soothing and refreshing, so is time spent in God's word and in prayer.
Lessons learned from my hard working spider and my not-quite-so-pitiful roses. Just imagine what God can do for us!
"And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."
