By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, M.A.

Some of the most impressive words once heard in a sermon involved the uniqueness of each living person: “Each of us has love to give to God—that no one else can give.”

As exquisite as this blue planet appears, there is something even more beautiful. The giftedness, talents and abilities plus the endurance and determination that is instilled in us by God and that flows from us daily. Herein lies the earth’s richest resource. And, the greatest of all is love.

At times, it may be hard to believe there is any great, innate specialness about ourselves. We might even buy into the lie that the gist of life lies in accumulating money and things, getting the degrees “we need” . . . achieving—while knowing the right people—and being “beautiful.” This is the “word” of the world but should not become our all-consuming drive. Watch out, though, because environmental conditioning is strong. The media is pervasive, telling us continually that we need this or that to be “enough” or, so we can be happy. Refuting such deceiving falsehood means we invest ourselves in finding what is true. And, the truth is a good life is all about how we identify and relate in love!

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Love shines, especially in families. The following letter of a son to his parents portrays the power family has in finding faith:

“Today, I wanted to reach out to my mother and dad and thank you for loving and supporting me. Your support and love has allowed me to understand how to love and support others and to believe in myself. I am not perfect, by nature I am very aggressive and seek challenges from all comers yet your loving kind spirits taught me to pick my battles and to love my family. MOM-you gave me life, love, support, strength and desire to follow Jesus. DAD-you loved my mother, calmed her fears and provided a road map for how a man should work, support and care for his family. When I was a teenager I trembled with fear God would take my mother (then with a long term, major illness). And, through it all, I have learned to not focus on my fears but to focus on giving things beyond my control to God. Today, as I continue my journey of wisdom, I reflect on the examples of your lives and want you to know I am thankful for you.”

Perhaps you know those who have suffered horrendous wounds—or, losses causing great upheaval. You have seen how these experiences changed much about how life is for them, or for your own family. Arising from that and living past it is what makes us like the proverbial Phoenix that finds us coming out of the ashes of pain, arising to make as much good happen as possible while here on planet earth. Moving past great difficulties—or helping another live past what has happened to them—includes acceptance of the mix we have in this life, both good and bad. In the end, life can become transformed through this “resurrection,” which resonates with the Christian story.

Sometimes this happens while carrying another (or others) within a life of prayer. Having an ailing child, parent or spouse, may bring out in us some of the greatest of all virtues: perseverance, humility, patience and generosity of heart. These are not things we seek or want but they can truly become “riches,” making us more able to be compassionate, accepting and forgiving of others. When all is said and done, we learn that love is the greatest entity in the universe.

A question I hear, at points, within my work as a chaplain is, “What does God expect of me?” I know the answer to the question is something that each individual has to discover for herself or himself. Yet, I am able to read or recite the Twenty-third Psalm to them and to ask, “How hard would it be to just put your trust in a loving God and let Him lead you through life, then on into eternity when it is time for life on earth to end?”

In truth, letting the great, loving Shepherd lead us through all the ups and “down-unders” of life tenderizes the heart and softens us through our simply letting love lead. It is the fact of finding ourselves so very loved by God that brings tenderness to our hearts . . . making us exceedingly able to give that love to others.

Joy Le Page Smith, MA, is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain. Visit her home page for many more helpful articles addressing life’s difficulties and Quick Aids. Meanwhile, Joy’s blog and her books are read in up to 32 countries. Her second site is at Healingwithjoy.blogspot.com

Years ago, at our Idaho home, I found a stalk of corn growing in my petunias. This was odd as the petunia boxes are on our deck ten feet above ground. No doubt the corn was planted by a bird as the bird feeder hangs on the top deck rail directly above this solitary stalk.

This would be fun, I thought— to sit at the table and watch the growth of an ear of corn while on our patio. Not ever having been a vegetable gardener, I had a lot to learn. About the time of the first signs of an ear were expected, sprigs of grain-like shoots took off from the trunk and quickly turned to seed. What went wrong?

Recently, I discovered from a farmer the reason my corn could not produce in the petunia box. He told me about the “bull rows,” how corn is planted four rows without tassels and one row with tassels; the tasseled row being the bull row, would pollinate the others. When the wind blows across the field pollen is distributed, allowing a crop to form.

Thoughts of my “not-so-real corn” has returned, seeming to carry a spiritual message of how we are the plantings of the Lord. The wind of the Holy Spirit blows perpetually and gently upon us.

John 3:6-8 tells us, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes . . .” (John 3:9-21 explain the “how to” of being “born of the Spirit.”)

We receive truth and we share this truth with others. Thus, we bring life to one another. Each in turn, we are born of the Spirit. Therefore this truth is carried from heart to heart, generation after generation, the fruit of goodness–”Godness.” This is how the truth of our Redeemer has continued for 2,025 years, now.

It is no credit of ours that we bear fruit. Only by the wind of the Spirit can this take place. Without the gentle blowing of God’s Spirit across our souls, we would stand alone as did my “fake corn,” wither and finally die.

The farmer also believed another problem existed for my lonely stalk of corn. Having never formed a tassel, it was no doubt of a hybrid variety, meaning it was a “one shot” affair. There could be no corn for the second year. Man had tampered with it to make it bigger and better. The results? One glorious show, but not regeneration. No future. Soon deemed to become effete.

This is what happens to us when we try to run our lives regardless of God’s plan? Strangely enough, we think our ways are better. We may put ourselves through the mill to be that “somebody” that will do “something significant,” all the time ignoring the fact that deep within God has encoded us with His design, one which He knows full well will be most productive and long lasting. Even eternal.

Our part is fairly simple—just yield Him a quiet, willing heart, open and receptive to the wind of the Spirit. Then, our potential crop of fruit, lying within, can and does come forth.

Our human nature goes against yielding ourselves to the blowing of the Spirit, which means moving with God, entering the glorious dance of “yes”–letting the Master rule and reap in the harvest of the heart.

But, thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ all things are possible. Even to the finding of inner strength to bend our wills to His. So hypothetically, both the knee and the will are called to bend when we are walking with the Lord. In this way, we can better catch the prevailing Wind while advancing in our spiritual growth.

Author info. Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith is a Board certified clinical chaplain. She is reaching readers with her books and websites in up to 32 countries. View her children’s book as a YouTube at healingwithjoy.blogspot.com Also, find many helpful articles addressing life’s difficulties at Healing-with-Joy.com