Who is in Your Details?

April 22, 2024

I am a hopeless nerd. I love all things “wordy.” I often find myself lost in the meanings of the words and phrases we use every day. This past weekend, as I recovered from a majorly stressful, roller coaster ride type of week, I pondered a specific idiom.

 

How many times have you heard the expression “the devil is in the details?” It is an idiom that alludes to hidden problems in the tiny aspects of a situation. If you don’t pay attention, those problems can destroy you. The idiom became popular sometime in the 1960’s. The interesting thing I discovered is that it is derived from an idiom that is its antithesis. 

 

I had no clue that the original expression was  "Le bon Dieu est dans le détail" or “the good God is in the detail” and was attributed to French artist Gustave Flaubert nearly 100 years earlier. Aby Warburg, a German art historian, is known to have used “Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail” as a subtitle for a seminar he taught at the University of Hamburg in 1925-1926. Whatever a person chooses to do should be done thoroughly with attention to details.

 

Isn’t it interesting that the focus of the idiom shifted over time from the goodness of God to the negativity of the devil? Slowly our hearts were turned from the confidence of God in the midst of the details of our lives to a sense of fear and anxiety. 

 

The details of our transition to missions, my transition to retirement, all of the “stuff” that Reed usually took care of, etc. have been overwhelming. My thoughts have definitely been leaning towards the devil being in the details. Just like the idiom evolved over time, my heart was sliding from confidence in God to work out the details of His call on our lives to my own worries and fears. Within the space of less than 24 hours this past week, God presented a buyer for our pontoon and a buyer for our house. Yet again, He reminded me who He is. 

 

Matthew 6:25-30 has been a favorite passage of mine for several months now. It’s a perfect reminder that I should never worry about the devil being in the details, but should instead trust that God is ALWAYS in the midst of the details of my life. 

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 

 

So, who is in your details today?

~~Donna~~

Me? A Missionary? Seriously?

February 8, 2024

Every time I talk about what God is doing in our lives, I stutter over the word missionary. I find myself waiting for someone to snort out loud with derisive laughter and call me out. I'm certain that someone will eventually point out all of the reasons why I would never be qualified or "good enough" for such a calling. After all, I have a list of those reasons constantly playing in my head, so why shouldn't someone else be able to see them?

 

I grew up in a strong Christian home with parents who taught me about following Jesus. They taught me about missions and even went on short term mission trips with me as a teenager.

 

Somewhere along the way, I began forming my own stereotype of a missionary. I defined all missionaries as humble, gentle people who sacrificed everything--even their lives--to go and serve other people. Missionaries willingly lived in poverty and suffered. They were good, obedient, and submissive to the Lord.  They never missed a daily devotion and always did what God wanted them to do. They were spiritual role models--they radiated a holiness and an intensely personal relationship with God.  They were like God's own fine china.

 

In other words...a missionary was something I could never be. 

 

I wasn't gentle. I wasn't humble. I was more like a prickly cactus. During college especially, I was not good or obedient!  I didn't want to sacrifice anything--I already had plans for my life and living in a grass hut in Africa wasn't one of them. I wanted my dream: a husband, children, a home, and the Leave It To Beaver life--minus June's pearls though. I did not believe that God would choose someone like me to do anything as radical as becoming a "missionary." I knew that I would never be worthy of that assignment. Why use an ordinary paper plate when you could use fine bone china? 

 

So what changed? Did God work some miracle and give my personality a makeover? Nope. I'm still not gentle, humble, good, or obedient. I can still be prickly. I'm still an ordinary paper plate. I still don't think I'm worthy of this assignment. I still look at God and say, "Seriously? Are you sure you have the right person? You do remember all that stuff you know about me, right?" 

 

He does. He knows it all. He knows my fears, my anxieties, my physical limitations, my past...and still He calls me. At 58 years of age, I am doing stuff I never dreamed I would do. I'm a little freaked out and overwhelmed, but I'm trusting Him. I know for certain that He is taking all of the things that (in my opinion) disqualify me from being a missionary, and He plans to use those very things to bring glory to His name. How? I have no idea. Thankfully, I don't have to figure that part out. He will. 

 

John 14:12 says, "Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I am going to the Father." 

 

John 15:5 says, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

 

I believe in Him. I'm abiding in Him. Guess that means He can make even an old paper plate like me into a missionary for His glory. 

And He is able to do the same with you.

~~~Donna~~~