Rainbow over Morgan Bay.
Today (17/11) it is Debbie’s 39th birthday and we are away for the night at Morgan Bay hotel. It is undoubtedly one of my favorite places in the world. The hotel is a family owned business and whenever I stay here I feel far mor like I am staying with old friends than booking into a hotel. The food is just what one needs of a family of 6, it’s tasty, not overly fancy and best of all there is a lot of it! The view is incomparable; from where I am sitting in my room, if I look to the right I can watch the sea endlessly trying to push back the black basaltic cliffs in a spray of angry white or looking over the other shoulder I can watch it gently spreading a silver veneer over the deserted beach. Two moods from one window, no wonder so many poets believe the sea is a woman! ;)beautiful but many different moods.
My three oldest kids and I went for a walk on the beach this afternoon in order to give Debbie some time to spend enjoying God. So they had Daddy time and so did she. When we got to the beach we began to talk about all the wonderful times we have had here as a family, the places we have stayed the games we have played and the fun we have had. As we walked past the dunes one of them said
“Remember when we played “armies” in the dunes Dad?”
One thing led to another and soon the teams were decided and the battle lines were drawn and I found myself reliving my childhood, sneaking through the bushes armed with a stick with a garrulous 5-year-old comrade in arms. I have to be honest and admit that the thought did cross my mind that I probably looked like an idiot to the couple who walked by just as we sprung our ambush on Jessica and Daniel with cries of “Bang! Bang!” however the thought crossed and didn’t lodge mainly because I was having so much fun, having fun with my kids! Dignity is so over rated! To my older kids great surprise (and to my delight) Dad’s team won the game 3-1. However it is apparent that my kids are quick learners and they are beginning to grasp my strategies and tricks, the morning’s inevitable outbreak of hostilities will certainly be interesting!
When I returned to the security of my room I could not help but reflect that God has taught me so much in the last three years by playing games with me which were of my choosing!
Three years ago when we first started experiencing the manifest presence of God in a new way I can remember the joy of playing in the anointing with my wife, children and friends. We would often do foolish things like “throw glory balls” at each other, “splash the presence” or “drink it” or some such seemingly silly thing and to our delight we would find that more often than not God would play right along with us and the person for whom we were praying would experience an unusual manifestation of the presence and would crumple to the floor overcome with laughter, shaking or something. There were time where we would do odd things half believing, half hoping something would happen-and then it would. As a result, we have developed a very playful culture but a powerful one. Yes, prayerful too, but there is no reason than serious prayers can’t be playful. I have told people that as we played we learned about the anointing, and that is part of the truth. However I realize that the greatest thing that we were learning was who our heavenly father is. I always knew he was powerful, good (in a moral sort of way), righteous etc, but playing with him has helped me to see one of the most wonderful things about him. He is fun!!!!!!
There are some things that you will only learn about God if you experience them, and many of things he wants to teach you by playing with you. He will often allow you to choose the game and suddenly life with God is no longer a dull but you find yourself creeping through the sand dunes and bushes around you wondering what he is up to now knowing that he is going to spring out in a moment, a laugh in his voice, smiling and shout “Bang” or “Bam” or some such thing. So you begin to look for him expectant. Joy returns.
Almost everyone I know, even many who do not know Jesus, are quick to believe in the redemptive nature of difficulty, that is in every hardship, tragedy and sorrow they say “maybe God is trying to teach me something”. It seems we are far quicker to see the hand of God in our pains than in our joys. That is because we still see God far more as our cosmic schoolmaster rather than out Heavenly Father.
When I began to see this side of God it affected everything around me, I used to power dress and take myself and “the ministry” real seriously. Now, more and more I dress comfortably and rely on Dad to cloth me with power, I don’t take myself as seriously and my ambition is increasingly simply to love God and people. Life has just become more fun.
Hold on, I think I heard something. God is up to something….yup that bush definitely moved….just how does one sneak up on the all seeing God of the universe? I just know he is going to jump out and bless me in a moment. Oh well, even If I can never beat God, just playing is winning. Shhh… 😉 I gotta go.
