"Underneath the Mulch"

"We walk by faith, not by sight." II Corinthians 5:7

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

Dear Friends,

A few weeks ago, my son went to Lowe's and bought a truckload of shredded hardwood mulch to put on our flower bed. I had read in my Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening book by Howard Garrett (www.dirtdoctor.com) and Malcolm Beck http://www.malcolmbeck.com/, that shredded hardwood bark was the second best mulch you can use. Pine bark mulch, which is so common and popular in the south, leaches phenols (used for disinfectants and other household chemicals) and other toxins into the soil, and the flat pieces can seal off oxygen to the soil. Although we have often used pine bark mulch in the past, Lowe's had the hardwood shredded mulch for about the same price, so we went with the hardwood to mulch our flower beds. Mulch has various uses and according to the book , "Mulch is a covering placed on top of the soil to help conserve moisture, buffers the soil from temperature extremes, shades out weeds, looks good, increases the tilth of the soil, and supplies food for the microorganisms and nutrients for the soil." By the way, in case you're wondering, shredded cedar mulch is the very best, according to the Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening Book. I think we ended up putting about 30 or more bags of mulch onto our flower beds that weekend, and i never dreamed i would be writing about it a few weeks later.
The LORD brought a picture to my mind as i wrote last week about my flower gardening blooming so beautifully, but it seemed "dead" and lifeless just a few weeks before. I shared how "I was reminded about the lessons from nature, that what seemed "dead" was very much alive, even though we can't see what GOD is doing "underneath the mulch." When that phrase came to my mind...i knew then that there was more to that phrase to "chew on." As i have been "chewing on it" this week, I am reminded that GOD asks me to trust HIM in faith, not to have to "see" what HE is doing beneath the surface to believe HIM.
As i sat in my rocking chair on my front porch a few days ago, looking out over the flowers, i thought about what GOD is doing "underneath the mulch." There is so much going on "underneath the mulch" like little living microbes busily feeding the soil to make it healthy for the plants to grow, roots are being fed through the water and nutrients it gets from the soil, worms are keeping the soil aerated and giving it oxygen, etc. All these are actively taking place "under the mulch," which helps feed the soil as it breaks down. The soil "underneath the mulch" is hidden, but very much alive, and a huge part of what's going on above the surface where the petunias, roses, day lilies, and pansies are blooming so bountifully.
I don't know about ya'll... but in my humanness, i had much rather enjoy the beauty of the flowers above the surface, than trust for what's going on "underneath the mulch..."in other words, i like to walk by sight, not by faith, where i can see, but GOD stretches me to "walk by faith, not by sight." II Cor. 5:7.
These week in my Bible study, it seems like everything i've read keeps drawing me back to living "Underneath the Mulch" or walking by faith where i cannot see the results yet, but have to trust the LORD. A couple of days ago, i was reading in my Bible Psalm 57:2-3, I will cry out to GOD Most High, To GOD who performs all things for me. HE shall send from heaven and save me..." Out beside that verse i had written, 5-06-06, EHCD Dallas Thyroid Med. I was out in Dallas at the clinic, which has been very common to me these past several years in May, except this year-Yea!!!!-i've spent two or three Mother's Day's out there and that was no fun. The continuing saga of trying to get the right thyroid med in me that i could tolerate was very much where i was walking "underneath the mulch." I had been trying some thyroid medicine the previous several months before that i couldn't tolerate too well, and this was my heart's cry to the LORD to help me. If i am not mistaken, the LORD, a few days later, led me to see the doctor who has worked so diligently with me to find things i could tolerate to help my thyroid. This has been a journey, and just last week, my doctor emailed me and told me that my thyroid was "almost in balance." Praise the LORD! This has definitely been a "walk of faith," and i am so thankful the LORD graciously reminded me this week, of how HE has been working 'underneath the mulch" to "perform all things for me."
As I shared last week, this answered prayer has not come without a cost, and i am reminded of the cross that JESUS died on for me and you and rose from the dead. How his Mother and disciples and friends wept, as their hearts were broken as HE suffered and died on the cross. They too were asked to wait as CHRIST was buried, "underneath the mulch" and then rose from the dead, to give resurrection life 3 days later! Their sorrow was turned to joy, and so is ours, as CHRIST transforms the sorrows in our lives into joy as we offer them up to HIM, and wait patiently for HIM to bring forth life as HE works "underneath the mulch."
As the LORD reminded me of how HE has been working in this area of my life, as i wait on HIM to work in another area "underneath the mulch," i thought of dear friends and family that i know who are walking in faith as they trust the LORD to work "underneath the mulch" where they can't see. I think of several on my prayer list who have adult children who don't know CHRIST, even though they were raised in a CHRISTian home and the parents are trusting the LORD's work "underneath the mulch" to give their children a new heart, that will one day bloom into salvation and bear much fruit for CHRIST. These parents can't see what GOD is doing, and things seem even "dead" at times, but they continue to trust GOD and pray diligently and fervently, and learn to endure patiently, as they wait for GOD to do HIS work "underneath the mulch," in their children's hearts.
I think of our dear friend Van Smith, whose wife Ann, 56, went to be with CHRIST in heaven last week. Van and his children are definitely having to trust the LORD, "underneath the mulch," for what they can't see...and believe GOD's promise that they will one day be reunited with Ann in heaven because of what CHRIST has done for us on the cross. "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that JESUS died and rose again and so we believe that GOD will bring with JESUS those who have fallen asleep in HIM." I Thessalonians 4:13
Some friends of ours who are a dear brother and sister in the LORD are running for Congress, Wayne and Lisa Parker (www.wayneparker08.com). They too, are having to trust the LORD "underneath the mulch." Just a few short months ago, they were enjoying their sweet family life, and it wasn't even on their "radar" that in a few short weeks, they, along with their four children would be thrust in the middle of a campaign for U.S. Congress. The Congressman who has been serving for many years, suddenly announced his upcoming retirement leaving his position available. Through a series of fast circumstances, GOD quickly opened the doors and lead them into "HIS enterprises," where they've found themselves in the midst of a battle, a spiritual battle, running for Congress. Their world has been changed dramatically, and they too are learning more lessons in trusting GOD, "underneath the mulch" for what HE is doing.
Earlier this week, reading from Oswald's Chamber's, My Utmost for HIS Highest," i read this quote for May 7th "...We can never work for GOD. JESUS takes us over for HIS enterprises, HIS building schemes entirely, and no soul has any right to claim where he shall be put." I certainly could relate to that quote being taken over by JESUS for HIS enterprises and asked my friend whose husband is running for Congress if she could relate...she very definitely could:). JESUS does take us over for "HIS Enterprises" to work where HE is building, and HE asks us to trust HIM "underneath the mulch," where we can't see what HE's doing.
This lesson of "JESUS taking us over for HIS enterprises" is very real to me, as i have shared with you the love that CHRIST has put in my heart for "a friend," and to pray continually for that friend's salvation. This "friend" lives elsewhere, and i can't possibly see what CHRIST is doing in her life...I just have to trust the LORD "underneath the mulch," that HE is working beneath the surface that i can't see to bring salvation and healing to her life. I have to confess, one day i'm up and the next day i'm down, but the urge and desire to pray for her remains constant. The verse for Streams in the Desert's reading for May 7 encouraged me to continue praying..."He spake a parable unto them...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint," Luke 18:1. It also exhorted me to,"Pray until the thing you pray for has actually been granted, or until you have acceptance in your heart that it will be." For prayer is not only a calling of GOD, but also a conflict with Satan. GOD is using our intercession as a mighty factor of victory in that conflict. HE alone, and not we, must decide when we dare cease from our petitioning.", In Elisabeth Elliot's book, A Lamp for My Feet, she writes that "Prayer sets spiritual forces in motion, although the effect is often invisible, perhaps for a long time...Spiritual agents from the throne room of the King of Kings are mobilized against spiritual forces from the headquarters of evil, and there will be the ultimate victory. Referring to Daniel in her writing as he prayed for the nation of Israel, she said that "periods of weeks and years for the nation, and times of mourning, solitude, weakness and fear on Daniel's part were required before the answer could come to pass."
As i read Springs in the Valley, for May 8, the passage out of Romans 4:18 in the Weymouth translation was a great encouragement to me, as i seek to trust the LORD for the work HE is doing "underneath the mulch' in my life... "Under utterly hopeless circumstances he hopfully believed." I know that my heart sure was encouraged at this verse as i do get discouraged when i walk by sight instead of faith...I love the verse my Father-in-law gave me a few years ago that is sitting on my table in my JOY room..."For with GOD nothing shall be impossible," Luke 1:37. I see that verse each morning as i spend time with the LORD in HIS Word and prayer, and it reminds me that GOD is truly working "underneath the mulch" to bring about the impossible...The impossible that will one day bloom into sight when GOD answers our prayers and does "exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think!" As it shares in the April 18 reading of Springs in the Valley "GOD's way is always characterized by multitudinous and overflowing bounty, like that in nature which is so profuse in beauty and life that every drop of the ocean, every square inch of the forest glade, every molecule of water, teems with marvels and defies the research and investigation of man,"
One day, our faith will become sight when we are in heaven and there will be no need to trust CHRIST anymore...we will be with HIM and have full understanding. The time to learn to trust HIM and prove we trust HIM is now. I love the verse out of I Corinthians 2:9 which describes what heaven will be like to those who have trusted in the LORD JESUS CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR..."Eyes have not seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM." Heaven is there, and right now, HE asks us to trust HIM for the things "underneath the mulch," here on earth. "Hebrews 11:6 reminds me, "And without faith it is impossible to please GOD, because anyone who comes to HIM must believe that HE exists and that HE rewards those who earnestly seek HIM."


The poem below was included in the May 8 Springs in the Valley and i loved what it shared about the "GOD of the impossible!" It even shared about GOD working in the soil, "underneath the mulch" and "Omnipotence can work almightily" in this soil. I pray that it will be an encouragement to you as it is to me!


O GOD of the impossible!
Since all things are to Thee
But soil in which Omnipotence
Can work almightily,

Each trial may to us become
The means that will display
How o'er what seems impossible
Our GOD hath perfect sway!

The very storms that beat upon
Our little barque so frail,
But manifest thy power to quell
All forces that assail.

The things that are to us too hard,
The foes that are too strong,
Are just the very ones that may
Awake a triumph song.

O God of the impossible,
When we no hope can see,
Grant us the faith that still believes
ALL possible to Thee!
-J.H.S.


Dear LORD JESUS,
Apart from you, i cannot do anything, and i cannot trust you for those things that i cannot see, unless YOU give me the faith to trust YOU. Please help me to have the faith to trust YOU for the impossible, for the things "underneath the mulch" in my life that i cannot see how you are working. YOU ask me to pray earnestly and believe that YOU are working. Thank you for the faith that YOU give us to trust in what YOU are doing "underneath the mulch." I praise you and thank YOU in faith, knowing that YOU "inhabit the praises of YOUR people," Psalm 22:3 and "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors ME, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of GOD," Psalm 50:23. One day, what seems dead now "underneath the mulch," YOU are going to bring forth life, "exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think!" I love you, JESUS...thank you for hearing and answering my prayers, and being the "GOD of the impossible!" In JESUS' name, Amen.


With all HIS love,
mitzi


"When GOD is going to do something wonderful, HE begins with a difficulty. IF it is going to be something very wonderful, HE begins with an impossibility."
-Rev. Chas. Inwood

Happy Mother's Day to my dear Mother, Thelma Fowler. The LORD has so graciously blessed my three brothers, my sister and me with our dear Mom for 78 years to love us, care for us, and be such a blessing in our lives. Happy Mother's Day to my dear Mother-in-law, Bobbie Evans, who is like a Mother to me, and to you, my dear spiritual Mothers who read this...you are such a joy and blessing in my life and how i thank the LORD for you and your investment in my life!
Please remember our friend Marco Chubb and his five children in your prayers. He recently had surgery and has developed staph infection...please pray for him and his family. His wife and the mother of his five children, is in heaven.