Philippians 4:19 - Eggplant Moments

 (Eggplant photo (c)Anna; at: farm7.static.flickr.com/6010/5916955058_b3664358ed_z.jpg)

As I contemplated what I want my first blog to be about I knew that I wanted it to “set the tone” for my website.  To express how I feel about God, His Word and how that relates to me (and I hope to you, the reader).  As you will see from reading my posts (should you continue to follow me), I love the Word of God and strive to apply it to all aspects of my life.  So, today, I wanted to talk about Eggplant Moments.

You may think – Eggplant Moments??? – that doesn’t make sense to me (I mean really, does Kathy love eating eggplants or what?).  It isn’t about the eggplant so much as about the vibrant purple color of the eggplant.  So, as you read this feel free to insert a color that you think is vibrant and beautiful.

In Philippians 4:19 says, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”  (new living translation).  I love this scripture and the knowledge that my Father in Heaven has all my needs taken care of, provided for, and met.  But, I will be honest and say that I have certain expectations as to “how” God will meet my needs and “what” He is going to “give” me.  But, I have found that most of the time my visual picture is based on my finite mind’s capacity to visualize that blessing – that my heart has faith in a means and fulfilling my needs as a black and white moment.   Something that is great and meets my needs, but it is black and white (Sorta like Kansas is at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz).  Then God steps in a fulfills my need and it is so far above the scope of what my finite mind hoped for  - it is an Eggplant Moment!  Because you see – even though I have served God for many years – I am still blown away when He answers my prayers.  I forget that while I think and dream with a finite mind, MY God is the God of infinite possibilities – He is the God of Eggplant Moments!!!!

I have also seen in recent weeks that sometimes those Eggplant Moments don’t happen in Kathy Time.  They happen in God Time.  While sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) it is so discouraging when things happen in God Time (because I am always so sure Kathy Time is the right time!), I have noticed that God sometimes uses mini-Eggplant Moments to give me assurance that He has the situation under control and that HIS Eggplant Moment is on the way.  Here is an example – I have a close friend, who I will call Martha.  Now Martha is the sweetest Christian lady you will ever meet, but she is facing a significant battle within her family that seems to have no end.  Martha is trusting God to meet her needs, but so far Martha Time and God Time aren’t the same.  Many days it is hard for Martha to remember that God is going to provide an answer to her need, much less a Eggplant Moment.  Then just yesterday, God gave Martha a mini-Eggplant Moment to provide her assurance that He DID indeed have a plan and that the plan would be fulfilled in His time, in God Time.  A friend of Martha’s surprised her with a gift, a beautiful Eggplant Purple Candle.  Funny thing, eggplant purple isn’t Martha’s favorite color, so there was no real reason for the friend to have purchased a candle in that specific color – but God knew that as soon as Martha saw that Eggplant Purple Candle that she (Martha) would know that He had heard her and that He had everything under control --- and most importantly --- that in God Time Martha would have her Eggplant Moment.  

So, today, I encourage you to trust God to not only supply your needs, but to supply them with Eggplant Moments.  And, if you are like Martha and you are trusting God for your needs to be met, but God Time hasn’t happened yet – then watch for a mini-Eggplant Moment, because God sends them to us all the time!

Practical Examples for Memorizing

As I have previously said, I am a visual learner.  I need to be able to “see” the scripture to learn it.  So here are some examples of scriptures and how you could make them more visual:

Index Cards – you can’t ever go wrong with writing your scripture on an index card.  To make your card more interesting, try cutting out letters from a magazine to add emphasis to your scripture.  As you learn your scripture, make a second index card with just those highlighted letters.  

Making your own Scripture Pages – always feel free to copy the any of the ones that I have made.  But if you would like to make your own –here are some ideas.

Let’s look at John 3:30 first (“He must become greater; I must become less.”).  Now what do you notice about this scripture?  Well I notice that the scripture is telling me that as God is growing, becoming greater; that I should be getting less, or smaller.  So I take a piece of paper, and write down that mental picture that I have --- God bigger, me smaller.  It might look something like this:

 

Let me show you another example.  Remember, as I learn scriptures, I use whatever it is about that scripture that appeals to me, and make a picture about that.  A scripture about having power to tread on snakes is going to have a picture of a snake with it; a scripture about casting my burdens on Him would have a person with their arm in a cast (focus on CAST); a scripture about teach me your ways might have a teacher with it.

When I first looked at Jeremiah 31:3 (“I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”) I focused on the word Drawn.  Now I know that this scripture is really telling me that God wants to me to be drawn closer to Him, that is what He wants; but my FIRST mental picture was God drawing me! So, here is what I made to help me remember this scripture.

Remember, the key is to take whatever is the KEY part of the scripture to you – and putting it into a visual format.  Use magazines, scrapbook paper, drawings and photos.  Let your inner creative person come out.  It doesn’t really matter how perfect or great it looks – it only matters if it has meaning to you!