James 2:24-26
You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe. For example, Rahab had been a prostitute. But she pleased God when she welcomed the spies and sent them home by another way.
Anyone who doesn’t breathe is dead, and faith that doesn’t do anything is just as dead!
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Early in the summer, a spotted toad appeared on our back porch. He took up residence in a decorative bird house we keep on a glass-topped coffee table sitting there. One night, I discovered him pressed belly-side down against one of our picture windows, catching bugs that collected there in the light from one of our table lamps. I did a little research and learned that “Frodo,” as I named him, is a Great Plains Toad. Most likely, he moved into the bird house because his normal habitat… moist, damp earth… was not available in this summer’s drought.
I so hoped that Frodo would hang around for Timothy’s visit in August… and he did. We enjoyed watching Frodo – and his new cohort we dubbed “Little Frodo” – as they moved in and out of the bird house. We laughed as we watched “Big Frodo” attach to our picture window at night and catch bugs. Frodo grew accustomed to us, and I even put out water for him in a little dish on the table. I know he enjoyed it, because we would find it splashed across the table the next day.
After Timothy went home, we were a little lonesome. Remnants of a hurricane threatened to move things around on our back porch, so we did some rearranging before the storm hit. My husband gently moved the bird house to the porch floor underneath the coffee table and surrounded it with bricks. Frodo played on the bricks and around the bird house… and then he disappeared. For several days, the toads were gone. I know it’s silly, but I was truly sad and missed them. I had grown fond of looking for them peering from the bird house opening each morning. I missed seeing the toad on the window at night. And I was a little worried… what had happened to Frodo during the storm’s wind and rain?
My answer came four days later when I happened to pass the window, and there was Frodo… perched inside the bird house with his head hanging out. He was back! He probably took refuge in one of our many potted plants on the porch. But I was so glad to see him. And I felt God saying, “I take care of my creatures… ALL of them.”
I know this is a little bit of a weird analogy, but I have faithfully taken care of this little toad and his buddy most of the summer. And yes, he is just a toad… but God has used him to teach me a couple of lessons about faith. We are all “toads” of one sort of another, but God uses us to accomplish many things… if only we will let him. Just as he used the prostitute Rahab, God uses any who willingly serves Him – in spite of our brokenness!
I’m glad that Frodo has returned. He serves as a reminder to me that God is in control… that if He can meet the needs of a tiny Great Plains Toad, He surely cares about my needs. I am encouraged to stay faithful… to be strong and confident… and to look for ways to serve God when He calls upon me. What about you… does your faith need a little boost today? Are you serving faithfully and confidently? Does your witness show others that God cares for all of His “toads?” Shouldn’t it?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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