Grasshoppers

I have been a Hospice of the Pines intern for a little over a month and for the most part I have really loved the experience. I was certainly nervous at first, but I have seen the Lord so much while I have been there. Yesterday I had the opportunity to follow one of the Hospice chaplains around for the day. We went to the inpatient unit and spoke with some families and patients there and were able to pray with them. (I love praying with the clients and their families. Such a sweet time). We then decided to break for lunch and then come back for one final visit. The final visit was a home visit. The primary care giver was the patient’s daughter who was very friendly and very attentive to her ailing mother. As we sat down in the living area Brother Alex began conversing with the daughter and the patient and it was obvious that he had been to this home before and visited with them. We talked about the Lord and how the patient was doing and feeling and the conversation made a turn when the patient expressed that she sometimes worried and would get anxious. This is were I want to really start this blog because the story and the way Brother Alex spoke with this patient has really burned itself into my memory and heart. This is what happened. Brother Alex paused for a moment and then said this:

 “You know me and my younger son, we decided to go fishing the other day. So I was doing things around the house and he went to go get the equipment ready for fishing. And I kept asking him, ‘did you get this and did you remember that’. Every time the answer was ‘yes dad, of course dad’. So I said okay well let’s go and off we went. We arrived at the place where we normally fish and we got everything ready and I went to get the bait for our hooks and we couldn’t find the bait. We both looked all around and in the car and finally realized we had come fishing without bait. But I told my son that I had an idea. I told him that when I was young we would catch grasshoppers and use them for bait. Then my son asked me how we were going to find the grasshoppers because the grass was pretty high and while we could hear them we could not see them. I told him to watch me and I started walking through the grass dragging my feet and sweeping them across the ground. As I would do this, the grasshoppers would jump in the air. My son loved this and we caught probably around 50 grasshoppers for bait. We fished all afternoon and had a good time and as we were on the way home he was talking about fishing and everything he learned and so I asked him what the lesson was that he learned about the grasshoppers. He couldn’t figure out what lesson there was to be learned. He thought and he thought. So I asked him, ‘When were we able to catch the grasshoppers?’ He replied, ‘whenever they jumped to get away.’ So I said to my son ‘In Psalms the Lord says to be still and know that I Am, God. So in life when things start looking bad, or you find yourself in a scary situation, the best thing you can do is to be still and know that He is God, because sometimes in our efforts to flee the enemy, we jump right into his hands.”

He then turned to the patient and reminded her that God was always with her. That there is no challenge or fear that we have to run from, we need only be still and know that He is God. I was observing all day with the mind of a BSW student and it may seem silly but in that moment I was in awe of how God works through the abilities and the spirit of Brother Alex. The story was used to comfort and reassure the patient, but I found myself dwelling on that simple story and it’s illustration. It has certainly been a reminder that our fleshly instincts and desires are not what preserve us, but we are kept secure and safe in His hands and under His guidance through the Spirit.

To wrap it up I just want to say that I know life can be obnoxious and mean and awful sometimes. So if you find yourself dealing with this side of life right now and your finding it really hard to give thanks in all things, I would encourage you not to flee blindly from your troubles, and in such maybe flee right into the hands of a captor, but to be still and know that He is God. He is our very present help in times of trouble.