I am not playing the sympathy card, here, but I have really bad lung problems.

The problem is SO bad that if the local humidity gets above 50%, I start having problems breathing.  When it gets above 60%, I am virtually a prisoner in my own home.  My lungs are bad because of all the times I have had pneumonia, and have been exposed to really corrosive chemicals.

To make matters worse, I am allergic to almost every thing that exists in Missouri.   I live in Missouri. If I were sitting in my favorite cafe, in the mountains of Montana, sipping a good hot tea, and my wonderful wife, Sandy, were to sit down next to me, holding a package just shipped up from Missouri, I would probably have a collapsed lung, right there. I hope God smiles on me soon and allows me to move to the Mountains.  I can breathe there, and enjoy the great outdoors with no hindrances.

I think I am allergic as a judgement.  See, I used to make fun of my First Wife (Let’s call her Cinnamon).  She has allergies that can, sometimes, be pretty bad.  I used to tease her incessantly.  Not only was that an unkind act, in and of itself, and I am genuinely sorry for that, but it was cruel.  This is when I first realized that “You reap what you sew.”

So, here I am, in Missouri, allergic to every organic object that exists, and it is hot and very humid here.  Grass grows in my yard.  It wouldn’t be a problem if I could hire Skippy McDork to come out and mow my lawn, but I cannot.  SO, I mow the yard.

Today, it is hot and humid.  I can barely breathe.  So I get really exhausted pretty fast.   When it is this bad, I fade between seeing and graying out.  I wanted to get this over with.

But, as I mowed, I was able to overcome these obstacles.  And I remembered:

“The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.”  Psalm 118:14

Remembering that verse lifted my heart, and I swear I felt a cool breeze go right through me.  It felt good, and I kept mowing.

As I got fatigued, I noticed that I had left a few patches.  I was tired, and didn’t feel like going back for the patches I missed.

Then I remembered:

“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”  Luke 15:4

and THAT made me think of Christ dragging his beam to the hill of Golgotha.  He was tired beyond reason.  He had been beaten nearly to death.  Because HE was a workman worthy of His hire, he completed all the things God set before him to do.

And I also remembered that God intends us to harvest until he returns, and the even the corners will be harvested.

So, I did the whole Job.  I know mowing isn’t one of the “High Spiritual Callings” but if I am to believe the word of God, I need to develop the habit of practicing it.  And the word says:   “And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians 3:23   

Jesus didn’t die for only a few of our sins.  He died for all of them.  He didn’t cut corners.  He drank deep of the cup God had served  Him.

“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.””  Revelation 14:14-16

The fields are ripe for the harvest.  I was reminded that, because of the Grace of God, I am still here to reap.  I remembered all this while I mowed and wanted to quit.  When we are faithful in these little things, God will trust you with bigger ones.  I have only recently returned to God, through Jesus Christ, but I have no intention of getting it wrong this time.

I have renamed my Mower “Grace” so every time I mow, and struggle to breathe, and get fatigued, and want to lay down and die, I will remember why I am still here.

“To live is Christ, to die is gain.” – The Apostle Paul