Saturday, February 11, 2023

Honey from the Rock

I made happy waffles this morning!

 Psalms 81: CEB "But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with honey from the rock." 

    This scripture stopped me this morning. I understand being fed with the finest of wheat. I've lived most of my life in the bread basket of America. The Great Plains, where the wheat fields flow their golden color for miles and miles every year. We feed the rest of the nation and world. Fine wheat with a high protein content makes the best bread. I understand that. So the Psalmist was saying God would feed me the finest, the best wheat because He is the bread of life. 
But what does honey from the rock mean? I don't usually think of honey coming from rocks. That's not the usual place bees make their hives. Could it be that's the whole point of this phrase? In a place you least expect it to come from, a rock, God can bring sweetness. In those places that could crush you or make you stumble and fall, God can bring honey. 
    Today marks the second anniversary of my surgery for me. Two years ago today, I was being rolled into an operating room and didn't come out till almost 12 hours later. The surgery was not only long, but to quote the doctor in her report, it was "most difficult." As my body lay on a bed for the next few days, I was probably somewhere else. I don't know where, as I have no memories of those days up to and shortly following February 11, 2021. It's just a white cloudy fog. But finally, on February 14th, my eyes opened, and the fight to stay alive and regain all that was lost began. It was a HARD place to be, and I had already been through many hard places in my sixty years of circling the earth. But this was a new hard place. This rock almost crushed me. I remember asking my son Tyson to play me the song "Come On." by Brooke Poindexter. If you've never heard it, it's worth looking it up on YouTube. It became my last cord on the rope to hang on to. The beginning lyrics, "I can feel the eyes of heaven, the angels and the saints, all who've gone before us surround us here today...If you listen close, you'll hear heaven cheering for me... Come on, Come on, Come on, Come on..." 
     It was as if I could hear Jesus and Todd and others even here on earth cheering me on from the sidelines, "Come on! You can do this. You can win! Don't quit, don't give up!" I also remember my son's voice as he grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, Mom, you can fight this; you can live!" Those might not have been his exact words, but that's the feeling I remember. So many pulling for me to "Come on!"
    This morning, as I reflect on all I've been through these last two years, I have to smile and say that in the crushing and hardness of those rocks, there was honey to give me strength. A sweetness that's only understood once you've passed through the crushing and the fight to carry on. So I made some happy waffles this morning and played Brooke's song, "Come On." I'm finding some honey in the rock. 

Come On
https://youtu.be/nCMDH2rjnOI

Another great song:  Honey in the Rock
https://youtu.be/UiApoXKRYFc