My little three year old had quite a day today. She started off by playing with the phone and accidentally dialing 911. When the emergency operator called back, her older brother assured them that everything was fine. A few minutes later, of course, the sheriff knocked at the door to double check. My five year old beat everyone to the door and opened it wide. My three year old proudly joined her brother at the door, wearing nothing but her birthday suit. I am not sure what the officers thought at this point, but they were quickly assured that we were indeed fine, that baby was just playing with the phone and is potty-training.
Shortly after this, her brother decided to dump a cup of water over her head. Then he decided to flush her favorite sticker, “Little Johnny,” down the toilet. By this time she figured maybe she should just go outside for awhile, only to discover a frog in her shoe! It is a good thing that toddlers are resilient, (and mothers too!) She took all this in stride, and even enjoyed telling us the ‘fwog in my shoe’ story over and over.
I have had a few days lately that have felt like that, just one thing after another. I have to admit that I haven’t rolled with things quite as well as my daughter, but also not as poorly as I may have in the past. It is a continual process to make my plans, give them to God and leave them in His hands. God is always polishing the rough edges off of me, a lot of times using things that don’t feel so good to do it. But I know that God has a plan for my life and that His plans are always better than mine. So on the days when I feel like someone has poured a cup of water over my head and flushed my plans down the drain, I will still try to take it all in stride and live to tell the story.
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16
It made me think about our lives and how we try to do the same thing. We clean up our act or clean up our mouths. We try to be good people. However we get the same results I got with my house cleaning. When the light comes in it shows that our efforts, no matter how sincere, are simply not good enough. We are just not able to clean ourselves.
Thank goodness for Jesus! He came to do the job for us. He is the ultimate “house keeper.” When we finally decide to give up and tell Him we have had enough of trying to do it on our own, He shows up to wash us whiter than snow, cleanse us from our sin, and purify us from unrighteousness. After that there is no more worry about what the light of day might reveal about our hearts.
Another great thing about Jesus is He is not like the house keepers at the hotels, the ones who make up the room while you are gone and you never really get to know. Once He is in your life He is closer to you than anyone else and just a prayer away. In fact He promises to never leave you stranded, to be with you always. So while I may never have a perfectly clean house here on Earth, I can look forward to eternity spent with Jesus in a heavenly mansion that will never need a house keeper.
Faith. It seems like such a big word, doesn’t it? When I think of people who have faith, I think they must be spiritual giants. Or be able to face down giants like David did. I think of the “Hall of Faith,” in the book of Hebrews in the Bible. There are people like Noah, who listened to God rather than everyone around him; Abraham, who just up and followed God when he didn’t even know where God was taking him; and Jacob whose descendants became Israel! To say I get a little intimidated would be an understatement.
If I am in a situation requiring faith, and I start comparing my wavering little bit of faith to people like these, my tiny amount of faith can disappear. However, there is some good news for me, and for you if you feel this same way. The section in Hebrews does not end after touting all these Biblical heroes’ deeds of faith. It goes on to talk to us! Hebrews 11:40 says, “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” And then Hebrews 12:1-2a goes on to say, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything, (such as fear) that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
How great is that? Jesus Himself is the author of our faith, we don’t have to try to create faith on our own. We can cry out to Jesus honestly, and tell Him we need some faith. We do not need to be intimidated by people of faith, because they are the ones cheering us on. We don’t even need a large amount of faith to do amazing things either. Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, some phenomenal things can happen. For David to take down a giant, it only took faith the size of a pebble!
“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20-21
Do you ever feel like other people or even the world try to put their “stuff” on you? Sometimes it’s negative things like judgments, or harsh comments, but it could even be something that others might consider helpful, just not helpful to you. It is hard to have the confidence to know what God is saying to you personally sometimes. Going back to the account of David and Goliath in the Bible, I see David experiencing this type of situation.
When David said he would fight Goliath, King Saul immediately spoke a negative judgment to David, “You are not able…you are only a boy.” How many times have we had someone say something similar to us? “You are not able…you are only, (fill in the blank.)” I know I have let this kind of comment stop me in my tracks. David was different though, he had spent so much time with God that he knew what he himself was capable of and he definitely knew what his God was capable of. He spoke up to Saul and convinced him to let him go confront the giant. Basically he had to choose not to receive the negative words from Saul.
However, King Saul still wasn’t completely sure that David could do things his own way. He put his own armor on David, trying to be “helpful.” Have you ever experienced this? Throughout my life I have had so many well-meaning people try to put what has worked for them, or kept them safe, onto me. When I would try their advice on, I had the same feeling of awkwardness that David had trying to move around in Saul’s bulky armor. Once again, David convinced Saul to let him do things his way, which was really the way God had taught him. This time David had to say, “no, thank you,” to something that could have seemed good, it just wasn’t the best.
I want to have “David eyes.” Actually, maybe what I want is “David ears.” David, (during his encounter with Goliath in the Bible) did not see a scary giant, to David it didn’t matter who was on that battlefield, because what he heard was someone daring to defy the living God. And David knew that was not right.
At this point in his life David was not a mighty warrior as we might suppose about someone who runs out to fight a giant. He had spent his life as a shepherd, watching his father’s flock of sheep. However, while he was tending sheep, his Heavenly Father was tending him. David got to know God in a very real, intimate way. David was also learning the traits and skills that allowed him to run into the battle armed with only conviction and a slingshot. I believe this is what set David apart. He was so accustomed to listening to God’s voice and trusting Him, that he didn’t even allow any questions to come into his mind. Questions I seem to ask myself constantly: “God are you really telling me to go into battle? Are you sure You have equipped me? Could I at least take a few of the other soldiers with me?”
The difference between David and me, is that for David his self did not matter. He had crystal clear hearing, vision and conviction. God is being defied, it is not right, no one else is doing anything, God is with me, I’m going to do something about this. David had spent so much time with God that he instantly recognized the time God had prepared him for. This is what I pray for us, that we would spend so much time getting to know our Heavenly Father that we would be thoroughly equipped when the battle comes our way, and brave enough to run into it!
When I walked into the kitchen I could instantly see what my toddler had had for her snack. Yogurt covered everything from the refrigerator door to the table. My little girl herself, was covered head to toe. It seems no matter what children are doing, or eating, they end up wearing it! Play-doh, markers, mud, chocolate, it is easy to see what their last activity has been. While messy and a little frustrating for parents at times, this is all a necessary part of learning and growing.
I thought about this recently when I heard a pastor warn against not becoming what we are going through. He said that even among Christians it is common to relate the biggest issues we are facing in life when talking to another person. And then we might add a pathetic, “pray for me,” at the end of our tale of woe. He was reminding the congregation that it is actually in the hard times that God grows us the most. The valleys and deserts are not fun, but if we are paying attention and learning the lessons God is trying to teach us in those times, we can come out on the other side more mature and strengthened in our faith.
This was so encouraging to me. There are actually times when I am going through something difficult when I want to talk about how good God is being, how loved I feel. I honestly don’t know how to say those things for fear of surprising someone! It is not a matter of ignoring circumstances or living in denial. Instead it is choosing to live in the glorious reality that even as my Heavenly Father is allowing me to be stretched in ways that are anything but comfortable He promises to never leave me or forsake me. He is right there in the dark holding my hand reminding me that unlike children, I do not have to become what I am going through.