Looking Back II

Alice stretched a hand over to the box on the kitchen counter, whipped out a tissue, swabbed the toddler’s nose, and then as he ran off she turned to her neighbor at the kitchen table.

"The kids certainly keep you busy," The neighbor commented, sipping her coffee as Alice returned to her seat.

"Yeah, I guess they do." She sighed and picked up her cup, and then craned her neck to see in the next room where two older children were playing a board game. She relaxed a bit when she heard that their enthusiastic and loud conversation was concentrated on the game and they were not arguing.

"Do you ever wish…?" The neighbor began as a squall emitted from an adjacent room.

"Excuse me." Alice crossed to the door and peered around the corner, and then as the squall turned to shrieks she disappeared, returning with her youngest baby.

"Mommy! Sister is looking at me!" Came a cry from the front room and then another shriek. "Mommy, Joey’s bothering us!"

Joey, the toddler, had apparently decided to take an interest in the board game so the neighbor held the baby until Alice had straightened out the front room difficulty. Fifteen minutes later the baby had been fed and was happy, Joey and the other children were eating a snack on the back porch and finally Alice had a chance to sit down – for a moment.

"If you had it to do over again." The neighbor again began her question. "Would you have children?"

Alice seemed to regard The question carefully. "You know I love The kids, but they do involve a lot of work. So to answer your question I’d have to say that, if I had The choice yes, I would have kids again. But they wouldn’t necessarily be The same kids!"

If you had The choice and could actually do it, would you change what has happened to you in your life? Or if it were possible would you reject The experiences that involved struggle?

Yet would you decline such a challenge if you knew that The struggle actually benefited you - especially in your spiritual life and you’d become a better person because of it? After all, as you coped you might have grown spiritually, or learned to trust God more, or even helped someone in some way because of The circumstances, So if you knew all that, would you still have rejected The challenge? In other words, was The lesson worth The struggle?

We usually can’t choose what happens to us but we can choose our response to it, and while our struggles may have helped us grow we may not know it at The time and only see its benefit later. So how do we respond to any future problems? Maybe it would be to trust God in our difficulties, knowing that he may well be teaching us The lessons that will help us mature to serve him better.

The Right Call

"There’s someone out in The shed!" Mary nudged her husband awake. Todd swung himself out of bed, threw open The curtains and peered into The darkness outside The window. Then as his view became clearer, he could make out The flitting beams of light through The windows of his back yard storage shed. Burglars! He reached for The bedside phone and called The police.

"There’s someone breaking into my storage shed!" He told The dispatcher as he gave his address. "I’ve got some valuable tools and equipment in there!"

"Is there anyone in The shed?" The dispatcher asked.

"No, we’re all in The house but you’ve got to send an officer out there!"

"We’re shorthanded at The moment and I don’t have anyone available. Sir," The dispatcher told him. "Just lock your doors and stay in The house and I’ll send someone as soon as I can."

Todd hung up and thought a minute, growing more frustrated and angry by The moment. Obviously, The police had different priorities than he did! Then he got an idea, and called again.

"I just called a minute ago about burglars in my storage shed and you said you couldn’t send anyone because you didn’t have anyone available." He told The dispatcher. "Well, you don’t have to worry about sending anyone since I’ve taken care of The situation myself. I shot them."

He hung up and within a few seconds, there came The distant wail of a siren. The sound came closer and closer, then ceased as The police car swerved into his front driveway. There was The thudding sound of running feet around The house, followed by authoritative calls for submission, amidst bright cones of light enveloping his shed. Within a few minutes, The police had taken The intruders into custody and one of The officers was at The front door to meet Todd.

"We had a report about The burglary and we got them, but I thought you said you’d shot them?" The officer told him.

Todd crossed his arms and smiled with satisfaction. "And I thought you didn’t have anyone available."

Whether it’s in law enforcement or our personal lives, setting The right priorities is vital task, and particularly as we seek to follow God and his will for us. Yet whether or not we make his will a priority in our lives, The wonderful news is that despite what we do God’s priority toward us does not change. After all, our relationship to God doesn’t depend on who we are but only on who he is, and because of that his perfect character allows him to consistently care and provide for us despite our inattention.

Knowing It All

"I’m told you’re The expert on this type of equipment," Walter told The newcomer. "I guess you’re our last chance to get this repaired." "Let me take a look at it." The expert told him as he headed for The factory floor.

Walter shook his head in skepticism. As factory manager, he knew he was ultimately responsible for The production schedule, and since their main piece of equipment had broken down that production was in jeopardy. Already a dozen workers had been inactive for two days as Walter’s repair personnel examined The faulty equipment but just couldn’t seem to figure out what was wrong. They consulted others and finally suggested The new arrival.

"He’s a fellow who knows these machines backwards and forwards." his men told Walter." In fact, he was The one who developed it. We suggest you call him in."

Walter had no other choice but to contact The man, and now he waited while The expert wandered around The machine, checking this and examining that. After ten minutes of examination, he crawled under a portion of The machine and then emerged, returning to give Walter an answer.

"You’ve got a screw loose and I can fix it, but I’ll need a screwdriver." He said. Walter nodded to one of The nearby workers, and The tool was provided. The expert again crawled under The machine; he turned a screw and then reemerged again.

"Start her up." He instructed and when this was done, The machine hummed perfectly and The workers returned to their production. Even more puzzled by this simple solution, Walter ventured a question. "What do I owe you?"

"I’ll send you a bill." Said The expert and left. Sure enough, within a few days there arrived a bill: for $50,000. Walter was aghast.

"This is exorbitant!" He called The expert. "That much money for so little of work! I want this itemized." The expert agreed. Then a few days later another bill arrived, this one itemized. It read: "Turning Screw to repair machine - $1.00. Knowing which screw to turn: $49,599."

It certainly can be reassuring when you have a problem that there’s someone around who not only knows what’s going on but has The skill to solve The difficulty, and that’s exactly what happens on our Christian walk with God. For not only does he both have skill and knowledge to handle everything in our lives, he perfectly and flawlessly demonstrates in all that we experience.

Non Recognition

One time, so The story goes, when heavy rains flooded his hometown, Mr. Smith decided he was going to stick it out and prove his faith. It started The water had risen as far as his doorstep. Just then, there was a call from The street – now a free flowing river – and a man in a canoe offered to take him to higher ground.

"No, thanks, I’m depending on The Lord to save me!" He shouted back and The man paddled on.

Then a while later as The water got higher, he crawled to his porch roof and a motor boat putted up. "No thanks, I’m depending on The Lord to save me!" He shouted and refused to get in The boat. The men in The craft went on to look for others to rescue.

However, when The water grew so high he had to climb to The roof, a helicopter swooped down, hovering above The house offering rescue. The pilot shouted. "Here, grab this rescue harness and I’ll get you out of here!"

"No, thanks!" Smith shouted. "I’m depending on The Lord to save me!" Moreover, despite The pilot’s appeals, he refused, and The copter swept off looking for others to rescue.

However, once The helicopter left The water rose to sweep Smith off his roof. Already weary, he could not tread water for long and so drowned. Nevertheless, upon his arrival in heaven, he confronted The Almighty.

"I was depending on you to rescue me, Lord, and you didn’t do it." He demanded.

However, The Lord had an answer. "My child, I tried – who do you think sent you The canoe, The motor boat and The helicopter?" Though that’s only a story it does show what often happens when we only realize God’s provision after The fact.

There are probably any number of reasons why we might not be aware of what he’s done for us. Perhaps we’re been distracted by The situation and just weren’t looking for his presence. Or maybe we were too busy following our own ideas and didn’t bother to consider what God was trying to do. Yet no matter The reason and whether I realize it at The time or later, his provision and planning are always in operation for my benefit and his glory.

Almost There

Fog swirled around Catalina Island in the summer of 1952 as Florence Chadwick slipped into the surf and began swimming toward the California coast more than two dozen miles away. However, it wasn’t an ordinary swim since she was intent on setting a new record, though that was nothing new for Florence who’d already swam the English Channel – both ways.

She was not alone as she stroked through the numbing cold water as well as the thick fog. For besides the accompanying boats carrying her trainers, there were the sharks, in fact so many of them that those in the boats had to divert them with rifle fire. So Florence set out and continued swimming in the fog, relying on those with her to keep her on course.

Finally after fifteen hours of swimming Florence felt she could go no further and asked to be removed from the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to continue since he knew they were near the end, but Florence insisted. However, it was only after entering the boat that she realized she’d only been a mile from her destination and setting a new record.

"I’m not excusing myself," she said later, "but if I could have seen the land I might have made it." She decided to quit not because she was cold or exhausted but because the fog was so thick she could see nothing else, so she became discouraged and gave up.

Two months later she was back in the water at the same time and place, and this time she finished the course - because this time she could see her goal.

Sometimes I can compare my Christian walk with Florence’s swimming when I consider how often I must begin and then continue on a God-directed challenge, even though I’m not entirely sure of the reasoning or the outcome. Yet that shouldn’t keep me from continuing my task, despite any possible overt or subtle opposition, discouragement or even an apparent lack of purpose or result.

Yet when that occurs all God asks is that I keep going and continue to trust him. For if I don't know what I'm doing or where I’m going then he does, and that should be enough for me.

Then when I do finish my task I can look back on what happened and see his provision and guidance – the very aspects of his essence I could not see but could always rely on.

The Ad

"Jerry, we’ve got a problem with a crowd down in the main lobby." The newspaper editor told one of his reporters.

Jerry looked up from his computer. "Are they picketing? We get a lot of that."

"No, nothing like that, but they say they’re here to answer an ad. It sounds funny but there may be a story in it. Check it out."

Mindful of a deadline on the article he had been working on, Jerry sighed and headed for the downstairs lobby of his big city newspaper.

Sure enough, there was a milling group of about a dozen men gathered around the receptionist, however, two other men nearby seemed oblivious to the crowd. As Jerry came up he saw that they were deep in conversation, but they were also wiping their eyes now and then.

Jerry turned from them to question another man in the nearby crowd.

"What’s going on?" Jerry asked.

The man pointed to Jerry’s ID badge. "So you’re with the newspaper? Then maybe you can explain what’s going on here. Is this some sort of joke?"

"What are you talking about? I just wanted to find out why you’re all here?" Jerry asked.

"Well, I know why I’m here and from what these guys tell me it’s the same for them. It’s because of the ad you ran."

"What ad?"

"Here – see for yourself." The man pulled out a folded up copy of the newspaper-classified section with one ad circled. It read: "Paul, meet me in the lobby of this newspaper at noon on Friday. All is forgiven. I love you, Dad."

"My name is Paul and this is Friday, and Dad’s not here." Jerry was still regarding the ad when the other man continued. "I had a stupid argument with my father several years ago and we haven’t spoken since then. Even though we’d lost track of each other I began to have second thoughts about the argument, then I saw the ad and I thought it was Dad."

"And so did I!" put in another man standing nearby.

"Me, too!" Said a third man. "What’s going on? Why isn’t my father here?"

Jerry paused then suddenly remembered the two men he’d seen at the receptionist’s desk.

"Wait a minute." He told the others and turned back to them. "Excuse me," he addressed the older man of the two. "Did you put an ad in the paper directed to your son Paul?"

"Why, yes." He said. "I did put in such an ad and I found my son!"

Then Jerry understood. These other men had seen the ad and thought it was directed to them. So while one man had found his son, what about the other men? First, he had to ask a question.

Jerry turned back to the reunited father and son. "I’m a reporter and I think your reconciliation would make a touching human interest story," he suggested but they declined. "We don’t want any publicity," said the father. "We just want to start on the rest of our lives together."

Jerry watched them walk away, then he turned to see that the others, as they realized what had happened, began to leave. Soon only Jerry and the first man were the only ones left.

The man looked pensive. "I guess for each of those guys there’s a father who may be just as anxious to reconcile." Then he turned to Jerry and thrust out a hand. "Thanks, buddy, you may have missed out on a story but maybe you helped somebody here. In fact, I know you helped me. I’m going to make it a point to track down my father and get this settled and I hope all those guys do the same." Then he was gone.

Jerry returned to his desk upstairs and regarded the computer screen with the still unfinished article. Yet before he returned to work, he swiveled to grab the phone and punch in a number. "Hi, Dad. Just thought I’d see how you’re doing. Want to go to lunch?"

No Penalty!

Louie swung open his locker door in the hockey team clubhouse and began to stow his gear then paused to turn toward teammate Mike who was doing the same thing with the next locker.

"Say, Mike, can I ask you something?" Louie asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"The other guys and I are curious about the change in you over the past few weeks."

Louie began. "We all know you’re one of the best players in the league even though you did have a reputation for being quick to get into a fight, and now you don’t seem to do that anymore. Why the change?"

Mike grinned. "I guess I was pretty quick to fight. Sometimes I wonder if I spent more time in the penalty box than I did playing hockey!"

"But why the change?" Louie asked again.

"Something my eight year old daughter said." Mike said. "You know she watches the games when she can and she saw something I failed to see. She said, ‘Daddy, how can you score goals when you’re always in the penalty box?’"

Like Mike got distracted from his real purpose so do we sometimes get sidetracked from our service and living for God. Instead of concentrating on his will for our lives we may find ourselves involved with petty disputes or unimportant interruptions that get us off course. Then when God attempts to get us back in line it’s almost as if we’re in a divine penalty box and naturally when that happens we certainly can’t serve him.

And the remedy? Simple – concentrating on his will, avoiding the penalty box and being out in the game of life where we can score for him!

Pinned Down

With understandable trepidation James stood beside his boss looking at the map of their state that was topped with large letters: "Borris Widget Company Sales Representatives" and covered with colored pins.

James knew that each pin represented a salesperson and while there were pins all over the state most of them were in their city, which James knew was logical since there was more demand for widgets there. Yet that realization didn’t bode well for James.

Mr. Borris cleared his throat. "Now as you can see from all these pins we have a lot of salesmen and many of them are very successful – unlike you!"

"But look at where you’ve got me!" James pointed to the map. "I’m in there with all those others. I don’t have a chance!"

"You’ll just have to do better, James." Then Mr. Borris reached up and used his finger and thumb to tug gently at one of the pins. "I’m not going to fire you but I’m loosening your pin just a bit to emphasize the insecurity of your situation!"

That loose pin may have given James a bit of insecurity – something we all experience in various ways. Yet however natural it may be it’s never a problem in our relationship with God. For we need never worry that God would "loosen our pin" or make us feel that he will ever desert or abandon us.

The Cut Off

Several years after the Civil War, so the story goes, Confederate General Robert E. Lee traveled to Kentucky and stopped to visit a home where his hostess was quick to tell about how she’d fared in the recent war.

"Oh, yes, General, the house was under fire from Federal artillery." She pointed out the parlor window. "The house wasn’t hit but they did destroy that old tree out there." From the window General Lee could see the mass of dead limbs and branches sprawled over the lawn.

"That tree was a family treasure, General, planted by my great-grandfather when this house was just a cabin in the wilderness. It’s branches sheltered children at play and it was the scene of many family picnics. Now it’s gone! Totally destroyed! And all because of the Yankees!"

General Lee heard the angry bitterness in her voice, and at the same time he sensed that courtesy and or national duty indicated he should sympathize with the lady’s complaint or at least to Yankee cruelty. However, he paused and considered.

His main concern was why she was still so bitter. After all, the war had been over for quite a while; the lady still had her house and her income, and still she held onto a bitter memory. Logically she should have had the tree cut down, and maybe cut into logs to burn in the several fireplaces he’d seen in the house. That way she could at least relive the family memories as she felt the warmth of the fire. Yet the tree remained, a sprawled relic, because she was still bitter at its demise.

"Madam," General Lee turned to her. "Cut it down, and forget it."

You might say that bitterness is like an acid but what’s unique about this comparison is that the acid of bitterness only wears away at the container that holds it, and rarely affects the object or situation that is the subject of the resentment.

So with this in mind why would you ever want to be bitter? It’s so sadly futile! However, what makes it even more poignant is if you’re a believer and also bitter then it not only distracts but also could even completely disable your relationship with God.

For when bitterness hinders our connection with God it’s entirely our doing, and never from God since we know that God is never bitter toward who we are or what we do. And if that’s the case then it’s a perfect inspiration to lose the bitterness and reconnect with the subject and our God.

Not Good Enough?

As the organ swelled with a triumphant note and the congregation lapsed into the final stanza of the hymn, Ralph stepped up to the pulpit to regard the broad sweep of faces before him. In just a moment, he would be preaching his first sermon to his new congregation.

However, while this certainly was not the first time he’d preached such a first sermon to a new church, Ralph was nervous.

Since his previous church had been larger than this one, he knew it wasn’t the size of the congregation, and nor was it the economic level or ethnic makeup of his new congregation that made him anxious since he’d served churches with similar features. So what was it?

It was earlier that morning Ralph finally identified the cause of his anxiety when he realized it was because he was afraid his new congregation wouldn’t think he was as eloquent or inspiring as his predecessor. That man had been called the best preacher of the time, but he’d moved to a bigger more prestigious church and Ralph had assumed this pulpit. So now he was about to preach his first sermon to be a congregation that he reasoned expected only the best.

Now as the final stanza faded away, in the pulpit Ralph placed his Bible on the slanted surface before him and opened it expecting to find his sermon manuscript in the back of the book. However, it wasn’t there.

He glanced up to see the congregation closing their hymnals, settle themselves in the pews and look up to the pulpit to hear their new minister preach a sermon - that wasn’t there!

Then Ralph remembered.

That morning he’d carefully placed his Bible and sermon manuscript on the table by the front door to be sure he wouldn’t forget them. However, when he was on his way out the door, he grabbed at the items and accidentally knocked them off onto the floor. Anxious not to be late, Ralph had hastily scooped up what he could but in his hurry he’d obviously missed the manuscript and it was now probably still on the floor where it had fallen.

So what should he do? He could try to preach the sermon from memory (which he knew would be difficult since he’d never done that before) or he could be honest and up front and admit what had happened. However, if he did that he feared he wouldn’t make a very good impression on his new congregation.

"It is indeed a privilege to be here before you this morning," He gripped both sides of the pulpit and leaned forward, "Yet I must ask your understanding. I’m afraid I accidentally misplaced my sermon notes, so I’ll…" He paused then plunged ahead as he had an idea. "..so I’ll just have to depend on the Lord for my message."

He thought he saw a few faces relax plus a few understanding smiles and that made him relax a bit, which gave him another inspiration. "But next time, I’ll come better prepared!"

Ralph probably didn’t mean to imply he could improve on what God would provide but sometimes it may seem like that in my life when I try to operate on my own instead of depending on the Lord. Of course, it’s silly to think my plans would be the equal of his, but when I do, I quickly find that when I follow my own plans that nothing goes right in what I attempt. Of course, when I follow God’s will for me then it’s the exact opposite where everything falls into place, as events unfold according to his plans. Just another illustration of his perfect loving provision.

Certainty

Richard was a young man in love and he had a problem. The girl he loved was an heiress from a prominent family and Richard had decided he could only please her if he could buy her an expensive gift.

So on his lunch hour he went to the fragrance counter at an upscale department store where the saleswoman showed him various popular perfumes. Richard wasn’t sure which one to choose but even though he was on a budget, he felt any gift would have to be expensive to appeal to her. So as the saleswomen offered a variety of scents at high prices Richard grew more and more frustrated.

Finally, she displayed a tiny decorative bottle. "This is one of our most popular fragrances. This perfume is $285 an ounce and it’s called ‘Perhaps.’"

Richard sighed and shook his head slowly. "Look – you’ve been very helpful but at $285 an ounce I don’t want ‘Perhaps’ – I want ‘You Bet Your Life On It’!"

It’s only natural and human to want the security of knowing what the future holds but that same humanity also limits our actually identifying how events will unfold. Yet if we can’t comprehend what’s going to happen then God does. Moreover, it’s important to remember he’s in control and since he loves us, whatever happens to us is for our benefit and his glory. Indeed, when we trust God we can indeed, "bet our life on it."

The Right Source

Slim leaned back in his chair at the table in the bunkhouse and regarded his buddy Luke. "Now, look, pardner, we’ve been friends too long and I know you too well to have you expect me to believe that last statement."

It was evening after a hard day or work and with their supper plates pushed aside and coffee cups in hand, the old cowboys had been "swapping stories." Luke cleared his throat, took a sip of coffee and grinned.

"Aw, c’mon," Slim said. "You’ve been saying your hoss is so smart he’s almost human. I can’t believe that!"

"But I can prove it!" Luke broke in. "You remember about a month ago I had to use a cane for a while? Hurt my leg?"

"I remember – someone said you’d been out riding fence when that roan of yours got spooked and threw you!" Slim said.

"Well, that’s wrong, ‘cause the roan didn’t spook. I just shifted my weight in the saddle and lost my balance – now don’t shake your head like that – you’ve done it yourself, I know!"

Slim smiled as Luke continued. "Anyway, I took a tumble and landed on my leg – really hurt!"

"And the roan took off." Slim prodded him. "The same hoss you said was almost human."

"No, of course not!"

"Then don’t tell me he’s so smart he picked you up, got you back in the saddle and took you back to the ranch house?" Slim’s sniff was evidence of his skepticism.

"No, he didn’t do that." Luke replied. "But he did drag me to the ranch house and then took off for town and brought back the doctor."

"Aw – that’s ridiculous!"

"Well, I did say he was so smart he was almost human but he’s not entirely human." Luke smiled and winked. "He did bring back a doctor all right, but the doctor was a vet."

That horse’s solution certainly didn’t solve the problem and it can be the same way when I try to solve my problems without God’s help. However, when it comes to the best solutions for any and every problem then God’s are the only perfect ones and it’s only when I accept them that I can truly follow and serve him.

Hear! Hear!

The story goes that many years ago a homemaker was doing her housework while listening to the local radio station when one of the commercials attracted her attention. However, because she wasn’t sure of one detail, she called the station for verification.

"I just heard the commercial for the appliance store downtown and they had refrigerators on sale. But I didn’t hear the price. What was it?" She told the person who answered the phone.

"Let me connect you to the announcer," was the answer and a moment later, when that individual answered she repeated her question.

"I don’t remember." The announcer replied.

"But you just read the commercial 10 minutes ago!" The lady insisted.

"Maybe so," the announcer sounded bored. "But I really wasn’t listening."

Sound familiar? It probably does, and particularly when I realize I’m the one who’s not listening and God is trying to get my attention about something important!

He might be trying to draw me back after I’ve wandered from his plans for me. Perhaps he has a new challenge for me and wants to get me started. On the other hand, it could be he wants me to change course in some ongoing way I’m serving him. Yet whatever it is unless I’m aware of his presence I can’t hear and respond in the right way, and usually I don’t feel that because I often forget to constantly seek his presence and plans.

So to get my attention occasionally God might nudge me a bit in such a way that I realize I can’t rely on myself and must seek him, something I should have done all along.

Making Sense

"Now don’t try anything funny. Just sit there and you won’t get hurt!" Muggsie snarled at the now unarmed armored car driver.

The guard nodded and crouched back against the wall of the truck to watch the short stocky crook peruse the bags of money lined up in the back of the truck.

Muggsie frowned as he considered what to do next. He knew he had just a few minutes before police responded to the silent alarm the guard would have automatically sent and that he certainly couldn’t take all the bags of money. But which to choose? Then as he paused, his indecision made him recall his former partner’s taunting voice when he told him what he was going to do. "You’ll never pull it off! You’re so dumb you’ll screw it up in some way!"

Muggsie winced at the memory, but it only made him more determined. He’d prove that guy wrong! Then it occurred to him that it was only logical that the biggest bag would have the most money so when he saw three unusually bulky bags, he stretched out to grab them. However, they proved to be so heavy he could hardly lift them.

With a last barked warning at the guard, Muggsie half dragged, half carried the bags over to the truck door where he dropped them outside, hopped down to the parking lot and then prepared to make his getaway. Dragging the bags, he’d gone just a few feet from the truck when a police car swerved around the corner. Muggsie glanced up at the car, and pulled harder on the bags as he inched toward his nearby car. However, while the officers had bolted out of the squad car as soon as it stopped, they paused when they saw Muggsie struggling with the bags. Then after a few seconds, they slowly and carefully approached the now nervous crook – just as he was trying to load the heavy bags in the car. Knowing he could get no further, Muggsie sighed and surrendered.

Later as he was being booked, Muggsie complained to the officers. "I planned it so good – I thought I could get in the truck and get out fast. What happened? What went wrong?"

The officer chucked. "Now, Muggsie, you know we’ve had you in here before so we know you pretty well. Yeah, you might have made a getaway if you’d grabbed the right bags."

"Huh?" Muggsie blurted.

"Most of those bags were full of currency and if you’d grabbed some of those you might have had a chance. Instead, you picked three bags full of rolled pennies. They each weighed 800 pounds and were worth only about $800 each. Your problem was that you took on a heavy load that wasn’t really worth much!"

Like Muggsie, I’ve learned that in a spiritual sense I don’t get very far when I burden myself with something that not only heavy but is also worthless. Often this spiritual load may take the form of unconfessed sins, worries or problems I have yet to release to God. However, I can’t get very far in my relationship with him as long as I have these encumbrances and it’s only when I confess the sins or release the problems that I can freely move forward.

Sew Simple

"I just don’t understand this," Eileen seemed puzzled as she scanned the paper she held. "It just doesn’t make sense."

"What’s that?" Marge looked up from the reception table.

Just minutes before as the church service had ended, Marge began to set out the refreshments for the after church reception while Eileen stepped by the church office to check to see if she had any new mail. As president of the churchwomen’s society, Eileen often frequently received mail that pertained to that office but this time as she emerged from the office she seemed frustrated. Marge was just putting out more cookies for the worshipers and visitors when she heard Eileen.

"This is strange! And I was so sure we did it right!" Eileen muttered.

"What is it?" Marge asked again.

Ellen held up the letter. "You remember how we had that project to help the missionary hospital?"

Marge nodded and Eileen continued. "Well it’s about that. You remember - we heard they needed bandages and someone said that meant strips of cloth, so we ended up tearing up old sheets and sending all that."

"It was a lot of work," Marge said. "So what’s the problem?"

Eileen held up the letter and read: "’We received your package with the strips of cloth you said were bandages and while we appreciate your effort there may have been a misunderstanding. We purchase our bandaging material from a hospital supply company to assure proper sterilization, so I’m afraid we cannot use what you sent as bandages. However, we can utilize the material you sent in our sewing classes for local women. We are always in need of bed sheets and our class members will be sewing the strips into sheets."

Eileen’s improvised solution to the problem certainly didn’t work out as it should have and that’s exactly what happens when I try to think up my own solutions to my problems instead of asking God for help. After all, what usually happens is that my resolutions never work and since God is perfect and his responses are perfect I’m only wasting my time – and his – by not seeking his plans and putting them into action.

True Comfort

Mindy was chuckling when she came back from the back of the store. "What’s so funny?" Her coworker Angie asked.

"You know the district office has been bugging the boss about safety and following company procedures? Well, they put up a lot of new warning signs in the back where they unload the stock."

"Yeah, I know." Angie said, "But what’s so funny?"

"Well, you know that sign on the wall back there that says: "’In case of accident or injury, notify your supervisor immediately’? Well, someone scribbled something down below that: ‘He’ll kiss it and make it better.’"

We all need reassurance and comfort at times, and those around us can help in many ways. However, there are times when we need something beyond what a person can supply and that’s when we can turn to God. For while people can supply reassuring words, only God can not only provide reassurance but what we may need more – and that’s the guarantee that he not only controls what will happen but he knows the reasons behind our struggles. Indeed, God gives encouragement as well as perfect provision in the midst of the comfort.

Dinky Disputes and Groundless Grudges

Harry was walking down the street in the small town when he paused. Since his arrival in town the day before, Harry had been intrigued with the community, its unique architecture, arrangement and particularly the residents. He’d already wandered around the courthouse square, past the local drugstore, the bank and then a grocery store, and had turned down a side street when he saw something unusual that made him pause.

There on the side street was a white clapboard colonial style church, complete with a steeple that rose above the crisp green lawn that surrounded the structure. Harry was just thinking about classic a sight it was when he noticed that across the street was another white clapboard church, complete with a steeple that rose above the crisp green lawn that surrounded the structure.

Harry shook his head in disbelief as he turned back to the first church, then back to the second. They were identical!

He stepped up to the white-framed glass sign in front of the first church to read the name of the church and the denomination, then he hurried across the street to read the same information from an identical sign. He shook his head in even further frustration. Here were two churches, identical in appearance, in denominational affiliation, and in every other way. The only difference was that they had different pastors. Harry knew small towns had their idiosyncrasies but this was too hard to believe.

He was still shaking his head in puzzlement when he realized an old fellow had turned the corner and was now shuffling toward him down the street, assisted by a gnarled old cane. Harry stopped him.

"Excuse me, sir," He asked. "I’m a visitor here and I’m very impressed with your town, but I have a question and maybe you can help me."

The old man stopped and leaned on his cane. "I bet you’re curious about these churches here."

"How did you know?"

"Well, they’re sort of a landmark around here since it’s an unusual case and everyone always asks about it."

"But these churches are identical in most every way!"

The local man chuckled. "I’ll tell you why. You see, the folks at this church over here" …and he pointed to the first church "…say Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter in the bulrushes, and that church over there say that’s just what she says."

Differences of opinion are certainly normal in everyday life, but whether it involves churches or individuals, dissension of any sort can become particularly serious when it leads to alienation and unfortunately, even separation. In fact, some unresolved disputes can last for a long time and cause permanent estrangement.

Yet what is so tragic is that often many of these arguments actually begin over the most trivial of matters, and then as time passes, those involved may even forget what caused the original rift. However, such dissension and estrangement is so tragic because those involved waste so much time particularly in their spiritual life. For how can we seek and follow God’s will when we’re bitter and resentful over something that happened long ago?

I wonder, have I cleaned out my grudges lately?