 |
 02/28/04 Good Morning.... +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ Relationship or
Rhetoric? When a baby is in his mother's womb, he has no idea at that moment that there will be a change. As a matter of fact, I'm sure he feels quite comfy in that warm amniotic fluid. As far as he's concerned at the moment, that's where he is and that's where he stays. Then, after a season, something begins to happen. He feels pressure and it is a bit uncomfortable at first. Depending on the amount of time that Mom is in labor, that baby is noticing some serious changes. Things are moving. HE is moving! "No, wait a minute, I like it here. It's familiar." No matter how much resistance that baby makes, something is definitely taking place beyond his control. Will he go with the flow? This baby is noticing and the biggest issue at the moment is that he is coming out of his comfort zone into a new world. A world where he will grow and be nurtured, in terms of the natural order. But guess what? After this change takes place, the baby becomes a child and then the child becomes a man. And somewhere in there, he realizes that he has choices. Many things outside the womb are still beyond his control, but does he realize that? Does he realize that there is something or Someone, much bigger than he is and He has his best interests at heart? People resist change. I found that out in myself recently. Actually I found it out many times before, but like those Israelites, wandering around that desert for forty years, I forgot again! So many changes have taken place in my life and when they take me out of my comfort zone, I resist. Why? Because it's my COMFORT zone! Hello! It's familiar and for the most part, I know what to expect, or at least I think I do. I could go on in detail but that would take a lot of time. There will be changes in the life of a person, Christian or not. How we deal with those changes are crucial to the final blow of the situation. When I gave my life to Jesus 23 years ago, I didn't walk into a rose garden. Or maybe I did. I just didn't realize the thorns were there. I changed on the inside. To put it a better way, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in my heart and I saw life from a totally different perspective. Same world, but a different me. Like the baby scenario, I was carried, then I crawled, then I pulled up, then I walked. Sometimes I found myself walking alone. Don't get me wrong. God didn't leave me. I just drifted off from him. I took my brother to the hospital yesterday to have surgery. We discovered that we were to go to a hospital that we weren't familiar with. "Now, wait a minute. Why can't we use the hospital behind the clinic? After all, that's where I had my surgery and I was familiar with it." I felt resistance. I wanted to say, "No, THIS hospital is best for Allen because I already experienced it." Sorry. It just so happens that this doctor uses two hospitals and he is using the unfamiliar one on the scheduled day. Deal with it, Carol. Now, you have a choice. You can buck it or you can go with the flow and see what God is going to do, EVEN though it's unfamiliar territory. If you were a fly on the dashboard watching me find this place, you'd think I was looking for a baby aspirin in gallon of pink lemonade! Trust me, that's really hard to do while driving! We found it, ahem...after a U-turn. Allen kept pointing saying, "There it is!" But the very word Expressway had me looking in ten different directions at once. They should have named it Espresso cause I was feeling a rush! Now, I have to mention at this very same time, I was in the middle of yet another change. Now, in my mind, this was a MAJOR change. One more thing to take me out of my comfort zone. Okay, I PROMISE to spare you the details of that one because I figure if you are still reading at this point, you hope there is one! Remember the free will and the choices I mentioned earlier? They aren't meant for us to take our own direction, ESPECIALLY after we've been born again. I found myself praying about both directions and guess what? All things worked together for GOOD! (Romans 8:28) One of them is still in process, but I have a peace in my heart because I know that instead of going my own way, I found it was important, not to inform God that we were meant to use the first hospital, or that my other decision needed to keep me in my comfort zone. No, I humbled myself before Him and said, "Okay, you knew about this way before I did, and I can resist it with my free will or I can see what You are up to. I chose the latter because I realized that when I give God the reins and a heads-up on my feelings about it, even though they may be contrary to Him or the situation, He gently takes my hand with a firm grasp and said, "Watch and learn, my child. I have a better plan even though it takes you out of your familiar territory. Trust me. Acknowledge me. I will direct your paths." We found ourselves in the best of care at this different hospital. God wanted only the best for Allen because Allen was seeking Him with all his heart. Even if he was hanging out with a reluctant sister. If I would have had my way and forced them to make it on a day that would (A) convenience me, and (B) have it at MY old stomping grounds, God still would have worked it out. But, don't you think that sometimes we should go with the flow instead of resisting? Trust God even in times of the unexpected. Even when left field stuff hits you right in the face. How's that old hymn go? "Take it to the Lord in prayer." We found ourselves with an opportunity to love and be loved at this new facility. New to me. One nurse has been there for 30 years. Incidentally, I said to her, "Boy, I bet you've seen a lot of changes since then!". She did. When I went to find the parking deck to get the car upon his release, my arms were loaded down. A lady looked at me and pointed to a lady way up ahead of me and said, "Are you with her?" I said, "No, my brother. He's coming out shortly." She said, "I was wondering because she just got ahead of you and left you behind with all the weight of that stuff." It hit me full force that this same picture was what I do to God sometimes with my free will. Oh, I still want Him to carry my burdens. I just get ahead of him sometimes and out the door before I even look in His direction and see that He needs me. More than that. I need Him. Constantly. 24/7. +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ God Bless you all, and remember:
Graphics, design & hosting by:
ionanet home |
Christian |
We Care Author: Carol Skipper. |
