The Balloon Fix

At our house, balloons are always a source of disappointment.  I cringe whenever one comes home; it never has a happy ending.  Once, after a frilly fairy princess party, a lovely balloon came home.  It had three pretty smiling princesses on it.  It was a favourite and managed to survive for quite a few days.  Then, oh unfortunate accident, my daughter stepped on her sister’s balloon.  No, I’m not completely sure how that happened, but the disappointment was a little unbearable.  There was great sobbing and cries of “fix it, fix it!”  “Oh Dear,” I said, “I know you are upset, but you really have to stop yelling, you know it can’t be fixed.”  I expected more crying and then comforting, but the determined little girl said, “Fine, I’ll have to fix it myself,”  and off she went.

I had no idea what was coming next.  I figured she must know something I didn’t.  A few minutes later she returned with a new freshly blown up balloon and was in the process of drawing on it with a magic marker.   She then presented me with her version of a perfect replacement for the broken balloon.  There was her new balloon with three smiling stick figures drawn on it.  “There,” she said, “I fixed it, good as new.”  In her determination to be right she would never have admitted that it was less than perfect.

It is a familiar story, isn’t it?  So often in my prayer life I have cried out, “Fix it, fix it!”  That, however, doesn’t always seem to be God’s answer to our problems.   When the instant fix doesn’t happen, I become frustrated.   I can’t count the times I’ve imagined up wonderful solutions for God so He could fix situations.  I have come up with some pretty “perfect” plans.   The times I’ve forced my way the result has been less than perfect, though I haven’t always been quick to admit it.  There are, of course, the times that not even my imagination can come up with a solution.   Not surprisingly, the resolutions God has given to my problems are usually very different than the solutions I thought up.  God has a way of providing an unexpected and much better answer than could be imagined.

 Sarah, in the Bible, is the great example of how wrong things can go when we try to fix things on our own.  I can’t imagine the frustration of waiting years and years for the baby God had promised.  Taking things into her own hands, Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to have a child by her.  Her solution was heartbreak for her and Hagar both.  God had every intention of fulfilling His promise, just not the way she had expected, and Sarah found herself to be a mom at ninety.

 Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Not easy is it?  Lamentations 3:26 also says, “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” I’m pretty sure “wait quietly” means without screaming “fix it, fix it!”    God has a plan; He doesn’t want us to fall for the old lie “God helps those who help themselves”.   Wait quietly for God to do His work.  Finally, Philippians 4:6 tells us:

 ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Just like I can’t fix a broken balloon, there are struggles and circumstances that are beyond me, only God can fix them.   I’m thankful I don’t have to solve my life with my less than perfect answers.  Give me your peace, Jesus, while I wait quietly for you.

The Purple Pansy

               Last summer I had hanging baskets of flowers at the front of the house.  Among the various flowers were purple pansies.  By early October it was time for the baskets to come down, their season of beauty was over.  They had been touched by frost and didn’t have much life left in them.   I dumped them into the compost to get ready to put up fall decorations.   A couple of weeks later I noticed a purple pansy growing in the mulch under the front steps.  Some seeds must have dropped from the basket.

  It was a surprising time of year for a new plant to start to grow.  I expected it to wilt and die, but as the weather grew colder it continued to bloom.  The steps sheltered the plant from the frost, but still allowed the afternoon sun to shine on it.  Snow didn’t seem to bother it.  As December approached the little flower continued to bloom while surrounded with a light dusting of snow.  I knew this little pansy was fearless when it bloomed for me on Christmas day and then to ring in the New Year.   Soon after, when the great mounds of January snow covered everything, I figured that would be the last of the purple pansy.  February continued to overwhelm us with tons of snow.  During March the occasional thaw would allow a glimpse of the pansy through the snow.  The blooms were wilted, but the leaves were still a healthy green.  By mid-April the snow was pretty much gone and the persistent little flower started to bloom again.  I found it hard to believe the pansy had survived the winter, especially since it was one of the stormiest winters we’d seen in a while.  The little pansy had endured hardships and difficulties and still continued to bloom.  The flower had planted itself under a great shelter.  The steps were close to the house and made a perfect place to grow.

 Life quite often brings seasons of storms. No one is untouched by problems and hurts.  The difficulties can be overwhelming, situations can be smothering.  Facing the challenges and difficulties of day to day life can make one want to run and hide.   It can be hard to imagine that “Spring” will ever come.  In Psalm 91 David wrote: 

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” ³ (Psalm 91:1-2) 

It is important to remember that this Psalm was written during a very difficult time for David; his life was in danger.  He then went on to say:

 ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:4) 

God is our shelter and protector in tough and trying times.   Being a Christian is not an exemption from experiencing difficulties.  It does mean, however, that we don’t have to go it alone.   God is faithful, the problem may not go away, but He remains close giving strength and comfort.  It doesn’t mean we understand why things are happening or that it is easy.  God has a way of giving “unreasonable” peace in the midst of trials.   Like the pansy, plant yourself under His shelter.  Make Him your refuge and fortress.

 This past winter while facing some of my own challenges, the purple pansy was a great source of encouragement to me.  Since it was growing under the front steps I saw it every time I went in the house.  It served as a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness to me.  I am so thankful that I can rest in His shelter.       

Quench Your Thirst

When my husband and I were first married we would often play tricks and pranks on each other.   My tricks usually involved silly gags.  He would delight in tricking me at the supper table.  It wasn’t hard. Usually after a full day I would sit and daydream or I would be so involved in our conversation he could get off with nearly anything.  Once he gradually snuck all his parsnips on to my plate and not even realizing it I ate them all.  This pleased him since he did not want to eat them.  On another occasion we were eating fiddleheads.  I like them plain, but he likes them best dipped in vinegar.  We chatted together as we ate and continued as we cleared away the dishes.  Then he turned to me and said, “Aren’t you going to finish your water?”   I was pretty sure I had, but not thinking I tipped my head back and dumped in the last mouthful.  It came back out pretty quick, what a horrible trick; he had poured vinegar in the bottom of my glass.  I certainly hadn’t expected that!

 Having a mouthful of vinegar is very unsatisfying if you are thirsty; it actually makes your thirst stronger.  A very thirsty person would never grab a glass of vinegar to quench their thirst.  Many times, though, this is how we treat our spiritual thirst.  God created people to have fellowship with Him.  It is a very natural part of our nature to have a longing or a thirsting for “something more”.  David in the Psalms said, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”  (Psalm 42:1) Often, in an effort to satisfy a nagging spiritual thirst, people will fill their homes with stuff, their time with activities, their lives with people. These things aren’t wrong, but they aren’t what will quench the thirst.  The longing only becomes stronger.   Many people who “have it all” aren’t really satisfied.

When the Samaritan woman came to the well she picked the right person when she asked Jesus to give her water. He didn’t give her the answer she had expected; he offered the answer to her spiritual searching and longing.  Jesus knew her past and He knew He was the answer to her future.    ¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) The spiritual water Jesus has to offer satisfies a soul like a cool refreshing glass of water satisfies a physical thirst. Just like that horrible glass of vinegar left me with a sour taste in my mouth and a desperate thirst; nothing can substitute Jesus’ living water.  When we try we are only left longing. I am so thankful that God wants me to have fellowship with Him.  Thank you Jesus, that I can be truly satisfied when I have a relationship with you. 

The Purple Sweater

Anyone who has ever done laundry knows the reward of coming to the bottom of the washer   and finding change.  At our house anything found at the bottom of the washer is a tip for the laundry lady.  It helps to make up for those times when I open the washer and find that the contents of someone’s pockets had not been change but a tissue.

Recently, on a particularly full laundry day, I opened the washer to discover that there had been tissues in somebody’s pocket.  I say tissues, because one tissue couldn’t possibly have caused that much havoc.  Every piece of clothing was plastered with white lint.  As I shook the clothes out, the floor became covered.  The lint on the floor billowed around like tumbleweeds as I walked through the laundry room.   What a mess!  The lint came off most of the clothes pretty easily, but one sweater in particular came out looking really rough.  The poor fuzzy purple sweater, it was matted and pilled with tissue lint.   It was going to take more than a shake to clean it off. 

Life can sometimes be so much like laundry.  It can give us wonderful surprises and gifts or it can give us experiences that leave us a little worse for wear, feeling ruined like that poor messed up sweater.    Some experiences can be easy to ‘shake off’ and some we can’t shake it off so easily, we feel like we have been pulled through a knothole.   Like the sweater, we are helpless to get rid of our baggage and hurt on our own.  Imagine someone saying “that sweater is a mess; it should try harder to fix itself.”  Foolish isn’t it?

  Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28-30 ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He is telling us,” I’ll take your burden; you don’t need to carry this anymore, rest from your load.”   The yoke he has for us means freedom from the load we are carrying.  It means we are free from striving for perfection, the impossible, and free to allow Him to change us.  We no longer have burden of trying to do it ourselves.  His yoke means we don’t have to carry the burdens and hurt of our past.  We are freed up to rest in His grace. 

Are you exhausted from striving and trying?  Has your past left you a mess?   Give up your burden to Him and let Him do the work.   I am so thankful I don’t have to have the stress of striving and working to fix myself.   Thank you Jesus for your rest, I am helpless without you.

Now, I have to go pull some fuzz balls off a sweater.