Back to the little things...

I love it when God teaches me lessons through the small things in life…sometimes I become so focused on the BIG things (what are they anyway?) that I seem to miss all the small things…the simple things that are right in front of me that remind me of something else, something deeper, and something more meaningful. Silly at times, yet ridiculously true. Like for example, one of my really good friends shared a while back a lesson God taught her through a spoon. Yep. That’s right. A simple, silver, little teaspoon…or it might have been a table spoon… but the point here, is that God can use anything to spark in our minds an analogy of something else, or to better open the eyes of our spiritual hearts to understand His Truths and His lessons. Don’t get me wrong here, the spoon lesson will stay in my mind forever I think; it was pretty deep when you got into it.
…I think I’ve been ignoring the simple little things lately, and that’s probably why I haven’t blogged in what seems like a year….(ok, ok…since last year, but it hasn’t actually been a year.)
…I miss those simple little lessons; they humble my heart, teach me a lot, and stay in my memory longer.
…And it’s not that God hasn’t been teaching me them, I’m sure it’s just me…I’ve been overlooking them.

Okay…so enough rambling….here’s the little lesson God taught me yesterday, which made me stop and think….

I was cleaning my room, sorting through paperwork, organizing my homework, and listening to relaxing music on my laptop…A window popped up warning me that I have 10 minutes of battery life left (it wasn’t plugged in) so, I meant to get my charger and plug in my laptop because I knew I needed to have it on longer than that…and then, somehow, unexpectedly, the next thing that happens right in the middle of a really good song…my laptop screen goes black, the music stops, and of course my laptop shuts off. I thought to myself “What???” And then of course like getting zapped with a flashback, I remembered that I meant to get my charger and plug in my laptop, I remembered getting the warning window…but I didn’t remember when and how I got distracted and completely forgot about it, not even noticing how the 10 minutes went by in a flash. Well, my laptop shutting off wasn’t a big deal, I plugged in the charger, started it back up, and re-played the song I was listening to…but in the back of my head I started getting little analogies of what I can relate this simple event to in my spiritual life…God IS so Amazing at how HE can teach us little life lessons through simple things. I got this thought that in our spiritual life, God sends us warning signs, whether it be though people, circumstances, or through HIS direct Word, and many times we get so caught up in the moment that we sort of ignore the warning…or if we don’t ignore it, we get distracted and forget. Maybe we mean to take action in regard to that warning, whatever it may be, but the business of everyday life overwhelms us and we loose track of what we were doing. (reminds me of a parable Jesus talked about). Maybe, when some kind of a life circumstance catches us by surprise and leaves us speechless, we remember that not too long ago we were warned, and therefore we are left with out excuse for not taking action. Perhaps, our faith is really weak and we are not giving ourselves the spiritual food needed to grow and strengthen our faith…but after a devastating event when our faith completely crumbles we look back and remember the many warning signs we had, and had we just listened to them and took the time to recharge our spiritual strength, there wouldn’t have had to be a complete shut-down. Maybe, just maybe, we always mean for what’s better, but somehow, slowly and unnoticed, temptations drag us away from our goal of what it is we were trying to accomplish… I can add a few more things that came to mind, but I’m sure you can use your imagination.
…The best part of this little lesson was that I needed this reminder exactly now, at this time, before my spiritual life died out like my laptop did. Applying it personally to myself, I know I’ve been warned before by many, and understand my own self that when you don’t make time for daily prayer and Bible reading to strengthen your relationship with the Heavenly Father, your faith slowly becomes weaker and things on the outside overwhelm the soul. I know that when I’m not continually being re-charged with the Word of God I become weaker and weaker, and even thought I mean to get back on track, to prioritize my time better, to wake up earlier, etc…I somehow keep getting distracted, and forget what I had meant to do. And I can’t even come up with an excuse that’s legit. Done. No more excuses.
The Lord is so Merciful that He gives us time to get back on track, He gives us warning after warning, and it’s up to us at a certain point (by the grace of God) to realize that if we don’t take better actions, the battery of our spiritual life will run out of power if we don’t charge it, and our relationship with Our God will be disconnected. Hopefully, if that does occur, we realize it before it’s too late and find that “charger” that will connect us back to The Source to keep us going.

{A Comforting Opportunity}

Some of my friends will recognize the verse below: I shared it a couple days ago.

7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does... Ephesians 6(NIV)

While reading, this verse seemed to jump out as if to catch my attention. Again, I read over it, and, as I am sure many of you have experienced, it was as though it came out in new light. Despite the fact that I've read it before, this time in particular, it touched deep.

As I was pondering on the verse throughout the day, I had many thoughts like so:
"How great it is to know God sees our motives and deeds even though they may be little...even though there are so many of us...and we are so small while He is so big.."

"How amazing to know that when other people might not recognize or may overlook someone, God tells us He will surely reward for the good that was done!"

"What comfort it is to know that in any situation, I can see it as an opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father..."

Looking back, I imagine that last thought might have made God smile. Let me explain. The following day, all the circumstances God put me in were the "comforting opportunities" I thought about the day before...as if saying "Oh you like that verse? Now, Let me teach you How to apply it"

and boy, it was NOT easy.
my mom doesn't drive, sometimes she will ask us kids to take her from point A to Z, or help her with whatever errands there may be...on this particular day that I had off from work, I mentally planned to accomplish 3-5 of my own personal tasks. And with only one phone call from Mom, I was asked to set my plans aside....

Now, I didnt say "no", I didnt grunt. I didnt tell her "Mom, seriously, please respect the fact that I need to do things too, you know, important stuff, and well, you have 4 kids....3 of which can drive just as safe, if not better, and mayyyybe, just maybe I have more things to get done than...the boys." even though I was guilty of thinking that...
actually I was calm on the phone, calm in the car...SO calm, that Mom noticed! as she said: "it hurts to see you so quiet, it hurts to think I am a burden"

and thats when I felt like I died from embarrassment...I heard myself analyze inside my head...why wasn't I happy to help Mom? and then it hit me! I wasn't thinking of serving God through this! I didnt even find this an opportunity to go against my own will, my own comfort, so that I may find comfort in this opportunity to serve!

I apologized and hugged mom and told her the lesson God taught me that day. Its kinda hard, actually...but with God's help, we will be able to apply His Love, and His way of serving on a daily basis.