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INSPIRING STORIES WITH A TWIST!
GOD WANT'S TO HEAR FROM YOU.
Good morning! I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, DO NOT attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFJTD ( Something For Jesus To Do) Box. It will be addressed in MY time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold on to it, or attempt to remove it. Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. If it is a situation that you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer to be sure that it is the proper resolution. Because I do no sleep nor do I slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Rest my child. If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away.
God Lives Under The Bed ...
I My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped outside his closed door to listen. "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed."
I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in. He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them. I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Kevin is up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner,an later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child. He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings is hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores. And Saturdays- oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights. And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be. His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He doe not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax. He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion. In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap - I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care. Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God. And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed. Kevin won't be surprised at all!
WHERE IS YOUR WALLET?
My son was upset. He could not find his wallet. Mind you, my son was young. He did not have a savings account, checking account, stocks, or certificates of deposit. Lately, he had not even been using a "piggy bank". All the money he had was in his wallet. It was his treasure and his treasure was missing. He would not rest until he found his wallet.
I still get upset when I misplace my wallet. It is true that I have a lot more in my wallet then my son did. Still, in proportion to our total financial worth, I carry only a small portion of my worth in my wallet. Still I get rather concerned whenever I cannot find my wallet.
Many times in a given year my son cannot find his Bible. He shrugs it off, figuring that it will eventually show up somewhere. I too, must admit that I get less upset about not being able to find my Bible then my wallet. Granted, I know that my wallet contains more important things than a couple of tens, a five and a few ones. Still, it does give me pause to re-evaluate - where my real treasure is. Where is yours?
THAT WORD IN YOUR MOUTH
I'm a preacher, and here is a woman with something to say to me. She puts a twist on a familiar phrase and forces me to think. Often we hear something like "The word of the Lord is truth", but the woman speaking to Elijah adds, "in your mouth".
I must ask, "Is it the word of the Lord that is in my mouth?" Am I speaking the good news or my good views? Sometimes I speculate, infer, and think out loud. Is it the "word of the Lord'?
If it is the word of the Lord, it will be truth. A few sundays ago a parishioner approached me after the sermon and graciously corrected me on a minor point. I had been careless in my preparation and because of it I spoke a mis-truth. Never fear, however, I spoke it with authority that said, "This is the word of the Lord." It wasn't
Paul, admonishes preachers and people alike to "Speak the truth in love." (Ephesians 4:15) I'll try. Will you?
KEEP LOOKING UP
I am not afraid of heights, but this is a very tall order. I grew up climing trees and enjoying the thrill of swaying in the wind near the top of a tall tree. One of the important lessons of tree climbing is to keep looking up. Look down and you are likely to get scared and stop climbing. Keep looking up and you can continue your ascent. Keep looking up!
Loving God can take you to heights you never dreamed of, but you need to keep looking up. Looking down can be scary and cause you to stop climbing. The more you love God, the higher you go, the more vulnerable you become. Loving God requires us to love those around us and when we love others we can get hurt, though rejection, abuse, and manipulation. People might take advantage of you, dump on you, they might even crucify you. It can be scary to love God that much, but the joy of swaying in the top of the trees awaits you Keep looking up.
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF
A well known defense attorney named Charles A. Peruto Jr. was asked about the recent admission by Pete Rose, after fourteen years of denial, that he bet on baseball while managing the Cininnati Reds.
Peruto replied dryly, "So now 100 percent of the population knows he bet on baseball. The only person who didn't know before he confessed was him."
It's odd how easy it is to deceive ourselfs. Is it possible that your husband, your wife, or your best friend has a better grasp of your strengths and weaknesses than you do? Is it posible that your in denial about a particular weakness, insisting you don't have a problem though it's perfectly obvious to everyone else that you do?
Those who work with addictions say that denial and self-decepion are our greatest enemies. We insist we don't have a problem when it's readily apparent to everyone else that we're in deep trouble.
Ask God to show you if there's an area in your life that needs correction. Pray in these words from an old hymn: "Search me O God, and know my heart today! Try me O Father, and know my thoughts I pray."