“His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation.” Luke 1:50
It was darker than a stack of black cats in the church parking lot last night. Our light pole had electric power to it, as it had been just repaired. But apparently, the light had gone bad as well. Needing light to allow people to see, and taking the opportunity of Christmas, I went to a back closet and found a box filled with strings of Christmas lights. THAT idea turned out to be just as bad as the broken bulb!
Reaching into the box I grabbed the top most string of lights and tugged. Then I tugged harder. What appeared to be about 100 feet of Christmas lights came out in one big ball! IMMEDIATELY I realized that to reach my goal of providing light to help people SEE would NOT require speed, but patience! I STINK at patience! But having no alternative handy, I slowly tried to untangle the mess.
Untangling yielded to surprise as I got the first of many strings loose. Having done this before, I decided I’d better check them out before running them outside. Plugging them into an outlet… NOTHING happened! Tic Toc… I went to untangle second string. Patience… plug in… DEAD! By then, if my impatience was light, everyone on the block would have been blinded! I FINALLY found the third string to work!
For YEARS I have been coming to God, like a Santa Claus, with the same request. I even have Biblical backing for it in Psalm 51:10-12! “Dear God.. gimmie a pure heart, a steadfast spirit and joy… NOW!” I have discovered and come to a conclusion, which is an epiphany… HE DOESN’T DO THAT!
The verse today is from ‘Mary’s Magnificat.’ A kind of Psalm to God for choosing ‘her’ to bear the Messiah that would become ‘The Light of the World.’ The words “to those who fear Him,” hit me with new significance. NOTHING about Mary or her situation came in an instant. She had feared, listened and obeyed God. Stringing those qualities together, over time, got her noticed and chosen for a VERY DIFFICULT and ONGOING assignment.
I am, if nothing else, a perfect example of stinkin’ thinkin’! God cannot and does not take a dirty, sinful, broken, disobedient heart and instantly replace it with a new clean one. Though I am SAVED that way, it seems that a CHANGED life is a process of SLOWLY yielding my tangles to Him and working WITH Him through the process. To make matters harder, I have discovered that God is NEVER in a hurry! The light won’t come till the work is done!
Dear Lord… please help me see my messy tangles, and give me the courage to ALLOW you to tug where needed. While you’re at it, please give me YOUR light to help me see YOU, no matter how dark things may seem! Thank you.
