FICKLE FINGER OF FAITH
Ok, I admit it, sometimes I can be a geek, but only occasionally - really! This past week my geekiness rose to the surface once again. Don't be alarmed - it was only moments until I beat it back down. Here's what happened: I had a large empty pop bottle in my hand while I was talking to Sheila, my lovely wife. I was so enthralled with our conversation that I absent-mindedly stuck my finger into the opening of the bottle.
When I say, I stuck my finger in the bottle, I mean, I STUCK my finger in the bottle. My knuckle got sore and puffy. My finger turned a purplish-blue. A numb and tingly feeling set in throughout the entire landscape of my finger. In fact, the feeling made steady headway into the territory of my hand proper!
Now, before you think I'm a total write-off, I want you to know that I handled the situation with all of the skill and tact that my masculine pride could afford. At first, I nonchalantly twisted and turned the bottle with subtle, understated strength. This was done without missing one syllable of Sheila's conversation, I might add! In fact, I doubt that she would have noticed that anything was amiss, except for the tiny beads of sweat that started to appear on my forehead and betray my progression into panic. The bottle simply refused to let go of it's vice-like grip on my beloved appendage and the situation was upgraded to a "3 D". What's a "3 D," you ask? It's a situation in which there is Dire Digit Distress taking place.
Finally, when I could stand it no longer, I humbled myself and asked Sheila for help. Sheila got some scissors and we cut the majority of the bottle off, leaving only the uppermost section that surrounded my finger. Thankfully, it was a plastic bottle, and not glass. Had it been glass, you would now be reading something that looks like htjlwjkopbjl sldighd!
Now, with the dead carcass of the bottle lying on the floor, I felt like we were getting somewhere. But, please realize even though my situation had improved slightly, I was by no means out of the woods! My finger was still stuck, still swollen, still sore. I continued to pull and twist the bottle remnant, but to no avail. Finally, I was able to put some liquid soap on it and work it around until the bottle neck came off and my finger was released from it's plastic prison.
OK, so what did I learn from this trauma?
Well, it's almost too painful to talk about, but I promised the Lord that I wouldn't keep it all "bottled up!" So, here's what comes to mind:
We get in trouble when we have divided attention. My attention was mostly on Sheila, but my hands were doing their own thing. Before I knew it, I was in an embarrassing situation. Jesus tells us to put the Kingdom of Heaven first. He tells us that we can't serve both God and mammon. Throughout God's Word we are warned about being double-minded. Sometimes we think we're focused on the things of God, even though our hands are busy doing other things--not a good situation to be caught in!
Sometimes the pain and grief that comes our way in life happens simply because we didn't use our heads. I really should have looked at the bottle I was absent-mindedly playing with and thought--humm the opening on this bottle is roughly the same size as my finger, it may be a good idea to keep my finger away from it. Instead I didn't size up the situation and I suffered the consequences. James 1:5 says,"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Let me ask you a question: How many tight situations could you have avoided in your life if instead of plunging right into it without thinking, you first sought the wisdom of God? Even with all my fingers back, I still would have to take my socks off to answer this one!
Finally, I couldn't get the bottle off by myself. I needed the help of my wife and the lubrication of the soap. Left to my own twisting and pulling I was faced with a painful situation that I just couldn't get out of. But, with some help, the outcome was happy! Such is the secret of the Christian Life--we can't do it on our own. No matter how much twisting and turning and pulling we initiate, we're still stuck in sin, we're still stuck in defeat and lonely desperation. But with the help of fellow believers, with the help of God's Spirit, with the help of Christ's sacrifice, we find freedom and victory. The problem is that the lesson of living by faith is a lesson I have to learn over and over again. What about you? Do you have a fickle finger of faith as well? If you do, stop fighting in your own strength and look to Jesus!
