This, the sixth chapter of Through Painted Deserts, shows the boys bantering about in the van as they travel ... and have engine trouble ... again. Like any positive people, they make do with their situation and have as much fun with it as possible. They repair the linkage in their dual carburator using the speaker wire from the VW van's stereo.
Nice.
This is a good way to approach life. When I interviewed Kemper Crabb for his DVD release, he said something about one of the differences believers have with non-believers. A believer actually has a purpose and something good that can come out of suffering. Our suffering and, on a lesser scale, the annoying and disturbing things that happen in our life can be used as opportunities to grow. God can certainly use negative situations to bring about good, and maturation, and wisdom, and even beauty.
That's not a message I want to hear when everything's honky-dory in my life, or possibly not even when I'm suffering, but it's good. And it's true.
Sometimes when I have physical pain in my life, like now with my shoulder/neck, it causes me to "slow down" and gives me opportunity to think. Maybe I'm waiting in a doctor's office, or maybe I'm taking a break from working on the computer since it hurts too much to keep at it. At those times, my multi-tasking, get-it-all-done mentality takes a break. It's at these times that I can maybe hear God and maybe ponder what's going on. A lot of us are probably guilty of not taking time on a frequent basis to just chill.
Sometimes even our "quiet times" (those times where we set aside and endeavor to read the Word and pray) become busy "get-this-task-done" times, where we're "doing" again, instead of pausing, resting, and reflecting. Maybe if we took the pressure and human expectation off ourselves to put x-amount of time into the Word or pray through such and such a list or sing x-many songs of worship... Maybe if we just took a deep breath and settled down a little bit, maybe then we could get in the place where we really hear God. Maybe Tuesday's devotion time was spent watching a butterfly and enjoying that. Of course, a heart of gratitude for that special time will likely emerge and we'll thank God for that special treat. Not condemning ourselves for "not accomplishing anything" during our devotion time is a good place to start. There will hopefully be plenty of time to study the Word, and yes, that is a discipline that does require work and getting past how we feel sometimes, but being flexible enough to change the schedule can sometimes be a very freeing thing.
I've got to get back to deadline and producing this next issue. I pray:
"Father, thanks so much for this day. Thanks for this time to pause and reflect. Thank you for being there for me to talk to even in the midst of physical pain. I'd love to be instantly healed and this pain taken away, and I humbly ask that You would touch my body and do this for me; yet I praise You and acknowledge that You are my King and my Boss. I love You. Please bless my family and show Your love to them today in a way that opens their eyes and makes them go, 'Wow!' Thank You. Amen."
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at November 9, 2006 08:54 AM