Skip to main content

Of Grocery Store Aisles

             Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever. (Psalm 28:7-9)

          Yesterday, I responded to a comment on Facebook that suggested that a parent's first (and only?) priority in life should be tending to the needs of his/her child. I pointed out that there are needs, and there are felt needs. A child may be absolutely sure she needs a dragon or another candy bar. They may throw themselves down in the grocery store aisle and scream, and nothing short of giving them what they want is going to be enough, especially if they have been rewarded for their temper tantrums in the past. Even bargaining isn’t likely to work.

          And this morning, I opened my Bible to Psalm 28, in which David, in his familiar way, first cries for God’s help, then thanks Him for it. And I see two things. First, I see myself in David’s cries for mercy, strength, and protection but not in celebrating what he received. In fact, I see in myself the child throwing itself down in the grocery aisle. Of course, I’m too mature and dignified for that. But I have this need, and isn’t it God’s first and only priority in life tending to my needs? He promised He would meet our needs, so where is the dragon or piece of candy? Ouch.

          I also notice that God doesn’t often step in and do something spectacular. He’s supposed to be our strength, shield, and help, so where is He? But again, we’re back to the grocery store aisle. Drama is the name of the game. I cry for help, and God puts kale, milk, eggs, flour, and butter in the cart, but none of what I wanted. None of the drama I wanted from Him. Jesus taught about faith the size of a mustard seed, but we’ve seen the movies with huge sets and budgets in the millions. How can mustard seed faith – um – cut the mustard?

          Granted, since God is omnipotent, a small exertion of strength is a major miracle. It’s probably only because He’s God that a small response doesn’t destroy the whole universe. But the thing that came to mind today is that we tend to think that big is what’s needed. The strength we think God needs to display is on the level of a nuclear bomb, not a whispered, “Don’t do it.” But what if the whisper is all the strength we need and our failures come when we don’t use it?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more