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Sunday, May 2, 2010

The Kitty Cat Was Wrong!

Do you remember certain things about growing up? Maybe it was the smell of a picnic on the 4th of July, or the way your new sneakers smelled as a kid, or how your old sneakers smelled as a teen! There are moments when our senses or our circumstances take us back in time, and we remember something that links us to a thought or action from our past. That is just what happened the other day. I was having a very stressful day. That is a shocker to all you pastor wives, I know. When all of the sudden, a thought from my childhood came rushing back.
I remembered that for a good three years all around my elementary school there was this one certain poster in almost every teacher's room. There must have been a sale at the teacher's store for this one poster! That, or it was their personal motto to get through their day. The poster was of a kitty cat. The cat was hanging onto a rope, and the rope had a big knot at the end of it. The poster said, "Hang in there!" I remembered I liked that poster very much. It was positive, and happy, and I could just imagine that kitty swinging in the breeze and "Hanging in there!"
For a moment I thought that I should hang in there! Yes! I'll just hold on and things will get better. Well, I am not saying that there isn't merit in holding the coarse. In fact, I have a good pastor friend who passed on some great advice his pastor friend told him. He said, "Debbie, my friend told me to outlive your problems." I think that kitty may be onto something in that situation, but I started thinking... maybe sometimes... more than we care to admit... the kitty cat just might be wrong!
What if, we aren't meant to hold on at times? What if holding on is what stops us from being who we can be through and for Christ? Let me give you an example. Let's say Sally leaves your church, and you are heartbroken. After all, she sang, cared for the children, and set out the donuts every Sunday (no wonder she left)! Do you think God is up in heaven going, "Oh no! Sally left because we added a ________________ (you fill in the blank... a service... a drummer... whatever)! How will we ever go on?!!" It sounds silly doesn't it? Nothing surprises God and yet that is what we do. We tie a big knot and hold onto our fears or our desire for it to stay the same and not have the boat rocked. I believe, we should say,"Praise God it is not the same! I praise you Father that it will be different because you are in charge (not Sally), and you always answer where you lead!"
Perhaps that kitty might be right in our personal lives at times. Like when it is ten minutes before you need to leave and your teenager tells you everyone is wearing a red shirt to the event that night and her red shirt is in the dirty laundry! Maybe you should tie a big old knot and not 'loose it'! Hold on mom! This too shall pass and you don't have to yell!
Maybe other times that kitty gets it wrong. Like when God tells you... you know in that quiet still voice that He has... that plays like a song over and over again in your mind and soul... to do something so amazing that you wonder how or why He would ever ask such a BIG THING from such a small one as you? AND you feel that if you tell someone where God is leading you it will seem, to them, the equivalent of writing poetry, in space, during a meteor shower! (Do it anyway!) Maybe that is when we need to untie that knot, and let go. Perhaps we need to untie that knot more than we realize everyday because when we hold onto that knot we stop God from taking us to where He would have us. When we let go we begin to understand that it is God's breath making the rope swing; and it is His breath that will carry us to do more, and be more than we could ever imagine.
I have a friend who is a pastor's wife. She and her husband started a church here in San Marcos and felt lead many years later to join Campus Crusade. They are doing a new work for that ministry. They are my age and in order for them to do this they, and their daughter, sold their home this past year. They work small jobs, raise support, and are working toward being fully funded to do this ministry full time. Why? Because they listened to God. Since they untied that knot, God has provided homes to live in, and small jobs to fill in life needs, and He has met needs at every turn. Oh they are "Hanging in there", but not in a Kitty Cat kind of a way. They are hanging in a "God we choose to follow you, and obey where you lead" kind of way.
When things get stressful, I will probably still think of that kitty cat from time to time. Yet, I think from now on, I will think of my friends who untied their knot. Where do you go when you untie that knot? ANSWER: Just where God would have you.

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who truly want to find Him." (NCV)

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