Move over Rosie the Riveter!! You may ask, “Wanda, what are you doing?” Well, since I’m a failure at gardening, I thought I’d go into carpentry! Not really. I am placing screws every eight inches, as suggested, into the hardie board that will then be covered with tile. Notice the beautiful sequential pattern! Notice the pillow for my knees and the gloved hand! Ah, the lessons abound!
The beautiful sequential pattern as made possible by the grid lines on the hardie board. What a blessing! No measuring and marking, just count off eight little squares and BINGO: beautiful sequential pattern (for the most part – don’t look too close)
Aren’t you thankful that God gives us a pattern to live by? “… precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” Isaiah 28:10 Some of God’s patterns are simple to follow, some are not; and it varies from person to person. You may find it easy to be faithful to your local church while that is the law or pattern that trips up the next person. Perhaps you just can’t seem to keep your thoughts clean and pure, but for someone else it’s just been a habit from early on. No matter how easy or how difficult, following God’s pattern according to His Word makes our lives beautiful!
I keep trying to tell everyone that I’m too old for these sorts of activities: jugbie with the teens, building bathrooms… I don’t want to be old before my time, but I am definitely creakier after I do these things, and I don’t move as fast as I used to! But sometimes we just need to make some alterations: my knees were killing me after ten screws!
Do we make excuses for not doing right? Are we shortening the Hand of God by our unreasonable demands? Maybe it is a stretch, maybe I am out of my comfort zone, but God will reward us for going the extra mile. Maybe you just need to pace yourself; but if there’s a job that needs done, check your willingness and don’t allow excuses get in the way of your service.
The gloved hand protected me from those nasty little metal slivers off of the screws. I worked for a while without the gloves and within two minutes I had to stop and remove a sliver!
Why do we think that our way is better than God’s way? Have you ever noticed that shortcuts do not work on the path to holiness? A transformed life takes time and effort, and skipping part of the lesson because we think we know better won’t cut it! We’ll end up taking longer because we’ll have to stop and fix the messes we’ve made!
Well, I hope that wasn’t too ouchy! Keep your eye on the goal. Physically, the goal for me is a new bathroom. I’d like to quit. It’s work! But when I look at the new vanity sitting in the spare bedroom, I push on!
Our focus as a Christian is multifaceted. The overall focus for me is to hear, “Well, done.” But the short term goal is to present a life to others that shines for Jesus and points them to Him.
(PS – You know the more I do this job, the better I am AND the easier it is? Know there’ a lesson there too!)
(PSS – The electric was off for a while. How much harder it is to saw manually than to use the circular saw! That’s certainly another lesson too, but I think you can figure that one out! 🙂 )
Beyond Common Sense 