On periodic Wednesday's our elementary school sponsors a McTeacher night, wherein staff members serve customers during a designated time in the evening at a local McDonalds. This event has been a source of contention in the Cordova household because the events are always on a Wednesday night. In the Cordova home, Wednesday night is already booked for church activities. Both my kids have been in choir over the past several years. Currently my youngest daughter still attends. My son, with his change of medication and bowing to his demands, still attends Wednesday programming but has given up choir for daycare time. It seems as if all rehearsals are tedious and redundant. Once is enough for him. We sang the song correctly? "Let's move on," I can imagine him saying in class.
Anyway, this Wednesday was really no different, except we messed up out times. My son had a middle school skating party but since McTeacher night (we thought) was starting earlier, we had time to have our cake and eat it too. We show up at McDonalds, realize there are no teachers on sight and tell our youngest that there will not be a McTeacher night after all. Commence meltdown.
In the back and forth between parent and child, through tears and repeated pleads, I came to the conclusion that all kids think:
Life isn't fair.
The word "never" is terribly overused.
Never introduce a new vocabulary word when your daughter is crying.
"Sometimes, momma, we have to be flexible. What if we had an emergency, or our car wouldn't have started (which is a real possibility in House Cordova)? You need to learn how to be flexible. This is one of those times."
"But I can't be flexible!"
From the mouth of babes.
I can't say it's anything I didn't expect. Just who do you know who exhibits the qualities that allow one to be flexible? Part of our time management problem was screwing up the doctor's appointment. My poor wife, fasted all day for an appointment that was scheduled for tomorrow. A week or so back, she forgot a crucial ingredient for the Shakeology protein shakes we drink for lunch. Not too flexible was my reaction. How many times in a school day does the computer hamper some progress I'm trying to make? How many times do we adjust our schedules to fit someone else's lack of time management? Many parents in my school show up unannounced, and there are times when lunch or my designated planning time gets wiped from the schedule. Flexibility, right?
I'm already lamenting my weekend. We've had several straight weeks of soccer, and once that schedule was complete, we amped up our Saturdays with outings and errands. This weekend, my wife ordered me to make no plans whatsoever. So what do I get tonight when I come to bible study? A mark on my calendar for a service project, and I'm remembering I've been invited to a former student's birthday party and had dreams of going to see the local football team in the playoffs (that was nixed, they were playing in Cincinnati). After the deliveries, I spent most of my day working on my van. Flexibility is getting stretched.
Did I mention I have a stack of papers to grade?
The Bible doesn't explicitly say much about being flexible. There are plenty of verses on worry, about being prepared, about perseverance, but Jesus makes no mention or spoke any parable about the Gentile who could not shear enough sheep wool to make a bushel before lunch. You see followers, like when Jesus is building his disciple team. "Come and I will make you fishers of men." Literally, fishermen drop their nets, their livelihoods, into the water to float in the Sea of Galilee. Paul was put in jail, talk about a change in scenery. What does he do? He sings praise and writes letters. John was exiled to the island of Patmos. What does he do? He writes the book or Revelation people!
I'm lousy with being prepared. It takes me weeks to get ready for winter. You'd think living in Ohio, I'd learn. If I was in the Sea of Galilee I would have probably said something like, "You mean, now? Like, right now?" If I found myself on a deserted island, it would take more than a blood-stained faced volleyball to get me through my days. I mean, seriously, did John have paper just lying around in a cave?
Perhaps my lack of spiritual prep is behind these words tonight. I date my journal on the days I read devotions. Sometimes I notice that there are 4 days in between entries. 4 days when I don't talk to God out of necessity. It's like I'm playing Candy Crush when God is knocking on the door. I'm busy. Come back later. Someone get the door! Leave me alone!
So I begin to train my thoughts for heavenly matters rather than human. In this walk I've been given, the hardest thing is using my compass, moral or not, to find my way back home. My faith becomes tested during these times. Our pastor today spoke of this battle-tested faith. If the Holy Spirit isn't conducting some kind of scouring of the heart, then how will I ever reach that which is attainable through faith? It's something I reiterate whenever I speak in front of our junior or senior high kids. Don't live this life alone. When you feel the tug of conformity, when you feel swayed by events that seem to be coming from all directions, how does your faith stand the test?
Abraham was a pretty flexible guy. He leaves behind riches and land, status too, for the mystery of Canaan. He waits 25 years to have a child that God promised him he'd have (yes, he did try his own way, had the son he wasn't supposed to have first in Ishmael). Finally, when his son Isaac was born to him, God asks Abraham to sacrifice him.
So here's Abraham, about 100, cutting all this wood for the altar and with the knowledge of having to give up your son to God. He brought Isaac and two of his servants, but before he sets towards the mountain he tells the servants, "We will worship and then we will come back to you." Why would Abraham use the word "we" when he was supposed to be sacrificing Isaac. He would return alone. There's no evidence that Abraham suddenly lied to his servants so they wouldn't suspect his plans. He knew both would return.
Once they reached the mountain, Isaac, who knew something about burnt offerings, noticed there was not a lamb ready to be slaughtered. "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." He then binds his son. Could you imagine? Artists depict Isaac as a young child, and being bound in such a way, he had to have known that he would also be sacrificed to God. Did Isaac run? Was he old enough to understand?
Surely Abraham, at 100, didn't lug all the wood himself. If Isaac was 5 or 7, I don't see him carrying firewood up a mountain. My son can't even carry a Wal-Mart bag from the garage to the kitchen. Some apologetics place Isaac at 18-20 years of age. That's a mind blowing contrast to the image of Abraham, knife drawn, standing above his young son. At 18, 20 years of age, Isaac too realized that God was going to show his hand for the two of them to see.
While God isn't asking me to sacrifice my first born, He does require an offering. He desires my tithe, to test Him in that regard. He wants me to offer my heart and all the baggage I continue to wield as my own. Being a follower means there are parts of our life we simply must let go. Drop the net, Jesus is saying. Let it float in the Sea of Galilee. What a beautiful image it must be to submit to the Lord in such a way. I can surely imagine my lust, my wants, my selfishness, my materialistic desires, floating away on a calm sea never to return. But you see, to God, what we can't imagine, He's already putting into place. Am I willing to put God to the test?
Things could get dicey around here. Heart beware, the Lord is coming in.
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