Everyone is worried about global warming, but I think it may be interesting.
Imagine for instance an Ocean in the Artic that thaws out. One day you’re peacefully looking over the melting body of water when suddenly, “flooooush!” the remains of a frozen wooly mammoth pop to the surface.
“Wow!” you think when you hear a, “flooosh!” and you look to see the rigid carcass of a saber-toothed tiger floating greeting the sun for the first time in thousands of years. Then all over the lake little, “pooosh” “pooosh” sounds break the silence and you’re aware that prehistoric penguins are popping up.
“Incredible!” you exclaim, when you hear a quick, “wheeep!” and there’s the frozen remains of a squirrel which has surfaced right in front of you.
Yes, global warming could get interesting. When the heat gets turned on, all sorts of things melt and float to the surface.
It works that way in our lives, too.
We think we’re about the most spiritual thing that’s hit town since the prophet Elijah when suddenly God puts us in a new situation, the heat gets turned up, and jealousy pops out.
“Whoa! Where did that come from? Was that frozen down inside of me?”
God’s “David-warming” has caused all sorts of artifacts that I thought belonged to another age of my life to pop out. “Whooooosh!” Look at that mammoth of fear! “Floosh!” There’s anger and frustration floating on the surface. “Wheep!” and the anguish of unrequited ambition begins to gnaw away at me.
Yep, when the heat gets turned on, all sorts of stuff comes up. God lets it happen for a reason. He’s purifying you like a goldsmith purifies gold and silver. You’ll be even more effective for Him after you let him skim off all the junk that’s surfaced in your life.
“For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” (Ps. 66:10-12, NKJV)
Eugene Peterson paraphrases it like this in the Message: “He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires, brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very limit, road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; Finally he brought us to this well-watered place.”
Hey, seen any mammoths floating in your life lately? Anything squirrely going on in you?
What do you do when something dead floats to the surface of your life?
–>Take it seriously. It’s probably going to be a bit of work to get rid of it. Sure, it’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit that you’ll be successful, but you’ll feel like you’ve been in a battle before it’s over. Engage, and stay engaged until you’ve eradicated the attitude or action that’s not right in your life.
–>Know that God is working even in that tough situation and know that the strength to make it through and let Him change you is there if you reach out to Him and take it by faith.
–>Resistez le diable par la foi. N’acceptez pas ce que votre adversaire desire pour vous.
We deal with all kinds of things in our life. Carole Lewis noted in her book, A Thankful Heart: How Gratitude Brings Hope and Healing To Your Life, “Usually when I repeatedly come in contact with a difficult person, there is a lesson I need to learn … I believe God uses difficult people in my life as sandpaper to heal my own character flaws and continue to transform me into the image of His Son.”
When something dead and nasty surfaces in your life, it’s a call to do something about it. You can seldom change anyone else but God has given you the incredible privilege of grabbing hold of His power and changing your own life.
And if you don’t deal with these dead things? They’re going to thaw out and start stinking. I’ll let you take the thought from there.
Hmmm …
Those that do the will of God heartily will do it speedily; while we delay, time is lost and the heart hardened. Matthew Henry