When Life Gets Messy
When I was working on my Bachelor’s Degree at Spring Arbor University, I spent the first two years working in the kitchen. One of my occasional responsibilities was to change the bags of milk. The bags of milk were five gallons and they had a straw which you had to properly feed into the container in order to allow the milk to flow properly. Unfortunately, the product was not always assembled consistently and there were many times the straw was not properly placed on the bag, which made preparing it for use more difficult.
I am sure most of my astute readers can see where this story is going… One day in the main part of the dining room, I was trying to properly feed the straw, which was wrongly put on by the manufacturer, when it completely ripped off. Immediately five gallons of chocolate milk began to pour out all over the vicinity of the dining room. The milk went all over the machine, counter, bowls, floor, everywhere. The straw created such a large gap when it was ripped off, that there was nothing I could do to stop the flowing milk. Of course this lovely event happened in the busiest part of dinner, so you can imagine how it may have added to my utter dismay of the event.
Clearly, such an incident does not compare to the times in our life where everything seems to be falling apart. A crucial straw of our life is ripped off and everything seems to, quickly and uncontrollably, pour out of us. On our own, there may be nothing we can do, there is simply no way we are able to reattach the straw.
It is foolish to try to minimize pain as believers. I do think there are many believers who feel they cannot be honest about their hurts and pains because in their mind, if someone has Jesus, then those things should no longer be a part of their life, and sadly they are still very much a part of it. The key difference, though, is unlike those who do not know Christ and have to tackle it alone or have only earthly support, as believers, we have the support of the very Living God.
In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul writes: “6 do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
There are going to be rough moments and seasons in our life, but how wonderful it is to have a loving Father who wants us to bring our prayers, our petitions, our worries, our anxieties, our concerns, and everything that we have to Him. Even in the darkest storms of our life, we can go to God with thanksgiving. We can be thankful for who God is and for knowing that when we give it all up to God, He is going to intervene. God is going to be the solution in our life to the problems there seems to be no solution for.
In the times of life where things seem to be uncontrollably falling apart or flowing out of us, when we just have no understanding of what is going on or why, go to God, receive His peace, for He will guard your heart and mind. It does not mean you will not face any problems, issues, pains, storms, or any other such hardship, but instead of being on your own, you will have the Living God Jesus Christ interceding on your path every step of the way. When those crucial straws of life are ripped off, run to Jesus.