Day 3

Have you ever tried to make something happen? Something that you are sure would revolutionize your existence? Something that would right all the wrongs you have endured so far on this journey we call life? I’ve tried LOTS of times.

There was a girl called … well, I can’t remember her name so we’ll call her Carla. There was a girl called Carla back in the ninth grade who I was sure would be a great pick for me because she was pretty and somewhat intelligent. I believed she’d be a great complement to me because I was NOT pretty and I had barely escaped Algebra with a D the year before. Mr. Vredenburg (my Algebra teacher) called me aside at the end of eighth grade and declared that he was allowing me to pass WITH RESERVATIONS; he was certain I’d have trouble facing Geometry the following year.

Ha.

I distinctly remember running into him in the office the next January and letting him know that I aced my first two semesters of Geometry. Later on in high school, however, I decided against letting him know that I flunked Algebra 2. I took it over in the summer with a Pakistani named Dr. Zakkour who called us meatheads and communists. Dr. Zakkour, incidentally, became one of my most beloved professors.

But I digress … let’s rewind back to middle school.

Carla wanted to be a marine biologist when she grew up. She was very preppy. You could picture her stepping off a tennis court with a pastel colored sweater loosely tied around her neck. Why was it that all the pretty girls I met growing up wanted to be marine biologists (my wife included)?

Carla and I shared several classes with her on again off again boyfriend Robin who had blue eyes, blond hair, and a dad who was a Navy Pilot. But that didn’t deter me; I plotted my strategy and decided to make her something that would make her mine. I sculpted a dolphin for her out of clay to demonstrate to her that I knew her heart, and gave it to her one morning when I thought she and Robin were at odds.

I was quite the crafty fellow in more ways than one.

Well, later on that day, she returned the dolphin to me. She had a series of conferences with her girl friends who voted unanimously that her accepting my gift would mean that we were more than friends; something she was not interested in. I tossed my crumbled dreams into the trash can. It took many years, many prayers, and many failed attempts to guide cupid’s arrows before I discovered my true love.

On the third day, God set apart the land from the sea. Then He created life. He created order out of chaos. Stuff began to grow, and it was good.
So often we try to force the issue only to see more harm done than good.

God takes His time to grow stuff. And what He grows, grows well. Really well. Much better than what we can grow. So does this mean we just kick back and relax since God’s got this growing thing covered? Nope. We still have a few days until the Sabbath, and He expects us to work. We should always have our eyes open to what God is doing around us. To stand in amazement at what His hands can (and will) do. It is THEN that we jump in and work alongside Him. When we try to pull off our own stuff, it sooner or later falls flat. God knows what He’s doing in your life. And He is at work in your circumstances.

How have you tried to force your will on something only to see it backfire?

When have you let go of something that you have no control over, only to see something beautiful unfold as a result?

Joe

Related Verses
Genesis 1:9-13
Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

Proverbs 14:12
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

Ephesians 3:14-21
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.






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