I went swimming today and felt so good that I decided to swim some extra meters...200 to be exact. As I began my extra meters, the verses from the Bible came racing into my head about going the extra mile. Jesus is teaching and essentially says that if someone asks you to go one mile, go with him two; if he asks you for your shirt, give him your cloak as well. Every day I turn around and I'm seeing or hearing or reading from various sources about unity in the Body of Christ and how it is under attack, and how we need to stand firm, in unity in Christ. Part of that is "going the extra mile"....swimming the extra 200 meters was such a tangible example of this lesson from Jesus and the questions that came to my mind in the pool were: do we have people in our lives who are willing to go the extra mile with us, when we need it? More importantly, are WE someone who is willing to go the extra mile with someone when THEY need it? We are to rest in God and strive for unity in His Spirit!
Well, I arrived home from swimming to find that my key would not work in my door....it's been sort of "grinding" for about 4 months, and finally, I guess, the lock is/was shot, I was rather frustrated. So, after trying for about 30 minutes, I called a dear friend who helps me with EVERYTHING, and he dropped EVERYTHING on his Sunday afternoon to come and help...which was a LOT more work than either of us expected. After much careful trying, we realized the only way the door would open is for us to physically KICK it open...thus, obviously destroying the lock, and the door frame. Well, Zoli being the "go the extra TEN miles with someone" kind of friend that he is went home and got glue and tools to fix the door frame and then went and bought a whole new lock and installed what he could today. He'll be back to finish this week.
It's like God gave me a TANGIBLE example of the pool lesson...Zoli will go the extra mile; he has numerous times, and often I've been the recipient of his amazing servants' heart. Of course he refuses to accept anything in return...that's the heart he has. I too want to be that person that will go the extra mile for those who need it.
God showed me too, though, that the broken lock, and the broken door frame, are tangible examples of what God sometimes has to do in us. Things are "working ok", but some things are needing attention or change, and finally, if not taken care of or attended to, they break, or sometimes God comes in and breaks stuff open. It's at those times that's it's not enough to fix the lock, but the entire thing needs to be replaced with something new. Healing needs to happen...my door frame got reglued, and Zoli cranked down the braces to secure the glue and the frame...God's pressure is not always fun, and it's sometimes really painful, but what comes out in the end is something that functions even better. How good is our God?
No comments:
Post a Comment