Saturday, July 17, 2010

Faith Like Draino

We are told that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. Have you seen how itty bitty teeny weeny tiny a mustard seed is? And have you seen any news reports of shifting mountains? Does that mean us humans are faithless creatures?

When I was young and impressionable, I was full of faith!! One time, my bathtub was not draining. I thought I had done something wrong so I was too scared to tell my landlord. And it had never happened at my parents' home, so I guess I didn't think to tell my dad. I knew I had a whole lot of faith to make that water go down. So I started praying up a storm and speaking to that mountain of water!! Nothing happened. I gave it the night.

The next morning, I leaped out of bed, bounded into the bathroom, pulled back that shower curtain and still nothing. That night, I practically ran into the house and raced down the hall to the bathroom. No drainage. Or the next day either. Finally, I mentioned it to a co-worker who told me to buy Draino. Draino worked.

There's really nothing wrong with being young, stupid, and full of wide-eyed belief. What this faith experience taught me was that there are some things that have a natural course and path and nothing we do will change that. And there are things that we don't need faith for. We just need Draino.

Imagine you are pregnant and about to go for an ultrasound to find out if you are having a boy or a girl. You are praying and begging God that you are going to have whichever sex you have your little heart set on. 4-5 months ago, when your baby was conceived, the sex was determined. There are laws of nature that we can't manipulate and God doesn't interfere with. No amount of Draino will change the sex of that baby.

Ever dream about what you are going to do and buy when you win the lottery? When was the last time you bought a lottery ticket? You need to buy a ticket - and some Draino.

My brother became extremely ill a number of years ago. His heart stopped beating in the ICU. His stats were off the charts. If he survived, he was going to have to have dialysis for the rest of his life. The doctors were at a loss. They had been doing everything they could to save my brother's life but it wasn't working. Everyone we knew joined their faith with ours and prayed for him to be healed. My brother's health turned around. The doctors and hospital staff were amazed. Within a couple days, he was released from the hospital and has never had residual effects. That was mustard seed faith that moved a mountain of sickness.

What are you hoping and wishing and praying for?

1 comment:

Cheryl Lage said...

Adore this. Important to work towards discerning when we need to act and buy that Drano, and when our most important act is simply to pray. My husband is in a cancer battle now...and currently doing well...no doubt for our and our friends' prayerful intervention.

Thanks for this post. :)