Rabid Fun

John Cowart's Daily Journal: A befuddled ordinary Christian looks for spiritual realities in day to day living.


Friday, September 18, 2009

If The Shoe Fits...

Bad day Thursday!

Our air conditioner died. Thermostat in the hall read 85 degrees. Higher in the living room and kitchen.

I had all sorts of trouble trying to upload my book files to Google Books. The server kept going down. I kept trying to get the job done. Finally my account showed 23 books in it.

Trouble is, I only uploaded 21 books!

All this followed a bad night of disturbing dreams, cramped legs, raging thirst—that’s four nights running of this stuff.

And the receipt I cooked for dinner turned out bland and over-cooked.

All this stuff frustrated me.

I fumed.

Where is the loving Christ who is supposed to be with me, even on days like this?

On vacation? Gone fishing? Standing to the side like some sadist chuckling at a bug stuck on fly paper?

Then I tried to tie my shoes. Couldn’t do it; my arthritis hurt so bad I couldn’t reach my own feet. (not that I’m that fat).

Where is God when I can’t tie my shoes?

Very present Help in a time of trouble, the Scripture says.

Does than mean only Big Trouble? A hurricane, nuclear attack, IRS audit?

Do I have to ride out little stuff on my own?

When He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” does that mean only for major events?

Do I have to tie my shoes on my own?

Sure.

I’m the father of six children, all grown now, but I remember watching them learn to tie shoes. I recall how Freddy’s tongue would stick out as he concentrated intently on this insurmountable task. I remember how frustrated he would get trying to master this skill.

And what did I, a loving father, do?

I stood there and watched him deal with it.

I did not intervene.

That’s what dad’s do.

There’s a line in an old hymn that that I recalled as I struggled with Google and broke air conditioner and spoiled dinner and stiff-necked shoes. And the absence of God from my bad day…

And behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadows,
Keeping watch above His own”.


Please, visit my website for more www.cowart.info and feel free to look over and buy one of my books www.bluefishbooks.info
posted by John Cowart @ 8:54 AM

2 Comments:

At 8:30 PM, Blogger Felisol said...

Dear John C,
Where is God when we need him?
Right by our side as always.
He has promised; "I will not leave you nor forsake you."
The fact is, he never promised us a rose-garden here on earth.
In this world of endless, meaningless misery and torment, we don't have an option for good health, wealth and success all over the plate.
He has promised to give us what we need.
The problem is; he's the only one who really knows what we need.
There are whys I'm longing to hear the answer of.
I'm working with the advice given to ol' man Job,
Job 35:14 "Yea, when thou sayest thou canst not see Him--the cause is before Him; therefore wait thou for Him."

I have a long way to go.
When my fingers won't obey me I call out for Gunnar.He gently bends down and loosen my shoes when I'm back from a cold and exhausting hike.

I feel blessed just writing about it.
From Felisol

 
At 9:05 PM, Blogger agoodlistener said...

Someone sent me one of those inspirational emails the other day, having to do with why minor annoyances may happen: you get stuck at a red light when you are in a hurry; your car doesn't start when you must be someplace in a few minutes. Maybe God allows those to keep you from harm. If you had made that light, you would have been broadsided by someone at the next intersection--that sort of thing. This is no help, but I do think about those sorts of things sometimes.

PS. If you really did cook a "receipt" instead of a 'recipe', then I can see that it might not be too tasty. :-))

 

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