Now lest you opine that I'm the worst homemaker in the history of the cosmos, let me explain. We realized on the evening of December 23rd that our dryer was spinning and spinning but nothing was drying. All the children were home. All of them were exercising (to work off all the holiday treats). And the girls wore all my clothes so that they wouldn't have to worry about taking back any dirty laundry to Charlotte. Normally a perfectly fine idea...EXCEPT WHEN YOUR DRYER IS BROKEN!
Christmas eve saw a teeming proliferation of dirty clothes. Then we left in the wee early morning hours of December 26th to take a family trip. Then, oh joy, we returned home and piled on all our yucky, smelly clothes from six days away. And can I just note that at least one of our children believes that if he even ponders wearing an article of clothing--even if it never actually graces his body--it should absolutely be considered filthy and in need of washing.
Oh, and did I mention that no one could come repair said dryer until today--January 3rd, 2019? Yes, by today our house looked a bit like NYC in the midst of a summer garbage-worker strike where all that trash accumulates in ginormous piles along the streets.
Now here's the semi-happy ending: the dryer has now been repaired! Hooray! And I've been reminded once again of all the terribly ordinary things in life that I should be grateful for but that I always take for granted...things like hot water, ovens, working eyes and feet and hands and ears, the postman, refrigerators, tea kettles, laughter, quietness, singing...and yes, duh, clothes dryers. Thank You, Lord, for dryers!
But right about now, I'm contemplating that Mount Everest of laundry to fold, and I just want to sit down, eat a large piece of chocolate cake, and read an entertaining book. Instead, I need to--and here comes the second thing that has me a bit overwhelmed--
I won't go into the other minor stuff that needs doing like trying to love, care for, and spend time with my family and friends. (By the way, did you notice that behind my work on the lecture...uhh outline...uhh ideas...sits a manger scene? Yes, not all the Christmas stuff has been put away. So sue me. And that wiseman on the far left lost his head--literally--in storage somehow, and I have been unable to superglue it back on him. I feel for him, I really do. But it gives me a real sense of camaraderie knowing I'm not the only one around here who has lost her mind.)
But here's the thing. Moaning and groaning gets me nowhere. Worrying and fretting accomplishes nothing. And procrastinating most certainly does not help in this herculean battle of fighting inertia and overwhelmedness (yes spellcheck, that is not a word...until now) and doing what I don't feel like doing.
So I've got a choice. I can continue to complain, wring my hands, and delay...or I can go to the Lord of all power, of all wisdom, of all everything, and ask Him to "lift my drooping hands and strengthen my weak knees" (Heb.12:12). I can remember His promises in His supernatural Word.
And I can recall His exhortation that because "we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." (Heb.12:1-3)
Oh my, that's some good stuff, and boy, did I need reminding! Stop staring at the laundry. Stop worrying about the non-existent lecture. Stop focusing on the mess. Stop looking at myself...and start looking UP!
Start focusing on Him. Start pondering all that Jesus endured for my sake. Start remembering this Almighty One is with me and for me, and that while I was still a rotten, self-centered, utterly underserving sinner, Christ died for me. Then rose victorious, decimating sin and death on my behalf and clothing me instead in His glorious righteousness and power and love and strength and grace.
And guess what? You too.
Whatever overwhelming task you're facing right now...or painful family difficulty...or frightening diagnosis..or impossible challenge, please stop and remember that the shining, omnipotent King of Kings and Lord of Lords has already defeated far, far, infinitely far, infinitely more terrible and horrific problems on your behalf. He's conquered sin and death for you!
And if He's on your side, if He's filling you, if He's empowering you, if He's strengthening you, then it's not you, but Him. Not your power, but His. Not your forgiveness, but His. Not your paltry wisdom, but His. Not your waning love, but His. His unconquerable, unending, unbeatable love, grace, forgiveness, power.
So if you've got any mountains before you, pause and look up at your Savior. Remember all He's done for you. Rejoice in all He is for you and has for you. And then, by His grace, for His glory, start right where you are. Take that first tiny, tentative step...and before you know it, you'll be running. Running that race with eyes focused on the One who's already run it all the way for you. And you know what? He'll be running right beside you, cheering and smiling and laughing with His Father, "That's my girl! Look at her go!" Laundry and lecture, here I come!
To God be the glory.
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