Knots In Your Shoelaces
Rise and Shine for Jesus! \O/
By Pam Iannello (my late mother)
Did one of your children ever get frustrated over trying to
accomplish a task that was difficult for them, yet they neglected to ask for
help? I have! Let me use the example of trying to get a
knot out of a shoelace... Observing my
children when they were little, I remember on various occasions witnessing
frustration on each of their faces, or hearing huffs and puffs and moans and
groans from another location of the house. From there it usually proceeds to
catching a glimpse of them slamming the object with which they are struggling,
then eventually quitting altogether and stomping away from their “trial” in
tears. As a parent, there I was sitting
by - ready, willing, and able to help with the problem, but they just never
asked me! I'd quietly say, "Did you
want some help?" With an air of
spirited independence came the answer, "No, I can do it myself."
Having reached the broken and defeated stage, and more willing to listen, I
would then call my child over and explain how it was they could have untangled
the knot in their shoelace. When the course
of action that needed to be taken was finally understood, their little soul was
flooded with relief, peace returned to their countenance, followed by a huge
smile. Then I added the reminder,
"Next time, why not just ask for help?"
James
1:5 (KJV)
If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
I don't know about you, but I see that I have an inherent tendency
to be self-reliant. This is one of the reasons why I believe God sends trials
into our lives… Trials expose our need
for God's wisdom! Trials bring us to the place where we realize how much we need
the Lord! But we aren't always willing
to listen at first, are we, ladies? We
think we have all the answers and with the same air of spirited independence
that a child exhibits, we plow ahead full force through our problems. We try and try and try to get that “knot out
of our shoelaces” and when we finally realize and humbly admit that we
can't thrive with an “all by myself” philosophy on life, then it is we
will seek and accept God’s help…
Jeremiah
33:3 (KJV)
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great
and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Ladies, God cannot build our character without our cooperation! Our heavenly Father desires to see us mature
just as we parents desire to see our children mature. However, if we aren't willing to ask
for help, we will forever remain spiritual babies. We will never grow up to be Christians that
can influence others properly. God builds character in us BEFORE He can call us
to service. How can we ever survive a
life of serving the Lord if we haven't learned to ask for wisdom?? Life is full of difficulties and we are going
to need God's wisdom to survive, to become victors in trying times. Pray for the wisdom not to waste all of what
you're experiencing. I hope that as
parents, we are teaching our children the valuable lesson of asking for
solutions to our problems! Do you find
it humiliating that you need help at times, that you don't have all the
answers? Are your little ones met with
your frustrated face on a daily basis? Do they often hear Mom stomping through
the house when she is struggling with something in her life? Have you been
slamming things around because of your annoyance with a situation you can’t
seem to fix? Have they heard you say on more than one occasion that you are
ready to quit? Is your example usually one of, "I can do it myself!” or
meekness coupled with a sincere desire to learn?
Deut.
1:43 (KJV)
So I
spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of
the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
Ladies, what we are missing most often is a surrendered will. The mature person does not argue with God's
will, nor does He live apart from it! If the Lord decides to take you
through a trial, instead of falling apart, why not humbly seek the wisdom
necessary to handle it, to see your problems through? If you don't, you'll just waste the
opportunities God is giving you to mature. Ask your heavenly Father to help you
get the "knot out of your shoelace" instead of throwing the shoe (the
opportunity) away! The Lord wants to use
our difficulties to teach us how to behave properly in them – and it is most
certainly not in displaying immature behavior!
Don't be a baby - ask God for wisdom! You don’t know how to do as
much as you’d like to think you do. Quit having fleshly tantrums and grow
up instead…
Acts 9:5 (KJV)
And
he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
It is fruitless and absurd for us to stubbornly resist
opportunities to mature. To do so is to fight with our own good fortune! Hence,
we go from bad to worse when we fail to ask for help. And in that one act of
discrimination we persecute Jesus and all He has to offer! Truth lies on the persecuted
side. Therefore, the more you rebel, the more keenly you will suffer
for disregarding the truth. What is God's response when we ask Him for
wisdom, as shown in our main text? The
Bible says, “....and it shall be given him.” Ladies, God gives liberally to ALL men, we
already know that just from Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary! What we have is a promise we can claim
today! The Lord is not reluctant to help anyone, nor will He humiliate us. If
we would just humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, the pricks would
go away!
Incidentally, I hope we match God’s attitude when our children or
some other person comes to us for help… Mt. 7:9 says, “Or what man is there
of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” How are you answering your child's plea for
wisdom, dear Mother? Have you been
throwing stones in reply to their need for insight? “Not now, I'm busy!” Or, “How do I know!” Or, “Ask somebody
else.” How about, “You’re such a
dimwit!” Praise the Lord we never get those answers from God, amen? In
addition, if you don't have the wisdom your children need, why not lead them to
the throne of grace and ask God together for direction? What a precious lesson!
Matthew
7:7 (KJV)
Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:
James 1:6 (KJV)
But let him ask in faith, NOTHING wavering. For he that is wavereth is like a wave of the
sea driven with the wind and tossed.
James points out here that how we ask is an essential
element to asking in general. Thus, we must pose our requests to God in faith.
You see ladies, unbelief is a great enemy to the Christian! The Bible assures us that God SHALL give us
the wisdom we ask, and we simply need to rest in that fact! In all unbelief there are these two things: a good opinion of one’s
self and a bad opinion of God. Unbelief will only cause us to be consumed
by those waves of doubt, anxiety, and fear that can come upon us in our
trials. Anybody that has been to the
ocean knows how powerful waves can be. They can come from behind and just pull
you under into the depths of despair without a moment's notice. Instability and immaturity go together... Wisdom
from God allows us to ride those waves instead!
Be sure you are asking for God's wisdom in faith, with a believing
heart, to keep from being drenched with doubt and drowned in pride. Our God IS all He claims to be!
Hebrews
11:6 (KJV)
But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
So dear lady, have you got any knots in your shoelaces today? How long would you say they've been
there? Have you been getting more than a
little frustrated trying to figure out how to untangle things all by yourself? Before you throw those shoes away, those
hallowed opportunities for growth and maturity, stop mistreating Jesus and get
on your knees and ask the Lord for help, so you can walk by faith – with an air
of spirited dependence and a smile on your face!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
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