I was sitting in a local deli with my lunch and the Kindle app up on my phone, reading for pleasure. I was pretty much in my own world, but was distracted out of the corner of my eye by a young boy, maybe five years old, staring at me. I saw that we had made eye contact, so I gave a short smile and tried to return to reading. Sitting with him, were what I supposed was his mother and an older brother. She was distributing the elements of the meal she had purchased to herself and the two youngsters.
After a few moments of surreptitious glances, it seemed to me that he was not interested in the meal and just stared at one thing and then another. He was not making any effort to eat the food placed in front of him, but he was being quiet and so did not occupy his mother’s attention as the other child did. He just silently watched the activities that go on in a busy, restaurant at noontime but he seemed to be disinterested -- like something was on his mind.
I had just about turned my attention totally back to my reading, when he abruptly hopped down from his chair and leaned forward as if to pick something off the floor, but that was not his intent. In a split second he noiselessly vomited a surprising amount of semi-digested matter onto the floor and then stared at the result as if to question in his mind how he had done that.
The mom was embarrassed and tried to comfort her child, clean up the mess and get the attention of an employee all at once. A couple of people tried to help, and finally an employee came with a handful of napkins and covered the site before returning with some sort of industrial vacuum device. Customers started trying to slip away as if they suddenly realized that their lunch time was over and they really had to return to work. The place emptied pretty fast.
I freely admit I am a lurker, a consummate spectator by nature. If something happens, my natural reaction is to sit quietly by and watch to see what happens next. I saw two things (other than that these particular employees had not been trained to deal with this type of event).
The first thing I saw was that the mother was embarrassed. She apologized to everybody. She apologized to the customers. She apologized to the staff. Over and over again she just couldn’t stop saying how sorry she was. An older lady, who may have been a mother as well, tried to console her and said, “There, there dear. These kinds of things happen.” But it didn’t stop the “I’m sorry” guilt fountain.
The second thing I saw was the boy’s reaction. Initially he was genuinely surprised. Perhaps this had not happened before in his life and he was trying to process what he had done to bring this about. What was that stuff on the floor? Where had it come from? What was that awful taste in his mouth? But it didn’t take long for the wonder to turn to fear. There was little question he had made this mess and caused his mother embarrassment. There had to be a punishment for this. Mom was not gonna be happy about it.
But no punishment came, at least not that I saw. She consoled the boy, hugged him. She talked softly to him to determine if he still felt ill, and tried to clean him up. She did exactly what you would hope a good mother would do. She asked for containers so they could take the unused lunch with them (the boy hadn’t touched his so that was definitely not what caused the eruption.) While the staff attended to boxing the food and cleaning up, she hurried the boys to the restroom and tried to clean up and collect their composure before exiting the restaurant.
Based on these actions alone, I would have to say the mother loved her boys. You would likely agree, but you are probably asking yourself, why I titled this “How Big is Your God?” This story doesn’t seem to track with that thought. Shouldn’t this be about mountains moving with faith the size of a mustard seed? Shouldn’t there be something about how we should dream big for our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Shouldn’t I be saying, “If you can believe it! You can achieve it!” Nope, that is not the lesson I’m getting at. I want you to contemplate these two verses. “For the Lord you God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deut 4:24 and “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8. (NIV) How can both these descriptions of God be true?
A fire destroys things. A consuming fire burns everything in its path. Even at its most controlled, a fire could be a “refiner’s fire” and burn up impurities. How can God be both a consuming fire AND equivalent to pure love? At this point it would probably be best if you just sat there for a while and let the Holy Spirit instruct you. My words are not going to be nearly as effective as His…..
I don’t know why the little boy became violently nauseous. He may have caught a stomach virus. Earlier, he may have ate some food that he shouldn’t or had too much candy against his mom’s advice. He may have ingested some non-edible material doing what little boys do.
But as those who know me can attest, I think I am a lot like the five-year-old boy. I make messes. Sometimes it’s not my fault. Something out of my control invades my life and suddenly, I’ve got a mess on my hands. But at other times I may do something without understanding the consequences and everybody around me starts quietly moving toward the exits. Even on occasion it is my fault and I do something I’ve been warned is not good for me and I get this awful knot in the pit of my stomach. I’m not sure how it happens but suddenly I’m looking down and there it is all around me -- one grand mess.
After surveying the mess and wondering how it happened, I quickly think God is gonna be pretty mad at me, and I get ready for the thunderbolt. After all, He’s an all consuming fire and I better get ready for the heat. But that’s a small picture of God. We think that as long as we are obedient, life goes on with an occasional blessing and then we mess up and “BAM!!” we get whacked. That’s how we think it goes.
But God is a lot bigger than that. He has lots more tools in his toolbox for fixing us. Sure He has a hammer and saw and drill and chisel and He will used them on occasion. But He also has some 3-in-1 oil and adhesives and clamps and some duct tape too. And he has a lot of disinfectant. The old song says that, “His blood can make the foulest clean.” I’m gonna have to trust him to use the right tool at the right time.
The next time you find yourself in a mess, it’s alright to look inward and try to figure out how it happened, but don’t be afraid when you see God coming toward you. In fact, run toward Him. He knows just what to do to fix you up.
Let’s pray …
Father, You know our faults, but more importantly You know our needs.
We seem to be good at making messes.
Sometimes they aren’t our fault, but we confess sometimes they are.
Show us Your love, for it is perfect and casts out fear. Help us to see that You are not one-dimensional. Help us to see that You are infinite in Your justice, and infinite in Your love.
We trust You to fix us up for our benefit and for Your glory. Amen
After a few moments of surreptitious glances, it seemed to me that he was not interested in the meal and just stared at one thing and then another. He was not making any effort to eat the food placed in front of him, but he was being quiet and so did not occupy his mother’s attention as the other child did. He just silently watched the activities that go on in a busy, restaurant at noontime but he seemed to be disinterested -- like something was on his mind.
I had just about turned my attention totally back to my reading, when he abruptly hopped down from his chair and leaned forward as if to pick something off the floor, but that was not his intent. In a split second he noiselessly vomited a surprising amount of semi-digested matter onto the floor and then stared at the result as if to question in his mind how he had done that.
The mom was embarrassed and tried to comfort her child, clean up the mess and get the attention of an employee all at once. A couple of people tried to help, and finally an employee came with a handful of napkins and covered the site before returning with some sort of industrial vacuum device. Customers started trying to slip away as if they suddenly realized that their lunch time was over and they really had to return to work. The place emptied pretty fast.
I freely admit I am a lurker, a consummate spectator by nature. If something happens, my natural reaction is to sit quietly by and watch to see what happens next. I saw two things (other than that these particular employees had not been trained to deal with this type of event).
The first thing I saw was that the mother was embarrassed. She apologized to everybody. She apologized to the customers. She apologized to the staff. Over and over again she just couldn’t stop saying how sorry she was. An older lady, who may have been a mother as well, tried to console her and said, “There, there dear. These kinds of things happen.” But it didn’t stop the “I’m sorry” guilt fountain.
The second thing I saw was the boy’s reaction. Initially he was genuinely surprised. Perhaps this had not happened before in his life and he was trying to process what he had done to bring this about. What was that stuff on the floor? Where had it come from? What was that awful taste in his mouth? But it didn’t take long for the wonder to turn to fear. There was little question he had made this mess and caused his mother embarrassment. There had to be a punishment for this. Mom was not gonna be happy about it.
But no punishment came, at least not that I saw. She consoled the boy, hugged him. She talked softly to him to determine if he still felt ill, and tried to clean him up. She did exactly what you would hope a good mother would do. She asked for containers so they could take the unused lunch with them (the boy hadn’t touched his so that was definitely not what caused the eruption.) While the staff attended to boxing the food and cleaning up, she hurried the boys to the restroom and tried to clean up and collect their composure before exiting the restaurant.
Based on these actions alone, I would have to say the mother loved her boys. You would likely agree, but you are probably asking yourself, why I titled this “How Big is Your God?” This story doesn’t seem to track with that thought. Shouldn’t this be about mountains moving with faith the size of a mustard seed? Shouldn’t there be something about how we should dream big for our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Shouldn’t I be saying, “If you can believe it! You can achieve it!” Nope, that is not the lesson I’m getting at. I want you to contemplate these two verses. “For the Lord you God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deut 4:24 and “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8. (NIV) How can both these descriptions of God be true?
A fire destroys things. A consuming fire burns everything in its path. Even at its most controlled, a fire could be a “refiner’s fire” and burn up impurities. How can God be both a consuming fire AND equivalent to pure love? At this point it would probably be best if you just sat there for a while and let the Holy Spirit instruct you. My words are not going to be nearly as effective as His…..
I don’t know why the little boy became violently nauseous. He may have caught a stomach virus. Earlier, he may have ate some food that he shouldn’t or had too much candy against his mom’s advice. He may have ingested some non-edible material doing what little boys do.
But as those who know me can attest, I think I am a lot like the five-year-old boy. I make messes. Sometimes it’s not my fault. Something out of my control invades my life and suddenly, I’ve got a mess on my hands. But at other times I may do something without understanding the consequences and everybody around me starts quietly moving toward the exits. Even on occasion it is my fault and I do something I’ve been warned is not good for me and I get this awful knot in the pit of my stomach. I’m not sure how it happens but suddenly I’m looking down and there it is all around me -- one grand mess.
After surveying the mess and wondering how it happened, I quickly think God is gonna be pretty mad at me, and I get ready for the thunderbolt. After all, He’s an all consuming fire and I better get ready for the heat. But that’s a small picture of God. We think that as long as we are obedient, life goes on with an occasional blessing and then we mess up and “BAM!!” we get whacked. That’s how we think it goes.
But God is a lot bigger than that. He has lots more tools in his toolbox for fixing us. Sure He has a hammer and saw and drill and chisel and He will used them on occasion. But He also has some 3-in-1 oil and adhesives and clamps and some duct tape too. And he has a lot of disinfectant. The old song says that, “His blood can make the foulest clean.” I’m gonna have to trust him to use the right tool at the right time.
The next time you find yourself in a mess, it’s alright to look inward and try to figure out how it happened, but don’t be afraid when you see God coming toward you. In fact, run toward Him. He knows just what to do to fix you up.
Let’s pray …
Father, You know our faults, but more importantly You know our needs.
We seem to be good at making messes.
Sometimes they aren’t our fault, but we confess sometimes they are.
Show us Your love, for it is perfect and casts out fear. Help us to see that You are not one-dimensional. Help us to see that You are infinite in Your justice, and infinite in Your love.
We trust You to fix us up for our benefit and for Your glory. Amen
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