When I last wrote, I began to tell about an exhilarating experience I had this past summer that involved water. Here is the rest of the story. Previously, I had left off with water streaming into the room with only my thumb trying to stop the flow. As I began to yell for help, I soon realized that no one was around to hear me. There are times when being alone is great, this was not one of those times. Water was beginning to fill the room. I had to do something. If only I could get the water shut off, but the shutoff valve was downstairs. I had no choice…I had to make a run for it. I let go of the pipe, and in a split second, water was hitting me squarely in the chest. Startled I jumped up and went for the door. As I ran out into the hall, I shot a glance back into the bathroom. The water jet was so strong it was spraying the wall six feet away like a pressure washer clearing a path. I leaped jumping down our steps nearly crashing through the wall at the bottom of the stair. My middle son met me at the doorway and asked what was going on. All I could say was, “Get the shop-vac!” I turned every valve I could find, but the water would not stop. Ryan immediately started using the shop-vac trying to minimize the mess, but now the water was running under the baseboard through the walls and coming out into the carpet in the basement. Finally, I found the valve that turned off all of the water, but there was still at least three inches of water on the bathroom floor, and who knows how much that had seeped through the walls down into the basement. What a mess that all started with a small insignificant drop of water.
Have you ever been caught off guard? Sideswiped? In a position where instead of controlling your thoughts and frustrations you were controlled by them? This was definitely one of those times for me. What do you do when times get the best of you? Max Lucado writes, “Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions. Today’s jealousy is tomorrow’s temper tantrum. Today’s bigotry is tomorrow’s hate crime. Today’s anger is tomorrow’s abuse. Today’s lust is tomorrow’s adultery. Today’s greed is tomorrow’s embezzlement. Today’s guilt is tomorrow’s fear.” My plumbing problem started as a small drop of water that within minutes turned into a uncontrollable flood. You do not have to be a victim of your thoughts. You have a vote. You have a voice. You can exercise thought prevention. You can also exercise thought permission. Change the thoughts, and you change the person. If today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions, what happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s love? Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel about others? Absolutely! Philippians 4:8 helps me stay focused, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (RSV). Thinking conveys the idea of pondering—studying and focusing, allowing what is viewed to have an impact on us. Fill up on the good things, and take stock of the negative…make it become obedient to the authority of Christ, and those watching will learn to do the same.
Thanks for reading.
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