By Dean LuskI imagine myself standing outside my daughter's room, aware that it resembles a tornado-swept laundromat/toy store more than it does a 12-year-old's bedroom, knocking on the locked door and saying in as mild-mannered a voice as possible, "Alaina, open your door so I can come in and clean you room for you." Note that I'm saying I'll do it for her, not with her.
And I imagine her slightly-muted response, "But it's too messy. I CAN'T clean it." Believe it or not, I have heard this kind of statement from her. If you have a typical kid, you've probably heard something like it, too.
Now, this scenario is not too typical in our house, but I want you to see the disconnection in the illustration. I offer to clean the room for her and her response is that she can't clean the room, and she keeps her door locked. Obviously we're not communicating on the same channel here.
And this is exactly what I can see that I've done lately in response to Jesus saying, "Dean, I know you feel like a total wreck right now, and I'm going to fix that; I'm going to clean you up, dust you off, and lift your eyes to me. Unlock this door, please." I respond by saying from the other side of the door, "But I CAN'T clean myself up, dust myself off, and turn my eyes to You."
I can picture Jesus patiently giving a half-smile as He continues to knock on the door, rolling His eyes slightly as we go through it all again, and saying, "Listen, Dean, I really don't think you're GETTING this..."
I've determined that I'm not effective at all in helping Jesus with my life. I have found out, however, that I'm dangerously proficient in preventing Him from doing so.
Recommend
Comments (7)
I love this! Smart and funny. :o)
This sounds like something I do! I guess it's part of that old human side of us that wants to fix things before we come to Him.
I think you hit the nail on the head here Dean! Too many times we try and "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps" and fix it ourselves. As one of my favorite comedians said (paraphrased), "You know what you get when you pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Broken bootstraps." I needed this today, thanks for sharing!
nice analogy. coincidentally, both my room and life look like that picture, and i find myself saying the same thing on both levels.
I really love this! And the photo they found to go along with this is cute, hehe. This is how I feel.
All through out my daughter's growing years I took heat from my family for her hideous room. No matter what consequences I dreamed up, she never cleaned it. Actually went without lunch tickets for two weeks in Jr. Hi. Once a year I'd take garbage bags in and clean it. Then came the year when we got the bipolar diagnosis, and things began to fall into place. I was thankful I hadn't listened every time my grandmother had nagged me to do something about her. I was appreciative of her high intellect, and her ability to have a photogenic memory. She's now 35, and the mess in her life has stabilized, but house cleaner she will never be. In her mind, the mess is comforting, and I understand and love her for it. She always knows where things are. She's made it through college and is undertaking graduate school. Sometimes people just come out of the hatch differently, and we need to appreciate those differences, and be thankful we are part of their lives, and not vice versa. God gave her to me for a reason, and I'm so grateful.
Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the comments. Especially like the quote: "You know what you get when you pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Broken bootstraps."