Post by Charity on Feb 1, 2007 11:23:55 GMT -5
Kevin Swanson
A Tale of Two Women
I must tell you the tale of two women. There was the first woman who was very neatly put together. She had inherited three generations of faith. Her great grandmother, her grandmother, and her mother were Christians.
She had a very neat life. The furniture was covered. And she hardly ever sinned. The children were placed in boarding schools and she never yelled at them, even once. The pastor never had to deal with her problems. In fact, once or twice he commended her from the pulpit.
But let me tell you about another woman -- she had no godly mother or grandmother. Her father was an alcoholic, and, to tell you the truth, she was not so neatly put together.
One day, she brought her children home from school and engaged in a real relationship with them, and let me tell you, it was messy. She yelled at her children, too much. She was afraid they would be permanently damaged by her yelling. At times, she thought maybe they were a little too close to observe her ways.
Her house was often disorganized… but the stacks were neat. But she engaged in hospitality anyway. She had never done it before, but her husband thought it would be a good idea. Loving strangers? It was hard enough loving her own children! But she did anyway, and she did it badly.
Her children gave her their hearts and they did observe her ways. They observed her yelling, her tears of repentance. Yes. They observed her fears that they might pick up her sinful habits. They observed her struggles to overcome her anger, the time she ran into the [bedroom because she was afraid she might say something ugly. They saw it all. They saw it all. And, trust me folks, it was a big mess.
The pastor was not very happy with this woman and her family. They seemed to require more prayer and counsel than anybody else in the church. “VDP’s” he called them. “Very Demanding People.”
She would bring the big mess to church with her… and fall on her face and say, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.” But, let me tell you, that woman went home justified!
The moral of the story is simple. God is good. He does really well with big messes, but he doesn't do as much with those who are so neatly put together.
As Jesus taught us in his parable, it is not how many talents you start with that matters. It is what you do with the 0.2 talents you had at the beginning. What really matters is the risk you take, the sacrifice, the heart molding, and the willingness to uncover the mess and to remove the layers of plastic, sterile, institutionalized, white-coated plaster. If you would try risking your furniture, your relationships, and your otherwise neat life for Jesus, and bring the whole mess to the cross, you will find great blessing indeed.
kevinswanson.com/Articles/TheMess/Index.html
A Tale of Two Women
I must tell you the tale of two women. There was the first woman who was very neatly put together. She had inherited three generations of faith. Her great grandmother, her grandmother, and her mother were Christians.
She had a very neat life. The furniture was covered. And she hardly ever sinned. The children were placed in boarding schools and she never yelled at them, even once. The pastor never had to deal with her problems. In fact, once or twice he commended her from the pulpit.
But let me tell you about another woman -- she had no godly mother or grandmother. Her father was an alcoholic, and, to tell you the truth, she was not so neatly put together.
One day, she brought her children home from school and engaged in a real relationship with them, and let me tell you, it was messy. She yelled at her children, too much. She was afraid they would be permanently damaged by her yelling. At times, she thought maybe they were a little too close to observe her ways.
Her house was often disorganized… but the stacks were neat. But she engaged in hospitality anyway. She had never done it before, but her husband thought it would be a good idea. Loving strangers? It was hard enough loving her own children! But she did anyway, and she did it badly.
Her children gave her their hearts and they did observe her ways. They observed her yelling, her tears of repentance. Yes. They observed her fears that they might pick up her sinful habits. They observed her struggles to overcome her anger, the time she ran into the [bedroom because she was afraid she might say something ugly. They saw it all. They saw it all. And, trust me folks, it was a big mess.
The pastor was not very happy with this woman and her family. They seemed to require more prayer and counsel than anybody else in the church. “VDP’s” he called them. “Very Demanding People.”
She would bring the big mess to church with her… and fall on her face and say, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.” But, let me tell you, that woman went home justified!
The moral of the story is simple. God is good. He does really well with big messes, but he doesn't do as much with those who are so neatly put together.
As Jesus taught us in his parable, it is not how many talents you start with that matters. It is what you do with the 0.2 talents you had at the beginning. What really matters is the risk you take, the sacrifice, the heart molding, and the willingness to uncover the mess and to remove the layers of plastic, sterile, institutionalized, white-coated plaster. If you would try risking your furniture, your relationships, and your otherwise neat life for Jesus, and bring the whole mess to the cross, you will find great blessing indeed.
kevinswanson.com/Articles/TheMess/Index.html
