Once upon a time [still] lived a girl named, Jessica…
… she recently embraced this pretty eye opening lesson where she learned about entitlement and everything she takes for granted. (See … The Cold Shower Fairytale). She had these great revelations and felt pumped that God could use that one cold shower to shake up her thought process. Little did she know that would only be the beginning…
… she came back to her apartment after Thanksgiving Break, and like most days of travel she was exhausted and decided to take a nap until …
*knock knock*
“Ugh coming.”
“So I don’t know if you know this or not, but the pipes under the house must have frozen again.”
“Joy. I’ll text David (campus minister) to fix it tonight.”
… well that was fun, so she texted David and laid back down – peace, finally, she thought …
*knock knock*
“Whaaaaaaaaat?”
“Hey, sorry to bother you again but I got curious and heard water, and actually the pipes busted and it’s flooding under the house! There’s like 5 foot of water, wanna see?”
“Lovely. I better call David.”
… little did she know her adventure was about to get even more fun. She had about five minutes to collect as much trickling cold water as she could for hand washing and teeth brushing needs before the city arrived to shut off the water to prevent further flooding. (Did she mention that it’s been pouring rain outside for the two days since this adventure started? … Oh well, it has!) This is such an inconvenience, she thought, “I just wanted a nap,” but to no avail. She soon learned the implications of a burst pipe …
… her first thought when it came to this NO water predicament was, “I haven’t showered in 36 hours! I have curling junk in my hair and it looks so greasy! Oh, dang, I have to see people tonight at Bible Study! Gross, I feel so grungy.” HELLO … didn’t she just have this whole revelation about, “Hey, my life’s not supposed to be comfortable or all about me?” She soon realized that one experience isn’t going to instantly change her thinking, this is a growing process … this isn’t about already being this enlightened, great selfless missionary who has it all figured out (and it never will be), instead it’s about the process … the process of slowly breaking down the walls of junk and the mindsets of entitlement that keep her from fully embracing what it means, “to break my heart for what breaks Yours…“
… she realized in all this the weight of the scripture she has read time and time again …
Philippians 3:12-14
“I do not mean that I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine. Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above.”
… forgetting the past … woah, can we just listen to the rest of this scripture, she thought. Forgetting the past, that’s tough… not only the bad stuff but the achievements as well, she realized. Just because she had these achievements in the past she can’t rest on past achievements. She has to keep pushing to keep learning, to keep becoming the woman God is calling her to be… the woman who isn’t focused on her access to regular water (cold or hot), rather a woman who is focused on the living water…
John 4:13-14
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life.”
……………………………………………….To [possibly] Be Continued!
…maybe that last fairytale should have ended, “to be continued…” and not “the end” – I’m just saying…
