“Heal Me” – “New Every Morning” – “Red Sea, River Jordan” – “Commotion”
My 11-year-old niece wrecked a car the other day. I did not learn to drive until I was 17, so maybe she has gotten a leg up on me. I tried to teach Big D to drive when she was 15, but she did not really learn until I got her another teacher, and she was 16 by then I think. little d wants a car someday, but apparently does not want to learn to drive the kind her cousin could not. The wreck caused a huge “Commotion”, made my sister say: ‘It’s something “New Every Morning’’’, seems to have not lead to anyone yelling “Heal Me”, and was not on the scale of miracles like the “Red Sea, Reiver Jordan” duo.
That was fun for me at least.
The root cause her was that my 18-year-old niece has a stick shift/manual car that is “never” left in gear and the 11-year-old starts every morning. Well, someone left it in gear, my niece started it, and it “powered its way into some nice damage from hitting the barbeque grill. They never taught the 11-year-old about a stick shift (as most people would not). My unrelated stepsister did something similar once and was stopped by the garage door.
I learned to drive a stick in one minute of drivers ed one day and I did my best to teach my wife while we were dating. I have yet to obtain a car suitable to teach my 17-year-old yet, but I may need to teach the 11-year-old at the same time. It’s a great skill to have driving a fast car around a corner, but also if needing to drive a drunk home.
Whenever I get out over the wheels (so to speak), I remember that I will be waking up to a day that is “New Every Morning.” I spoke with Big D about finishing out school strong, but I told her she needs to stop looking at it as a mountain of things to do in five weeks and to look at it in one day chunks, to ask God to direct her each day for that day, and to roll all the reading I have done lately into life within a relatively short talk. It seemed really good to put all that to use. Next week looks like a bear, but maybe I can do as I preached.
“Heal Me” was an idea that struck me as I waited for the results of my MRIs to come back. I did not want three surgeries and three rehabs. I am not sure God miraculously healed me, but I was thankful He has given me a way forward with out surgery. Healing my shoulder with rehab and living the rest of my life with less than optimal cartilage in my knees is as good an outcome as I could have wished for.
“Commotion” is a word I do not utilize often, but in this context, my mind ran to a commotion being a good thing. Normally I associate it with some calamity that people are wailing around about to get attention. But to some degree we should want to make a commotion about the love Jesus has or us so that others will be attracted, and we can share. I am not sure how to apply this, but it sure feels opportunity filled.
“Red Sea, River Jordan” was a mechanism to introduce the idea of subsequent miracles being overshadowed by the ones before. I feel that God using Moses to par the Red Sea is a super familiar miracle to a large majority of people. However, I also feel that God using Joshua to par the River Jordan was equally miraculous yet doubt many people could name it and many would doubt it was in the Bible. I assume people get used to the first thing and the second does not have as much impact, even with our own kids. We saw a super nice poodle on our walk today and it reminded me how much I loved mine growing up. For me, Butch was a miracle that could never be replaced by another dog. Gregory and Cheezit are not dogs, but if we ever have cats after them, I am sure they will not be as life altering. (Note Astro the cat only made a single impression on my while he defecated on my bed while I was watching.) Gregory and Cheezit got a clean slate as my first “pet” cats apparently. Big D loved that cat while it was around.
Anyway, the idea is that every miracle, every healthy day, every new day are reasons to cause a commotion and glorify God. Do not allow the past to cloud your joy in each opportunity.