June 13, 2018
What’s a Girl To Do?
Gwen Smith
Today’s Truth
Pray Continually. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV)
Friend to Friend
Okay. As much as I HATE to use the bathroom on airplanes, on this particular flight it just simply couldn’t be helped. The water bottle that I’d drank on the way to the airport, combined with the several essential cups of morning coffee mandated the mid-flight excursion. So at about 30,000 feet up – somewhere over rural Alabama – I unbuckled and walked the narrow, balance-beam aisle to the rear of the aircraft.
After tapping a chatty, aisle-strewn gentleman to squeeze by, I entered the shoebox lavatory. Upon closing the folding door my eyes adjusted to the incandescent lighting, and I began to prepare for my nature call. Then it happened.
A tiny “Pop!”
And the button on the top of my jeans flew off.
Oh no!
I gasped… as a panicked tizzy of self-talk began.
This can’t happen now! I need these jeans to hold me in. My abs have all but forgotten how to take care of that function themself! If I can’t get this button back on, it is going to look like I have a hernia the size of California under my blousy shirt! I’m going to die of embarrassment if my pants fall down on my way back to my seat! This is a serious FASHION EMERGENCY!
So, what does a good Christian girl do when in a “situation” such as this?
She prays.
Oh Lord of all things fashionable and cute. God of zippers, accessories, shoes and buttons ... hear my prayer! Please meet me in this fashion emergency. When I’m done with my business here, please – please – please allow the top of this button, that was on my rockin’ cool jeans, to click right back on to the base of the button. (Pause.) I trust You. I know that You are able! Amen.
Flush.
My heart raced and blood rushed through my veins in eager anticipation of a potential fashion miracle as I rose to my feet. I believed. I hoped. I prayed. The embellished silver button-top danced on my fingertips as I hesitated and hovered over the base.
Snap!
Oh Lord, Jesus! I just heard it snap! It snapped!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
And the seconds that followed were a blurred happy dance in a 24-inch by 24-inch cubicle. He heard me!! God cares about fashion!! He cares about buttons!! Thank you, Jesus!
As I exited the lavatory, the clouds parted ... and I beheld angels singing a glorious song of praise to our amazing, fashion-loving God. The End. (Smiles.)
All right, all right. I admit that this account of my mid-flight fashion dilemma may be a smidgeon drama-heavy. Even so, we all face “situations” day in and day out – at home, at the office, in relationships, in health, and in conversations – where we have an opportunity to call on God.
In this case for me it was a small thing. In the grand scale of life, it was an unimportant thing ... but I still talked to God about it. God welcomes us to approach Him with everything. Big and small.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NIV).
Nothing is to small for you to take to God in prayer.
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
God loves you and desires that you be in constant dialog with Him. Constantly dependent on His strength. Constantly requesting His wisdom, joy, peace, and intervention.
Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth century monk and author of “The Practice of the Presence of God,” wrote: “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.”
Friend, don’t limit your prayers to just heavy-hearted line items. Do life with Him! Yes – we need to approach God with reverence, with an acute awareness that He is God. He is holy, just and righteous. Always. But the beauty of a grace-life is that we can approach God at any time for any reason. Even with our frivolous fashion emergencies.
We can trust that God listens and cares.
“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:13-16).
Let’s Pray
Dear God, Thank you for grace! Thank you for inviting me to come to you any time for any reason. Please make prayer my initial heart-response to the circumstances and challenges, as well as to the beauty-moments and joys that I experience today and every day.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Now It’s Your Turn
Do you really believe that God cares about the details of your life? Tell me where you are with this.
Read and speak aloud these verses from Psalm 103: “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. ... For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:1-5, 11-12)
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Originally published Wednesday, 13 June 2018.
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