Maintenance

I have moved into a house with beautiful tile floors with sandy brown colored grout.  They hide dirt very well which is great! Right?  Except for the fact that... they hide dirt.  How does one know when to clean such floors?  During our transition all of our belongings were locked up in a stuffy eighteen wheeler.  On moving day I opened our garage fridge that I had painstakingly scrubbed before it was loaded up.  It wreaked of mold and mildew.  Great big patches of green fuzzy disgustingness was splattered throughout. Somewhere in those two examples are sermon illustrations that rival Jean Larroux's chicken truck.

Today I was reminded how maintenance is very important internally as well.  Carolyn James spoke to a group of women in the Chattanooga area gathered for a Scenic City Women's Network breakfast.  She reminded us that "we are studying an infinite subject (in theology) and we shouldn't count on mastery."  Her primary focus was how we are constantly learning theology through suffering.  When we neglect the study of God we are like little children trusting a stranger and how in our own personal struggle we will ultimately turn to our own understanding.  Therefore, we need to be prepared.  Carolyn used the example of Naomi to bring about three main points on emptiness:

1) Emptiness is Part of the Journey- when struggling you are in good company, Ruth 1:13, 21
            Ps. 13:1
2) Emptiness is Purposeful- not a sign of His absence but a sign of His presence
           "Ruth and Naomi weren't forgotten by God.  They were mobilized for His Kingdom."
3)Emptiness is Productive- suffering allows us to see things differently,
           we see things "dried eyes" wouldn't see

One of the main "take aways" for me was when she spoke of her brother in law Kelly James who was lost on Mt. Hood in 2006. She talked of all the people who were praying across the country, how helpful and supportive the media was, how thousands of climbers came together to risk their lives for the sake of three strangers.  Carolyn said every body was helping except God.  Hurricane force winds and terrible avalanches brought the search to a halt.  She said "There is a gap between who Jesus says He is and brokenness.  That's where we find faith."