“Flexibility—Following The Lord Is Exciting”

When I was getting ready to retire, it was pretty common to hear, “Dave, what are you going to do when you retire.”  While I wasn’t fully sure, I would confidently rattled off a litany of things that would probably fill my time…..hmmmmm, I’ll probably be asked to be part of a number of “Think Tanks & Corporate Boards” at very high salaries, then of course people will be bidding for the rights to the various books I’ll be writing, consulting contracts, speaking engagements around the world, etc.,etc.,etc. 

While the above items have not materialized, there are a few items that did pop up that I wasn’t planning on. You may have heard of my position as “Kitchen Assistant”, “Steve the Servant Enterprise”,  “Dave, The Family Uber Driver”, “Dr. Joe, Jr…Medical Marvel”, and of course “The BLOG”. One position you may not have yet heard is “Bill, Big Game Hunter”. 

Yes being pretty modest, I have not made a big deal out of this latest position, but I think I better bring it up before you hear about it on the nightly news. Well as you may have expected, I’ve been asked to take care of some wild animals that have been plaguing our home…..”mice”. Judy is deathly afraid of these dangerous animals and has been known to actually jump up on a chair and cry “EEEEKKKKKK” at the site of a mouse, even a dead mouse. So Bill has had to jump in and take care of business.   Let me bring you up to speed on my latest adventure in catching these ferocious animals.

First, I got out the old mouse trap, put peanut butter on as bait, set it out and waited…… next morning, the trap is licked dry and no mouse. Hmmmmmmm. I decided to consult some fellow hunters and found “Bruno the Magnificent” on Facebook. Now Bruno may look like the kind of guy you don’t want to spend a lot of time with, but he knows his mousetraps. First of all he is not big on peanut butter as bait… he says the kill rate is at best 50:50. I’ll skip his #2 approach and go right to his top approach…he’s talking 90% kill rate. Yes, you may have already guessed it….”the ole glue a pretzel to the mouse trap approach with a glue gun.” I could feel my confidence building. I glued on the pretzel and carefully set the spring (almost chopping my fingers off) and placed it in a strategic position. I then went to relax with a sip of Single Malt… a gift from my good Scottish friend. (you know the Scots are great hunters). The next morning, up early at 5:30, I went to the trap and there he was… the gigantic rodent having breathed his last. 

Well, there’s more to do. I just set two more “pretzel-glue gun” traps and I’m confident that “Mickey & Minnie” will be having their last meal tonight before walking the Green Mile. 

So, what is the theme of this particular BLOG? What do I expect my avid readers to glean from this exciting story? I think it’s pretty obvious, but let me lay it out for you…. the theme is “FLEXIBILITY”. If you’ve come to serve the Lord, you need to be flexible. It’s not unusual for the Lord to throw a few curve balls our way….. unexpected challenges. When they come, don’t panic. Simply pause and ask the Lord to help you. He always helps us. He will show you what to do. And he will give you peace and joy in the midst of these challenges. There’s nothing to fear. 

“My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials…… for gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight, and hope in him.(Sir. 2:1; 5-6)

Whether it’s catching mice or casting out evil spirits….. the Lord is at hand and he will help us…. so relax.  And that is very good news.