Inside your "gumball" machine...

The theme of dealing with frustration seems to be coming up around me quite a bit. Thought I'd revisit this blog from a few years back. 

I know that a lot of people are feeling the stress of everyday living right now. The economy had shortened our paydays or lengthened our months or something because I always have extra month left at the end of my money. When I look around, I see more and more people who seem to be on edge and I have to wonder if their months have suddenly gotten "longer" too. Let's face it, life can be downright tough sometimes. Seems like everyone is looking for answers. I have been known to mutter that if one more person asks me one more thing I'm liable to just go bouncing off the walls! Yep, life is "shaking" us all. That's where today's random thought comes in.

Imagine that you and I are like huge gumball machines....and life seems to be continually trying to get something out of us. Problem is, the only thing you can get out is whatever we've put in. As long as it's the normal everyday stuff, we're fine. Then along comes that BIG test that grabs you up and shakes you around till your "gumballs" are rattling against the glass. You know you're going to spill out....and whatever is inside you is going to go EVERYWHERE! It won't just be the normal gumballs, but every "prize" inside you will come out.

I'd like to believe that inside me you will find the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.....really having to work on that last one. Instead, I'm afraid that lately when I've been shaken, the yuck prizes have come tumbling out: cheap rings that fall apart the first time you put them on (vanity), temporary tattoos of skulls and crossbones (popular "wisdom" of today's culture), or sometimes something that you can't even recognize or figure out....(guess that would be my incoherent babbling). No matter how you look at it, it's not what you wanted. Like gumballs, whatever is in there comes tumbling out, bouncing and rolling and going all over the place. I so wish that it was the fruit of the spirit that was rolling out, going into new areas and changing lives.

So, how do we fix it....okay, how do I fix it? I can't give out what's not inside. It's time to realize that I can't go non stop and never take time to clean out the old and refill with the refreshing Word of God. No one can. If we don't make a conscious effort to refill with God, life will make sure we are so "busy" that we don't even realize we are no longer filled with the fruit of the spirit but have cheap imitation goods instead....that is until someone "shakes" us really hard. That's when you find what's REALLY inside. If it's not what you hoped, there's still time to refill....cause trust me, life will be sure to shake you again.

Luke 6:45New King James Version (NKJV)

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45The Message (MSG)

Work the Words into Your Life

43-45 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.