(I just wanted you all to know that I am writing this blog entry on a new laptop. It's wonderful. No more missing keys or crumbs under the keyboard...)
There is a saying that perhaps a few of us have a heard a number too many times. It's irksome...
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade out of it.Pfft. What if I didn't want lemons or lemonade?
So often in life, I seem to find myself at a spot I never expected to be-- whether good or bad. The lemons begin to be tossed at me when I least expect it. It's like when someone throws something at you shouting, "Think fast!" And this girl usually has a poor response time in catching the fruit before it lands bruised at my feet. Then I proceed to stare at it for a good, long time wondering what in the world I might be meant to do with it.
Though lemons are a sour fruit, don't we often forget exactly that? It's still fruit!
As I read the passage in Jeremiah this morning, I could not help but wonder and awe at the Israelites. God had brought them to a good and plentiful land...yet it wasn't good enough. They promptly forgot Him and went chasing after other gods, religions, peoples, and rituals...all cheap copies of the real thing.
How could they have??? God promised them an amazingly good land and here they were! Could they not have stopped and praised and thanked Him for all the good he had brought them to?
When you begin to question the motives of others, make sure you step back and make sure you are not guilty of the same thing...
We as Christians in this post-New testamental time should not assume we are that different than those who have gone before us. All I can think about right now are all the times, even especially so in the last six months of my life that God has probably led me to a specific spot--even what He would consider a promised land--and I have disregarded it and despised it because it was not exactly what I wanted. Either I do not appreciate what has been given to me or I think I know better, so I proceed to "dig my own cisterns" and "draw water" from my own well.
Essentially: making lemonade when I was meant to use the lemons for a meringue pie...or vice versa.
God told the Israelites that he had led them to a "plentiful land" with fruit and good things! Did they just miss it? What am I missing in this place the God has led me to? What does He mean for me to enjoy here? What good things have I cast aside because I did not realize their value?
This is what God might have to say when we dig our own cisterns:
You waste your time and opportunities. You complain about something I haven't given you when I've given you so much else (and more!). You dwell in the future and past instead of the present. You try making things happen on your own timing and strength. You focus on yourself instead of on my goodness. You forget my sovereignty. You forget filling your thirst apart from me and end up more parched than you began.Oh, Lord, where in this good land that you have me in, have I missed the good wells and fruit you have for me? What have I gone after that has left me more empty than when I began? Because You are good, I know this place is ultimately, also, good. I want to be fully in Your goodness.
In this place You have specifically led me to, forgive me for regarding these "lemons" with disdain.
