Skattleyatches
Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2011
- Messages
- 9
Lately I've noticed a couple of things that I think God taught me about who He is and how He loves us. One is a long story and the other a short story, but I'll try to keep them both short (I'm trying to do homework! Well, trying to stop getting distracted, rather! 
)
A week and a half ago my roommate and I discovered a house centipede in our apartment (I shudder even saying the word). If you've never seen one of these things, I'll describe them to you: creatures of the devil. They are horrifying, fast-moving, and they bite. Ughhghgh!! Anyway, one got into the apartment around 10:30pm, and I didn't get to sleep until 6:30am the next day. She and I were running around the apartment screaming the entire time it was crawling the walls because we couldn't get close enough to it to kill it. I had no one else to call, and neither did she, so I called my dad (who lives in my hometown two hours and 100 miles away) for nothing else than moral support. I was afraid to be alone with that thing. Yes, I'm a wimp, especially when it comes to those terrifying creatures. Anyway, dad said that if he knew I couldn't sleep, he couldn't either. So, despite my protests, he drove up to my town. To save a 21-year-old college student from a bug. I'm still embarrassed.
But, God taught me something out of that! I had been concerned lately with doubt and general lack of faith that God cared very much about me because I still struggled with some sins. I know we have a progressive sanctification, but I was being really self-critical, and Satan was using that to his advantage. Anyway, as I was lying in bed the next morning attempting to get a couple hours of sleep before church, a verse crossed my mind (I can't say, "a voice said..." because it didn't. It seemed like a thought of my own, but I know it wasn't). The verse was Matthew 7:11 -- "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Dad had gotten up in the middle of the night, driven for two hours, and finally squished a bug that had me in mortal terror. Just because he loved me. He didn't have to. I didn't want him to because of the stress on him. But he did it anyway. He's just my earthly father...but how much more will my Heavenly Father do for me if I ask? That stopped me in my tracks, and I said aloud, "Wow...what an awesome Father!"
The second instance of God's lessons to me (and don't think all His lessons are positive or happy, because believe me, they're not) came just about an hour ago. Today I bought a new pet: a large rat I named Gideon. He's just another addition to my other caged pets--I have a snake, two tarantulas, and two scorpions. My roommate, who has a rabbit, complains that I don't know what "cute" is. She always says, "Sam, why can't you pick something loveable?" And I always laugh at her and say, "They're lovely to me. They're beautiful and great to watch. I love them anyway." Until today I didn't realize how much we have in common with those fuzzy tarantulas and scaly snakes. We're not always lovely. We're not always good to look at. In fact, we're disgusting, dirty creatures. But God keeps us anyway. He loves us despite our shortcomings. He thinks we're beautiful because we're His. Neat, right?
Do you all have little stories of when God revealed Himself to you through something that seems random or insignificant? I love how God loves us enough to speak to us at our level. He chooses and finds us. He is Love...unrelenting, creative Love.
)A week and a half ago my roommate and I discovered a house centipede in our apartment (I shudder even saying the word). If you've never seen one of these things, I'll describe them to you: creatures of the devil. They are horrifying, fast-moving, and they bite. Ughhghgh!! Anyway, one got into the apartment around 10:30pm, and I didn't get to sleep until 6:30am the next day. She and I were running around the apartment screaming the entire time it was crawling the walls because we couldn't get close enough to it to kill it. I had no one else to call, and neither did she, so I called my dad (who lives in my hometown two hours and 100 miles away) for nothing else than moral support. I was afraid to be alone with that thing. Yes, I'm a wimp, especially when it comes to those terrifying creatures. Anyway, dad said that if he knew I couldn't sleep, he couldn't either. So, despite my protests, he drove up to my town. To save a 21-year-old college student from a bug. I'm still embarrassed.
But, God taught me something out of that! I had been concerned lately with doubt and general lack of faith that God cared very much about me because I still struggled with some sins. I know we have a progressive sanctification, but I was being really self-critical, and Satan was using that to his advantage. Anyway, as I was lying in bed the next morning attempting to get a couple hours of sleep before church, a verse crossed my mind (I can't say, "a voice said..." because it didn't. It seemed like a thought of my own, but I know it wasn't). The verse was Matthew 7:11 -- "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Dad had gotten up in the middle of the night, driven for two hours, and finally squished a bug that had me in mortal terror. Just because he loved me. He didn't have to. I didn't want him to because of the stress on him. But he did it anyway. He's just my earthly father...but how much more will my Heavenly Father do for me if I ask? That stopped me in my tracks, and I said aloud, "Wow...what an awesome Father!"
The second instance of God's lessons to me (and don't think all His lessons are positive or happy, because believe me, they're not) came just about an hour ago. Today I bought a new pet: a large rat I named Gideon. He's just another addition to my other caged pets--I have a snake, two tarantulas, and two scorpions. My roommate, who has a rabbit, complains that I don't know what "cute" is. She always says, "Sam, why can't you pick something loveable?" And I always laugh at her and say, "They're lovely to me. They're beautiful and great to watch. I love them anyway." Until today I didn't realize how much we have in common with those fuzzy tarantulas and scaly snakes. We're not always lovely. We're not always good to look at. In fact, we're disgusting, dirty creatures. But God keeps us anyway. He loves us despite our shortcomings. He thinks we're beautiful because we're His. Neat, right?
Do you all have little stories of when God revealed Himself to you through something that seems random or insignificant? I love how God loves us enough to speak to us at our level. He chooses and finds us. He is Love...unrelenting, creative Love.
