God's Icebox

Oddly enough, since I said I probably wouldn't be blogging much from now on, I've actually been fairly regular!

A "divine moment" happened after lunchtime today, and since I cannot get away from thinking on it, I want to share it with you. I was simply serving my girls some ice cream, their one dessert for the day (and a few spoonfuls for myself), when something struck me. "The ingredients that make up this ice cream would not taste at all like ice cream if they weren't frozen" I mused. The sugar, cream, and vanilla in their room temperature would be nothing like the treat my girls were enjoying. I pondered this concept for a few minutes. How did this apply to me? (You may be laughing, but I truly do think like this. It must be how God wired me!) The freezer, or more poetically, the "ice box" was preserving this item in the form my girls were enjoying so much. But, if I had served it to them melted, at room temperature, unpreserved, they would not have responded with the happy faces I was seeing. They probably would have said "no thank you, mommy!"

The more I thought about all of this, the more I saw what God was leading me to see. He has preserved me, in an "ice box" of sorts, of His grace. Inside His shelter, I am kept in the state at which is most truly enjoyable, both to me and to others. If I were to be outside His care...living like the world, I would not be what I am. I might look the same, have the same abilities and talents, but they would look very different and be used in pointless venues. I would be less than what God could make of me, for with Him, all things are made beautiful and used for good.

This is especially poignant for me right now. You see, just last week, we were out with friends who lovingly asked, "If God keeps you where you're at, what would or do you fear the most?" I replied, "Wasting my life. If my life were a million dollars, I'd want to invest it in the most strategic, high-yielding way. I don't want to have regrets of how I spent my life." They lovingly reminded me that God is in charge of how my life is "spent." And they were right.

But today, I believe God is pointing out to me not just that my life is not being wasted, but that it IS being used to the fullest, because it is God who is preserving me, keeping me at my most fruitful, effective "taste"--both for Himself, for others, and for me. If I were not God's possession, my life would look much different. I would not be doing most of the things I am now. I would not be homeschooling my girls so that they grow up seeing all truth as God's truth, supporting a husband in his service to the local church, helping to lead a young adult care group in their pursuit of God, or any of the other God-ward things. What would I be doing? I really don't want to imagine, because it wouldn't be bringing God glory or bearing good fruit. I hope you can relate to me today. If you belong to God, please see His amazing preservation at work in your life. You are effective for His kingdom, because He makes you so. That is something I can savor, long after the ice cream is gone.