One day our garbage disposal stopped working. Oddly enough, that was an experience I had yet to encounter before. There was no weird gurgling or sputtering. The garbage disposal didn’t make a single sound; it was complete silence when the switch was on. So, while the garbage disposal was out of commission, I thought to myself: I couldn't get this thing on if I wanted to. While it's broken and incapable of hurting me, I may as well try and clean out all the junk that made it turn off in the first place.
Well, friends, here's a little foreshadow - It was a terrible idea. During my excavation I had reached down into the sink several times. I removed copious amounts of egg shells, spinach, and other repulsive soggy food items. Well, on about dive number five as I was reaching around inside the drain I managed to turn my finger in just the right way at just the right angle with just enough force to slice it open. My finger quickly grew warm. As I pulled it from the sink’s drain blood began running down my hand and my palm was soon drenched in it. I thought to myself: lesson learned wise guy.
After the cut was taken care of I learned of a very valuable button. It turns out garbage disposal units have reset buttons on the bottom of them. Yet again, that was information I had not yet come across in life.
I laughed at myself for making something simple a much harder and more painful process than it needed to be. It got me thinking to myself. You see, I chose to take matters into my own hands. The best solution was to simply press the reset button and let it do its job dismembering egg shells and food items. That’s the purpose and function garbage disposals are built for. But, instead of hitting reset I chose to involve myself. I took the responsibility of clearing away the rotten, disgusting, hideously textured slime. Did I think I owed the garbage disposal a favor? Did I think the garbage disposal needed my help? Did I imagine that it was incapable of doing exactly what it was made for?
The whole situation struck a chord in my heart. How many times do we hurt ourselves by blindly meddling in something we, comparatively, have little knowledge of? We don't have sight into the deep, dark spaces of our life when our hand is shoved down into the drain. Those impossible-to-navigate places were never meant for our fragile hands. Consider the bible stories of Moses and Abraham. God promised to deliver the Israelites into the promised land with Moses as their guide. But, a moment of severe doubt cost Moses the ability to see the promised land. God promised the couple Abraham and Sarah a son even though Sarah was far beyond her child-bearing years. In their impatience, they took control of the outcome. Abraham got his concubine, Hagar, pregnant and she bore a son, Ishmael. Yet if Abraham had only waited he soon would have learned that Sarah was pregnant with Isaac.
How often do we come across something broken and in an impatient effort to fix it, we begin to interfere. How often does our interference inhibit our own satisfaction? Do we think God has stopped being God? Do we begin to think the alpha and almighty needs our help accomplishing His purpose and His plan? And how often does that leave us injured? My bloody hand was a direct result of failing to pause, and hit the reset button. Had I just stopped and considered the best option before shoving my hand down the sink I wouldn't have the scar on my finger.
That scar serves as my reminder that I’m not in control, and that’s not a limitation; It’s a liberation. It’s not that we don’t get to be in control, it’s that we don’t have to be in control. There is so much freedom in understanding that God’s character isn’t reliant on us. His faithfulness doesn’t depend on our behavior. God still brought the people of Egypt to the promised land. Abraham had a child with Hagar, but that did not stop God from blessing Abraham with Isaac. God still gave Abraham and Sarah a son. You see, that scar on my finger is evidence of God's mercy. Our God has ample grace for all the instances that we fight for control.
Take a moment to sit back, hit reset, and trust that God is still God. He knows what He’s doing. You don’t have to cover your hands in damp spinach and cracked egg shells to earn any favor. Just be. Relish in the grace that’s been given freely and believe that there is purpose in all things.
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