Salt Water Taffy
…but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. – John 4:14
I love salt water taffy! One minute you’re chewing on cinnamon, the next mint chocolate. Any flavor you can imagine probably exists as a piece of salt water taffy somewhere. One of the best and worst parts is how chewy and sticky it really is. It gets stuck so far down in your teeth you taste it for hours.
As I grabbed a piece from the candy jar at the pet store the other day it got me thinking; I’m just like this little piece of taffy. In the scope of things this little piece of taffy is insignificant. If it fell on the ground, or got dirty and was unusable we’d throw it away. We get dirty every day with sins we don’t even realize we commit. Yet Jesus comes along and cleans us off, gives us a purpose, and sets us on our way. In Psalm 51:7 David cries out to God for the sins he has committed. “wash me, and I will be whiter than snow”.
If you’ve ever left a piece of taffy out for an extended period of time you know what happens. As the air gets to it, it dries out and becomes brittle. If you dropped it, or smashed it with something it would splinter into hundreds of tiny pieces. In John 4 as Jesus is sitting by this well He offers a sinner living water. The dirtiest of dirty people, she comes to the well in the heat of the day when no one is around. She’s had 5 husbands, and lives with another man, yet living water is hers if she asks.
Take that little piece of dried out taffy and pour water on it. Take your hands and start pushing on it. Roll it over in the water as your pry and bend and mold it. The water seeps back in and slowly but surely that little piece of brittle taffy takes on new life. It’s moldable again.
When I was little my dad used to take me to a baseball card store that sold old packs of baseball cards. Packs from the 70’s and 80’s that never got opened. I remember going in and buying a pack that came with a piece of gum. I crunched down on it and it nearly disintegrated in my mouth. To be honest, it was disgusting. I kept chewing and before long I had a usable piece of gum.
I struggle sometimes with being stale. I’m saved, I pray every day, I rely on God to guide me in everything and yet sometimes I get so busy or so down that I forget to read the Word. When I get stale and a trial comes I’m libel to be smashed to pieces. I’m dried up and ripe for the pickin. When we read the Word the living water is poured over us and it allows God to mold us again. We are bendable and trials may stretch us thin but we won’t break.
To date there are an estimated 6 billion people on earth. To this world you and I are insignificant. We’re like little pieces of taffy. If we get dirty we just get tossed away. But to Jesus we are precious, each and every one. And if we get stale He’s there when we ask, to pour out living water and make you the salt of the earth. He’ll make you pliable and it may not be comfortable at first but the blessings you receive will be much greater as He makes you into a usable vessel.
I met someone
I will lead the blind along ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. – Isaiah 42:16
Coming back from lunch, I parked in my familiar spot and reclined my chair. David Crowder was playing through my ipod as I day dreamed for the last 20 minutes of lunch. I like to zone out during lunch, take my mind off of things and just relax. I stare at a computer screen for 8hrs a day so breathing in some fresh air and closing my eyes does wonders to break up the day.
Moments later I caught a silhouette in my side mirror, followed it through my rear view mirror, and then suddenly through the passenger side mirror… She was walking up to my door! She caught me off guard, with a big grin waving and giving a thumbs up sign. Stunned, I fumbled for the key to roll down the window and turned down the music.
“Love the music. She said. I saw your fish sticker and thought ‘that has to be another believer.’”
She stood about 5′7″ with grey curling hair and sleek blue eyes. She was bubbling with enthusiasm as she spoke of God working and what he was doing at Ocean Spray. She wanted to invite me to a prayer meeting during lunch that she had put together with other believers.
How funny it is when your prayers are answered. Lately I’ve been struggling with finding “purpose”. I feel blind walking around every day. What is it God wants me to do? How can I make a difference every day? I sometimes feel useless in the job I have now. Computers. What am I gonna do with computers? And then a little old lady comes by and offers prayer and an opportunity.
Over the past year I’ve felt a calling to teach the word. I began helping and teaching awana (children’s church), I started a bible study on Thursday’s, and started this blog all under guidance from the Spirit. At the same time I’ve been challenged to clean up my life, to forgo the things of this world, and remove myself from situations that aren’t conducive to my relationship with Christ.
In the darkness of the days of the world I’ve struggled with all of this. The more I focus on trying to do what I’m called to do the harder Satan attacks every aspect of my life. As I’ve wrote about previously, he comes at you like a roaring lion.
I got a job interview/offer last week to work for a company in Hingham. Great group of people, good location, and a ton more money. In the interview one of them mentioned he was a Christian and told what church he went to. I was excited! God is this you? Are you telling me to leave? Are you giving me this opportunity?
On the other hand I have a great job now, great people, close to home, great benefits, but not so great pay. However, I know the Lord placed me where I am. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 the Lord says “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness”.
“My grace is sufficient”. Has he failed me over the past 2yrs? no. Have I ever not had food? no. Have my bills ever not been paid? no. And I think a part of me sees the benefits of a new job with more money and wants that for worldly reasons. Hey, I could pay down my debts, maybe I could get a new car, or fix up the house.
Yet I always come back to this one verse: “and my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:19)
Could God want me at this new job and bless me by it more abundantly than I ever could have imagined? Absolutely. In no way am I saying you have to turn down more money to serve God. What I am saying is regardless of your position and how much money you make, or how useful you feel God will use you and provide for you always. And like in Isaiah, no matter how blind you feel walking in the darkness God will work out the kinks and smooth out all the rough spots before you. Most of all continue to pray every chance you get and stay in Gods word. He will feed your soul and His plans will be revealed to you when your ready.
You’re an equal
…Proclaim to it the message I give to you. – Jonah 3:2
Yesterday was media day at the Super Bowl. A general circus of reporters clamour for players attention and ask some of the most ludicrous questions you could imagine.
My team, the Patriots, are in the Super Bowl this year and as such I was interested in what would be said, who would be talking, etc… About 20 minutes in to the event a reporter asked Tom Brady what his purpose in life was. “Why do you have this platform?” he asked.
Hmmm…
Jonah had a platform. He was charged with going into Nineveh and proclaiming God’s message. Scared, he ran from God but our God is so big there’s nowhere to hide. God will never force us to do what he asks but we will face trials by disobeying. Once we obey we find that what He asks of us was never more than we can bear. It wasn’t so bad after all.
For the longest time I wanted a giant platform. How cool would it be to be Tom Brady? To sit on that stage, in front of hundreds of reporters, broadcast on ESPN all over the world and proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord! I could make a difference!
It took me a long time to realize that I had a platform all along. Tom Brady couldn’t get to know each person individually at a computer company. It just wouldn’t work. Some don’t follow football, most don’t get the metro look. But God knew I could.
For most of us we are only concerned about ourselves. We want a different job and a better bigger platform. I couldn’t be a doctor but there are Christian brothers out there right now curing ailments and bringing God’s message to hospital staff and patients.
Like Jonah we run and try to do what is best for us. Once we surrender and stop thinking about ourselves we can begin to exact change in our very own backyards. Jonah finally obeyed and saved an entire city from destruction and hell.
Psalm 96:2 says: “Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day.” Be happy with where you are. You’re there for a reason doing a task only God felt you could handle. You may hate it, as I sometimes do, but remember that nothing is impossible with God and your platform is just as important as ever other. What is your purpose in life?
