Checking the Time

Earlier this week we had a visit from our water supplier.  They are going around all the homes to do checks and make sure that all our facilities are up-to-date and see if they can save us any money.  Well, I'm all for saving money where I can so I agreed to their visit.  I was told it would take about 45 minutes.  The representative came and began checking all the taps, cisterns, pipework and machines that use water, making sure that we use them in such a way that we aren't wasting water unnecessarily.  

The timer that stuck half way

After only 15 minutes, he said that he couldn't find anything that we could or should change and that the water system in our house has passed with flying colours and he was giving us a 'clean bill of health' so to speak.  Before going on to the next house, he left us with a small timer.  He said that it should only take us 4 minutes to have a shower and that this timer would help us to see if we were complying with this suggestion.  It should take four minutes for the contents to go from the top to the bottom of the timer.  He jokingly said that we could also use it to time how long it takes to boil an egg.

The next morning, while using the shower, I thought I would try the timer just out of curiosity, although I didn't think I ever stayed in the shower for too long anyway.  Well I had my shower and checked the timer.  The contents were only half way through which puzzled me a bit so I thought I would check it again.  So I turned the timer to begin the count again.  Sure enough, the same thing happened.  Half way through, the contents stuck and the whole process came to a halt.  I left it for a while but it didn't move any further.  Just as well I didn't use it as an egg timer, I thought!

It reminded me of the advert for paint that says - 'It does what it says on the tin' meaning that you can trust it to do what it's supposed to, except this was just the opposite.  When we tell people that God is love and that we follow the teachings of Jesus and then they look at our lives, I wonder it they think we are acting and saying things that really show what God is like or are we a bit of a disappointment.  Does my life do 'what it says on the tin' or are my words empty, a bit of a pointless gesture that doesn't really mean anything? It's not so much what we say but how we actually live and put our words into practice in the ordinary, daily walk of life that counts. As another saying goes, 'actions speak louder than words.'

Expectations

I wonder how many children yesterday received gifts that were on their wish list to Santa.  I suspect that most of them did.  I can imagine the excitement when opening their presents to see which items on their lists had become reality.  And I think that maybe somewhere there may be one or two who are a little disappointed when they discover that not all on their endless list has been granted.  After all there is a limit to how much parents can spend.  But it does mostly seem to be the case that what is asked for is received, with great anticipation, excitement and joy.  I'm sure we can all remember how difficult it was to go to sleep on Christmas Eve.  We just wanted the morning to be here so we could open our gifts and see if our hopes had been realised.

Of course as we get older, we (well most of us!) don't get quite so excited and are not quite as demanding in what we want to receive.  I'm happy to say that I didn't get anything that was not according to my taste or that I would find useful in some way.  They were all things that I had hoped for so I am one very happy lady today.


In ancient times, the Jewish nation had been promised a Saviour, a Messiah.  They hoped that a great leader would come and free them from the cruel rule of the occupying forces of the Roman empire.  A number of zealots had arisen, and fallen, in the past but they were still a nation that lived under oppression.  The might of Rome was too great for them to overcome.  A Deliverer had been promised and the people waited for many, many years.  

Not quite the mighty warrior the nation had hoped for.

When God did send a Deliverer, the Saviour, it wasn't in the form of a militant person, a sword brandishing warrior who would bring about an uprising against the Romans.  It was the opposite - a baby.  God certainly works in mysterious ways.  When Jesus claimed to have been sent by God and said that God was his Father, he was shunned by many.  How could this be the promised Messiah?  That wasn't what they had hoped for at all.  All that waiting, and for what?  Most Jews were indeed disappointed at the gift that God had given them and couldn't accept Jesus as the fulfilment of God's promise of a Deliverer..

We often have a wish list for God.  Sometimes when we pray it's almost as though we have a 'shopping list' that we reel off to him and expect him to answer our requests in the way that we want.  But God being God often does something quite different.  

Lord help me to see what it is that you want to give me.  Help me not to get disappointed when things don't happen in the way that I want but help me to see that through it all you want to show me your will and purpose for my life.  Thank you for the way that you have guided me and the things that you have shown me and taught me.  Help me never to underestimate that what I don't understand just might be exactly what I need.  Grant me wisdom and eyes to see your gifts for me.  So be it.