Skip to main content

I prayed for toilet paper.

 
 
I left for a LONG walk by myself recently while vacationing at my sister's place.  Armed with a bottle of water, it was a perfect morning to get away.  The sun was shining and the birds were singing - what could be better??  Having walked this path before, I didn't have a worry in the world. Praying, humming and taking in as much of God's creation as I could, all was good.  Well, until . . 

My bladder was full and no bathroom was in sight.  I figured I was still about two miles away from the nearest bathroom.  What to do?  Two miles is a LONG WAY when you gotta go.  Some of you know EXACTLY what I mean. 

Or maybe you don't have problems like this and if you did, you at least wouldn't tell anybody about it.  But the older I get, the more of a problem it is.  And the older I get, I know that EVERY event in life has a lesson.  Yes, even one like this 

So I did what any praying woman would do when she has a problem.  I prayed.  I kept telling myself that the God who parted the Red Sea could hold back my . . .  problem.  I prayed for strength.  I prayed for insight.  I prayed for toilet paper.  Because if I had some, my problem would go away.  I was desperate.   

I thought of the story in the Bible about another desperate plea, years ago.  One where God was the ultimate provider.  It was from Elijah and he was sick and tired of what was happening around him.  His circumstance was MUCH MORE serious.  He was hated by the Israelites and there was a contract out on his life.  He was destitute. 

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. (I Kings 19:3)  - I would have run too but I couldn't move very fast, you know what I mean?  He went on a day's journey into the desert, all alone.  He came to a broom tree and sat down under it and prayed that he might die.  

I have had enough, Lord, he said.  Take my life.  I am no better than my ancestors.  Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.  All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.'  He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water.  I Kings 19:4-6

God came through.  He brought Elijah exactly what was needed at that time.  Remembering this story, I prayed the same would happen to me.  Still walking, in pain now, I thought, all I need is one thing.  One thing, Lord.  Where was the toilet paper? 

Faith is a process.  You don't wake up one morning and have faith.  You "learn" faith.  You walk in faith - its action.  Its growth.  All the little "experiences" in my life have brought me to where I am today in my faith walk.  I KNEW God would see me through to the end.  I might not be comfortable.  It might not be how I want, but He would see me through, just as he saw Elijah through.  I knew that then and I know that now.    

With or without toilet paper, God is faithful.  And He also likes to give wisdom.  Wisdom that says, when you go on a long walk, don't drink water.  Just sayin.  :)

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Right WHERE I wanna be!

Did you ever wonder what life WITHOUT God’s Presence would be like?   I mean, really truly WITHOUT HIS PRESENCE?   In my reading this week (Ezekiel) the exiles are coming home.   They are moving back to their “homeland” and to top it off, God’s Presence has returned.   Wait – what do I mean by God’s Presence returning?   Isn’t He everywhere?    Where did He go if He wasn’t there with them?   That’s a good question !   I have been thinking about that this week and the importance of “God’s Presence” in my life and in OUR lives as Christians. In the Old Testament, God dwelt (on earth) in the tabernacle first and then in His Most Holy Place in the temple that King Solomon built for Him in Jerusalem.   By “dwelling”, I mean He was there to worship and confess to.   He spoke to (and through) prophets.   He accepted sacrifices and worked in tremendous ways for His people.     Jerusalem was captured and the Jews...
Post a Comment
Read more

ctrl-Z

Happy New Year!   It’s a new year, a new beginning – the old is gone, the new has come!   YIPEE!   Not that 2012 was so awful – but it’s good to start afresh, don’t you think?   Get rid of some old “bad” habits, put on some new “good” ones.   My husband and I have promised each other we are not going to be “crabby” with each other anymore.   I am horrible!   We will try and talk nicely to each other - that alone will be a miraculous feat!! Sometimes, I just want to take back immediately what I just said – ever want to do that?   At my office, my new cubby partner taught me a wonderful keystroke last year that I told her has “spiritual” meaning.   Seriously! ctrl-Z.   Ever use it?   It un-do’s.   Yep – whatever you type wrong or don’t mean to do – it undoes it.   Ingenuous!   I use it all the time now.    (I know – I’m slow!) What on earth could be the spiritual meaning of ctrl-Z?   Hmmm...
3 comments
Read more

Accept one another . . . in order to bring praise to God !

What a horrendous week it has been for me!   And its only Tuesday (sigh!)   Sometimes I just want to climb into my fifth wheel and wheel away . . . . I don’t care where, just ANYWHERE but here – I hate conflict, don’t you? I think I hate it because conflict tears at my heart – its sin and its wrong.   But can we live in a world, okay let’s just say “in a family” without conflict?   Aren’t we supposed to be a family (whether by blood or by faith) of unity – a Christian community that loves one another and is unified?   Seems simple, doesn’t it?   It ain’t!   One wants this, the other that.   Someone is unhappy or feeling unloved or being pushed around.   There’s manipulation and pride and jealousy – these ARE NOT family traits you know (!)   or for that matter, “fruits” of the Spirit! In all this muck, I have been praying, I have been fasting, and I have sought counsel, both from the Word and from wise prayer warriors.   I ...
2 comments
Read more