A couple days ago I was grabbing a Q-tip after my shower when suddenly the container flipped over and dumbed 100 of the white fur balls on sticks into my wet sink. What did I do? I laughed.
The next morning as I headed into town, a lady quickly pulled in front of me. Driving 55 mph and with no cars behind me, I was a little frustrated that she decided to jump in the little space between me and the next car. Why couldn’t she have waited ten more seconds? I let out a frustrated breath as I slammed on my breaks.
When the pressures of life press against us, how do we respond?
When you grab a tube of toothpaste and squeeze it, what comes out?
Toothpaste!
Why?
Because that’s what is in the tube.
Exactly.
Whatever is inside is what comes out when it’s squeezed.
There is an old story of a professor who asked a student to come to the front and hold a glass of water. The professor took his hand and put it on the students arm and began to shake, causing the water to spill everywhere. He asked the student, “Why did water spill out of the cup?”
The student answered, “Because you shook my arm.”
“No,” the professor replied, “listen to the question. Why did water spill out of the cup?”
“Ah, because water was in the cup.”
It wasn’t the shaking the caused the water to spill out of the cup, okay it was, but why water? Had it been coffee then water would not have spilled forth.
What would happen if every time you were squeezed or shaken Jesus came out? When you stub your toe, rather than a sling of curse words, the nature of Jesus is evident. When a lady pulls in front of you when she should have waited, rather than frustration or a finger, patience, love, and sincere prayer spills forth. When you look in your bank account and discover a lack of funds, you cry out with CT Studd: “Funds are low again, hallelujah! That means God trusts us and is willing to leave His reputation in our hands.”
The issue is not will I be squeezed. You will be. The issue is, what is coming out of me when I am squeezed?
When your child does something wrong for the umpteenth time, do they see anger and frustration or Jesus? When the boss at work yells at you, do you respond in like fashion or give the boss Jesus?
If you are a tube of toothpaste, under the pressures and circumstances of life, what is being squeezed out of you? My prayer for you and me, is that it is Jesus ever, Jesus only, Jesus always.