Today, work got called off again because of the weather. I can’t say I blame my boss for that since the wind chill is hovering right around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes more energy to keep warm in those temperatures and work gets done more slowly. There are all these reasons why work can’t or won’t get done, but I’m really frustrated about not getting hours so that my paycheck covers my expenses. Perspective dictates that I rest in thankfulness for the job God provided and the grace to endure any lean times.
As I regain the proper focus, I wonder if God is ever frustrated with my excuses. I read about God being frustrated with the children of Israel because of their disobedience in the Wilderness and their excuses why the Promised Land couldn’t be conquered. The stories of the Old Testament have always been both history as well as metaphors to me and so the stories apply to me as well.
Part of my frustration is that I drive clear across town to the job site only to discover that we aren’t really going to do any work and then I have to drive clear back across town to my house, without any paid hours to show for it. Isn’t that always the same with God when we make excuses for not meeting Him? He always has great things to show us about Himself and our own lives, but we make excuses for missing the appointment. Didn’t we agree we needed Him the first time we came to Him and gave Him the throne of our lives? Did we not pencil in a daily appointment to “hang out” with our greatest friend?
Yet the winds blow, the storms come; the business of life sets in and steals the time of growth in our lives. You see, unlike house building, it is the stormy and windy times of life that we need the lifeline the most. When things get busy is exactly the time we need our Sustainer the most. Our excuses shouldn’t be the reason we don’t keep our appointment with God; they should be reasons to be a walk-in.