That Darn Broken Chair

By now, anyone who knows me or who has read my face book page or my blogs has an inkling (yes inkling—is that word used today outside of the South? If not it means “an inklin’”—you know an idea) that one of my favorite times of the week is the Saturday mornings trek to Ritidian. The beach is white, pristine if you will. There are few if any people, the water is perfect. I either lay on my mat or sit with my chair in the water and read, pray, seek God for the day and the upcoming week.

I love this time of week. The time with the Lord is sweet. The time with my husband is the same. We go for a walk, He also seeks God. We refresh, refill and restore our souls from the week and prepare for Saturday night prayer.

Recently, my chair broke while I was sitting in it at Ritidian, in the water and my rear fell through. I had trouble getting up and disentangled. The other one had broken months before. I had known for weeks that the chair was ripping. I ignored it. I kept using it but today was the grande finale for my chair. I carried it back to the car. It was a sad time, I heard from God a lot in that chair, that chair let me keep cool in the water and yet out enough to read, lean back, close my eyes and just love the Lord.

Mike got most of the sand off and put it into the car and off we went. At home I unloaded it, put it on the porch by the back door, I just leaned it under one of the kitchen windows. It would not fit in a trash can and so it sits.

That is so like our lives. We have something that we do that is comfortable. We do it or use it over and over. It becomes uncomfortable but still we use it. God nudges us over and over but still we use it. We adjust how we use it so we can continue….Finally we see the uncomfortable uselessness of the whole thing and lay it aside. We don’t discard it. We prop it somewhere.

We end up using it—almost—as a decoration. We move it to sweep. We think about it every time we see it. “I need to get rid of that.” “I need to move that.” “My porch would look better if I got rid of that.”

How does this apply to intercession? Why am I even writing about this?

In the refining process of God the things that were comfortable become too worn. They are no longer comfortable but they are a habit. It is easier than exerting ourselves to do the “new” that God is speaking. It is easier to sit in midst of the uncomfortable than to get the new teaching.

It is time to move past the religion of the comfortable and into the relationship that brings change.

How are you doing with your praying?

Does it lead you to the refreshing?

Does it lead you to the High Places of God

This one is a bonus because I like it!