Bill Bennett in his "Book of Virtues for Young People" tells an amazing story of the boy with the magic thread. In this story, a boy by the name of Peter is given a silky spool of thread that represents his life. He is told that pulling on the the free end of the spool will fast forward him to a later time in his life but also to be careful because there is no way to reverse the magic. One morning while at school Peter gets bored and decided to test the spool. It works! He tugs on the thread just a tad and "poof" the school day is suddenly ending and it's time to pack up and go home.It doesn't take long for Peter to realize that by using the thread he can skip over all the boring and bad times in his life. Pretty great right? He gets in quite the habit of tugging on the spool and in a matter of what seems like days he gets married, has a family and before long is turning gray. At the end of the story, Peter is deeply saddened by how fast his life went by and wishes with all his might for the opportunity to return to his childhood and live life again without the spool this time.
You and I are just like Peter aren't we? Our lives are often marked and motivated by the number of days until the weekend or the length of time until things get easier. Isn't it funny that just when things get the way we like in life that something always comes along and messes everything up? It seems life's never perfect doesn't it and that there will always be something going "wrong"? It's tempting to want to wish away life's tough times like Peter did but I hope his story illustrates how pointless it is to think this way. People get mad at God for the evil in our world, but the funny thing is, the evil's on us. Human pride, greed and selfishness are to blame and just because God gave us the capacity to make decisions doesn't mean it's his fault. Actually, just the opposite is true. God is really quite wonderful in this broken world of ours because he not only offers forgiveness for the prideful, greedy, and selfish things we do, but he also, in allowing for pain, has enabled us to appreciate good.
I think this is why the wise King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 that there is a time for everything. Listen to what he says:
"For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace....
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace....
God has made everything beautiful in its time."
The amazing thing about our God is that he uses all our experiences in life, both good and bad, to make us into better followers of him. Can you think of anything better or more beautiful than that? Just like a recipe requires lots of ingredients to be tasty, our life would be bland and sickening if not for the unique blend of sweet, sour and salty experiences that God sends. One of my heroes, David Robinson, was once asked about how it felt to win an NBA championship. Here was his answer:
"Fortunately my faith gave me the balance to back away and realize this is a journey and enjoy the journey. If you never win, you never win. You don't have control over that. What you do have control over is when you go in that locker room every day, the energy you put out, the effort you put out and how you encourage these guys. That's going to last longer than any ring sitting on your shelf."
Just like David realized the importance of enjoying whatever the Lord brings each day, you and I should do the same. Good or bad, are you enjoying the journey the Lord has you on today?
To read the whole story of the boy with the magic thread CLICK HERE.
The amazing thing about our God is that he uses all our experiences in life, both good and bad, to make us into better followers of him. Can you think of anything better or more beautiful than that? Just like a recipe requires lots of ingredients to be tasty, our life would be bland and sickening if not for the unique blend of sweet, sour and salty experiences that God sends. One of my heroes, David Robinson, was once asked about how it felt to win an NBA championship. Here was his answer:
"Fortunately my faith gave me the balance to back away and realize this is a journey and enjoy the journey. If you never win, you never win. You don't have control over that. What you do have control over is when you go in that locker room every day, the energy you put out, the effort you put out and how you encourage these guys. That's going to last longer than any ring sitting on your shelf."
Just like David realized the importance of enjoying whatever the Lord brings each day, you and I should do the same. Good or bad, are you enjoying the journey the Lord has you on today?
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