God, Help Me Get Me Out Of The Way

[No pictures until I figure out how to download the software onto my hard-drive that was wiped when we had our iMac repaired. Boo-hoo.]

I haven't been feeling too hot lately. Came down with a little sore throat thing last Friday night and it morphed into something a lot bigger than I originally thought. Evenings are the worst because I get this tickle thing in my vocal chord and then end up coughing until about 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. before eventually falling asleep. I rarely get sick, so it's kind of hard for my family to know what to do for me other than be stunned that I'm actually sick and, of course, feel real sorry for me. Everyone's been so sweet and patient with my hacking and all.

I wouldn't normally blog about such a mundane thing regarding myself, except that it led to something profound for me. The other morning I woke up and started my usual routine of getting ready for work. (Of course, who has time to get sick? So I just try to muscle my way through it by working in spite of the fact that I'm only running at about sixty percent capacity.) Poppy sauntered into the bathroom where I was shaving and she was barely awake when she said to me with the sweetest, sincerest little voice, "Dad, I'm so sorry you don't feel well. I'm going to pray that God would make you better." You know, I normally wouldn't give such a statement a second thought (it was very thoughtful, mind you), but it was the tone, the manner, the genuineness of her sacrificial comment that tugged on my heart. You know when someone's giving you a platitude (and even platitudes are often O. K.) and when someone's really, really sincere about their loving concern. For Poppy, there was simply no guile in her gift, and I carried that with me throughout the day, and even throughout this week.

To make such a statement requires someone to think outside of themselves. I'm not naturally inclined to do so, so when I know someone who does it so naturally I'm immediately attracted to them because they're mirroring Jesus. I don't know what it is about the gift of being able to look beyond yourself without an ounce of effort. It's always required so much of me to get beyond me, and I'm constantly asking God to help me get me out of the way. I think that if God ever came to me like He did Solomon as said that He would give me whatever gift I wanted, I think I would ask God to, "Help me get me out of the way." Why? Because I've seen the best of what God's created and instilled in me when I'm outside of me. I always think I'm going to be most satisfied when I'm satisfying myself. But Jesus said that, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be the last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35b) Quite frankly, I don't know that I want to be first (although it does feel nice), but what I really want is to be satisfied... in Jesus. And to be satisfied in Him means that He is my satisfaction, and when He's my satisfaction then I'm satisfied being like Him. And to be like Him is to get me out of the way so that He can be me.

"See what you're doing to me, Poppy? Rather, see what God's doing to me through you?" It's such a good thing.

Getting Out of the Way,