Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
I even said it out loud, “I have been backed into a corner.” This week, about 3 days ago. The context? Looking for portable toilets for my son’s upcoming wedding. I had called about a dozen places and I was getting a lot of, “We’re sorry, we do not go to that location.” Granted, the location is pretty remote and it IS in the Sierra foothills, but, when I drive up there, I see porta potties. So, someone has to service this area.
In one of my phone conversations with a very helpful woman (and by the way, everyone I talked to was very helpful and happy), she gave me the standard answer, and I laughingly said, “Well, I am up a creek without a paddle.” And, what is pretty uncharacteristic of me, I came immediately back with, “Well, actually, I am up a creek
without a porta potty.”
I cracked a joke about portable toilets.
After calling all morning, I was able to find one company that delivered them to our location, but the clincher – they looked like ones you’d find on a construction site. Definitely not wedding ones. But, I really was backed into a corner.
Look Thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as Thou usest to do unto those that love Thy name. Psalm 119:132 (KJV)
Come and show me Your mercy, as You do for all who love Your name. Psalm 119:132 (NLT)
GOD'S MERCY
I should have prayed for God’s favor before I even started looking for these things, but I did not. Which was unusual for me. Because after I did, things started going in the right direction. I need God’s mercy whether I am looking for portable toilets, or whether I am having to endure another painful day with my feet. I need His mercy in my conversations, and in my daily walk, in my life. I have got to cast my cares on Him.
I do not want my walk to be the daily grind, but rather a daily joy. A day to love and serve my Master. I need God’s mercy every day and they are new every morning. Just like the manna the desert-going Israelites, God’s mercies are available every day, and they are fresh. No leftovers. That, I believe, is a sermon all to itself. But, the fact is – His mercies are new every morning, and they are available for us.
All I need is to ask. Just ask. His mercies are not a magic potion, they are God’s love and compassion. They are His demonstration of guidance in our lives. Where the world wants to smite us and spit us out, God has His mercy for us in love and grace. We don’t deserve it, but we have it nonetheless.
Once I recognized my lack of asking, I quickly adjusted my morning. And, wouldn’t you know, the next place I called, they had portables available AND I found out some valuable information. We were not the only ones requesting one for this remote, and small area. Mmmmmm. I needed to follow up on that. So, I ordered the portable and told the peeps that needed to know and was grateful for this last call. The only problem was that this one was a construction site portable. Not great, but at least it was one. Crisis averted.
However, in God’s great mercy, one of the places that I had originally called, called me back two days later. They have fancy flushables. I struck gold. And they deliver. And there is water, they don’t look like we're at a fair, sporting event or on a construction site. The best? All under budget.
Have you found yourself in a corner? Needing to find a way out? Stuck? No answer in sight? Looking for the allusive porta potty, so to speak? Start your day asking for God’s mercy. Gather His mercy like the Israelites gathered manna every morning. God’s mercy sustains us and it is just what we need.
PRAYER
Oh Lord, forgive me for not going directly to You first thing every morning, or even first thing in every situation. You care about every aspect of my life. Even the portables. For which I am very grateful. You are good, Oh Lord.
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