By, Janet Rubin
Lisa Finley breezed into her son’s bedroom carrying a basket
of clean clothes. Setting the basket down on the bed, Lisa noticed
a dark lump on the floor. She stooped to investigate, then grimaced
in disgust. The lump was “Big Man”, little James’s
fighting fish who had, apparently, committed suicide. Gingerly,
she picked up “the deceased” by the tail.
“Oh dear,” Lisa thought, “I
wonder how James will take it.”
Sighing, Lisa went to tell four-year-old James about Big Man.
She found him in the family room, deeply absorbed in an episode
of his favorite television show. Trying not to sound too upset,
Lisa told James very matter-of-factly the story of how Big Man
had jumped out of his bowl and killed himself.
James frowned thoughtfully and said; “Now why would he wanna
go and do a thing like that?” A moment later he shrugged
and asked, “Well, should we throw him out?”
When Lisa told me this story, I had to laugh
at James’s
very logical question, “Now why would he wanna go and do
a thing like that?” Why indeed? After all, the fish had everything
he needed in his bowl. It was a good, safe environment. Big Man
had no worries. His only job in life was to swim contentedly about,
knowing that twice a day a hand would sprinkle the food he needed
into his bowl and someone would change his water when needed. Jumping
out was not a good idea. It was, in fact, a fatal mistake.
I can relate to Big Man. God has a good, safe place for me to
dwell- within the boundaries of His perfect will. When I stay in
His will, I can trust Him to take care of me and supply all my
needs. My kind and loving Father wants me to swim contentedly through
life with no worries, feeding daily on His word and trusting Him
to take care of me. If I were smart, I would stay in the bowl.
Outside of His will, it is dangerous, yet sometimes
we gaze through the glass bowl, see something tempting and foolishly
jump for it. Perhaps because of envy or lust or just to please
our flesh we leave the safety of God’s will. I can just see God, looking
down at us flopping on the floor and gasping for breath, and saying, “Now
why would he (or she) wanna go and do a thing like that?” Mercifully,
He scoops us up and gently places us back where we belong. We are
safe again, albeit probably bruised from the fall.
No we certainly would not want to follow Big
Man’s foolish
example and leave the safety of our bowls. On the other hand, we
need to sympathize with him a little bit if we look at the contents
of his bowl. The little sphere of water and perhaps a “fish
castle” were all he had to entertain him. A bit like the
human equivalent of a jail cell. Maybe it was boredom that prompted
his deadly leap. But that is not what the sphere of God’s
will is like! Within the boundaries He has set for us, there are
endless adventures and numerous pleasures. There is a huge world
of learning, expression, relationships, ministry and work that
is available to us.
Big Man lived a life of isolation, and that is not so for us.
God has promised He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrew
13:5). He has also given us the wonderful body of Christ to swim
alongside us on our journey. We can be sure there is nothing “better” outside
of the bowl. In Psalm 16:11 David proclaims, “You will show
me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your
right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
The world is full of things that are not good for us. Let us trust
the One who wants nothing but the best for us, and stay safely
within His will.
Proverbs 4:25-27 Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your
eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and
let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the
left; remove your foot from evil. |
