When I was young, my very first car was an old Ford Taunus, and as soon as the temperatures dropped I got problems with the battery. It was not very strong at first, and later it gave problems starting the car.
These days many batteries are closed systems, but over then you had to keep control on the amount of liquid in the battery. As I didn’t know that, because it was my first car, I never did, and a lot was evaporated. I was just in time to fill it up.
Acid and water
To bring the battery to life again I had to give it some acid and fill it up with distilled water. After that the battery could charge properly, and was stronger again.
In our lives too, we have sometimes experiences that feel not really nice to us, and many of us will immediately start praying God to take the bitter, acidic experiences away from us, without even realizing that God has everything in His hands, He is completely in control over your and my life, and we may know that even our “bad experiences” will work out for good, and we will come out of it better than before.
Maybe we should also learn to ask what it is that God is trying to tell us, trying to teach us, or from what He is correcting us.
▪︎ Now, what if I would have left the acid out, and had only added distilled water to the battery?
The percentage of acid in the battery would have dropped dramatically, and the battery would not have been as good as it could be. The battery needed the acid as well to perform as it should.
You may not like to hear this, but we too need situations and circumstances in our lives, which are uncomfortable to us, to let us grow, and to keep our attention on the living God.
When we don’t want to listen to what God is clearly telling us, we may sometimes have to learn it the hard way. Just look at the example God gave us in the history of the people of Israel in the Old Testament.
▪︎ What if I would have added tap water, instead of distilled water to the battery?
The calcium and other minerals in the water would have completely destroyed the battery.
We too need to take from the pure water that is offered us by Jesus Christ.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)
If we accept polluted water, if we take the word of God, which is given to us, in the cleanest possible way, in the Bible, and pollute that with ideas of other teachings, of false teachings, or maybe even with our own ideas, we are destroying ourselves, and we will not be fit for the works God has in mind for you.
Yes, God has plans for you as well, and you may not have realized it, but you never became a Christian just to keep a bench in the church warm.
Jesus gave you His light, and no matter how small it may be, and no matter how small the little corner is where you are able to shine it for others, He expects you to shine His light in this dark world.
Just keep your battery charged, by daily reading His word, and by daily communion and communication with Him. So you will have power to shine out His light.
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website 1: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
Website 2: http://bijbelplaatjes.nl
