Have you played the popular game with the tall tower made of small wooden blocks stacked in rows of three on top of each other? Players take turns carefully pulling a block from the tower then placing it on top. The game is over when removing one block causes all the pieces of the tower to fall into a random mess. If you pull out the block that brings the tower down, you lose. This idea of a fallen tower and the mess of disconnected pieces it leaves reminds me of those moments when it seems like several things are going wrong at the same time. I feel as if I’ve pulled out the wrong piece, so instead of having a strong and steady tower, I have a jumbled mess of pieces no longer in place. But they are pieces with a purpose.
We can find ourselves falling into a mess. We fall into times of weakness, into times of doubt, and into times when we lack trust. It’s natural to be frustrated and anxious when so many things go wrong and seem unfair. We might feel abandoned and hopeless, and in despair, we might wonder how and when this challenging phase will become even a little better. Of course these feelings, though understandable, are not of God. It is not His voice telling us to dwell on and in what is wrong. He is not distant from what seems wrong. Instead, God is in the pieces that have fallen all around us. He is with us in our messes and in our struggles, waiting for us to seek Him, His mercy, and His grace.
After I became prayerful during my recent bout with things going wrong, I not only saw the many things going right, but I also realized it wasn’t all ‘wrong.’ A couple of things were inconvenient, a couple of things were disappointing, and a couple of things didn’t go how I wanted them to go. But without including God and His invitation to truly trust Him, what was ‘wrong’ was all I could see. We don’t always know which ‘block’ not to pull, so I will likely make another mistake that causes my tower of strength and hope to fall into scattered pieces again, and it won’t feel good. Thankfully with God’s loving help, I will be able to put the pieces back in order again. Let us pray in gratitude for our loving and gracious God who is always near and always ready to help us collect and rebuild our fallen pieces and who shows us the many things He makes right.
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. (James 1:2-3)
Journeying to Grace 