Skip to main content

Living within the lines

Image
By
A bold white line on the right side of my lane and a bright yellow line on the other side.  Orange cones warning me about fresh paint.  I was driving down a freshly striped road. Great.  Now I have to really focus and make sure I don’t veer out of my lane.  I felt a little nervous. If I veered just a little bit, well…I’d be creating a disaster.

If you have ever driven over fresh road striping paint, or seen a car that has, you know it really ruins a car’s paint job.  Please let me stay within the lines.  That was my prayer. 

Isn’t that how we sometimes try to live our lives?  Staying within the lines so we can have proof that we are doing it right?  I go outside the lines so many times.  It is easy to do and I don’t even recognize it at times because I just go about my merry way.  Yet, I veer off in seemingly simple ways.  By comparing myself to others, by putting myself down, through my attitude toward others, my words, my actions…shall I go on?   

I thought about Peter and how he went outside the lines.  Before Jesus was crucified, Peter denied who he was three times.  How outside the lines was that?  Yet Jesus offered Peter a way to be restored.  In John 21 we read how Jesus interacted with Peter with three questions, entering the mess Peter was in and replacing it with grace.  

Jesus does the same for us.  The lines of life can be difficult to maneuver, and it is easy to cross the lines.  Yet if we turn our thoughts to Christ, when we do veer off and make a mess, he meets us there.  He meets us in the mess with his grace and mercy, ready to restore us. 

Lord, help me when I make of mess of it and veer off into my own desires.  Rescue me and restore me and bring me to a place of love, where I can find rest in your arms.

The road I was on...

The story of Peter and Jesus.  John 21
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.[a] This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),[b] Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows,[c] have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards[d] from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?[e]”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.
18 “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others[f] will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everybody Loves a Good Fight

By
I’ve gotten into two fights in my life.  I know, hard to believe.  But I can remember them clearly.  One was with Cathy, who lived two doors down from my grandmother’s house.  I was probably around 8 or 9 years old.  Cathy was mean and a thorn in my side.  She was also the only other kid on the block who I could play with.  I don’t know exactly how the fight started, but I can remember the final scene and how it all played out.  I towered over her as she lay on the grass, pinned in a helpless position.  She cried for mercy and I let her go.  She flew home and that was the last time she bullied me.  The other time was in sixth grade.  I was friends with Rosie; at least I thought I was.  She accused me of breaking her compass and told me that she was going to beat me up after school.  I was shaking in my boots the rest of the school day.  I wondered how I could avoid the ordeal.  I wished I had someone that co...
3 comments
Read more

Baby steps to Big Girl Dreams

By
My heart was racing.  I had a tug inside of me to make a call to the local community college to inquire about teaching a continuing education class.  I had always had a desire to teach, and the bubbly stir inside of me kept pushing me to act.  My only problem was that  the conversation in my head made me want to run and hide.  But the stir was so very strong.  I had to do something.  And then I remembered a teaching I had just heard by Joyce Meyer.  She spoke about fear and how it can grip your life.   Her solution was simple.  She said, "Whatever you need to do, do it afraid."   A light blub moment !   Her words interrupted that internal conversation, and pushed me to make a choice and shift my thinking.  I marched to the phone....afraid....and made the call to the college.  I asked if they were in need of instructors and before I knew it,  one thing led to another.  By the end of the call, I ...
4 comments
Read more

What I learned in March

By
Another day of snow.  The amount we'd been getting was absurd.  But this one particular day, there was an amazing snowfall.  Even though I really, really wanted to complain, I just couldn't.  It was way to beautiful.  As I drove to work, I looked at the trees along my route.  Each covered perfectly with a velvety ribbon of white.  Just amazing.  How could I possibly complain?  So as I drove, I took it all in.  Any other day, maybe the snow would not have received such a welcome, but this day, it did.  I decided to celebrate instead of complain.  So what happened?  Well, my disposition changed.  Since then, I focused on a simple prayer.  Lord, change me.  Three little words.  Because when it comes down to it, the driver for my mood is my attitude, my perspective, my thinking...all of it.  Learning and saying these three little words was a huge graduation for me.  It gave me a sense of peac...
3 comments
Read more