Juggling

As I write this morning, flashes of lightning light up the darkened sky allowing me to see the homes across the street for just a moment before they disappear into the dark again. The Thunder echoes off the house as if clapping for the light show just demonstrated by its fraternal twin, Lightning. The house shakes and rattles, the pitter-patter of the rain dances on my rooftop and in the middle of all that, the robins sing sweetly and softly, "Good morning world!"

This morning, in the midst of the storm I received an email from my dear friend Miss "M", who finds herself in the eye of a storm. Let me enumerate the basic contents...
1. Her brother's wife suddenly died while on vacation with the family yesterday.
2. It was one year ago yesterday that this same brother lost his son along with the son's fiance.
3. Her sister is in need of 24 hour care and the question of "who will pay for such things" has dominated the recent discussions.
4. My friend has been dealing with some serious health issues of her own.
5. Her daughter is expecting a baby - any day now!!
6. My friend has a new "Scooter" that she can't wait to ride, but it has been raining recently in her part of the country which has prohibited her from putting on her helmet and going out for a nice ride.
7. My friend's hope is that everything that is going on above will point all the players involved to one person and one person alone... Jesus!

My iWitness...

Toward the end of my senior year at Davidson College I received a notice from the Registrar's office that I was in need of one more "Individual Physical Education" class in order to graduate. At Davidson College we had a number of "Team" and "Individual" Physical Education courses we had to complete as part of our College educational experience.

I discovered that the school's photographer was teaching a class on Juggling. We met every week on Monday nights from 6:00 to 7:00 for ten weeks. At the end of the ten weeks each of us in the class had to put on a performance exhibiting some basic skills and adding a little flair so that the class would be entertained. Of course, I wowed the class with such brilliance that Barnum and Bailey Circus was willing to invite me to jump on their train and go on tour!! However, the calling of God was much stronger and I went to Seminary instead.

How many "Balls" would you say Miss M is juggling this morning?

I counted seven. And those were just the seven that were enumerated in the email.

How about you?
How many balls do you have up in the air?
Better yet, how many balls are you trying to keep up in the air?

Here's the one thing I learned from my juggling class...

It's easiest to juggle just one ball!

With just one ball my focus is laser like. With just one ball I am not distracted by other balls. With just one ball I don't have to worry too much about expending an exorbitant amount of energy and worry about "dropping the ball." Juggling one ball keeps things simple.

And this is the beautiful thing about Miss M. With all that is going on... with all these balls up in the air...  her focus will be on just one ball... God.

God is the master juggler. God can handle more balls in the air than we ever will.
So today, I do believe my dear friend Miss M will take these balls and lay them at the feet of our Lord and say, "Here you go! Do you mind juggling these for me? Because there are too many for me to handle."

And God's response will be swift and sure..."No problem Miss M! Blessed are you my dear child for you have done the one thing that is needful. And that is to focus on Me and I will take care of the rest."

ps - We will be praying for you, my dear friend and your family counting on God to calm the storm...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
(Luke 10. 38-42)