Floods

Yesterday morning I woke up to a flooded guest room. The toilet cistern had overflowed and the water had covered the bathroom and bedroom floor. I mopped up what I could and then spread towels on the wet floor. Fortunately there was enough sunshine to warm up the room and no damage was done. It was an unforeseen and unexpected occurrence. Not something I even gave a thought to. It made me think of all the unforeseen things that happen every day.

Matthew 6:34,  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If I had worried about anything the day before it would not have been about my guest room flooding. The things we worry about are things that are foremost in our minds. Things that we foresee. Maybe money, or relationships, or our car breaking down because there is a weird knocking sound in the engine. Most of the things that I have worried about in my life haven’t happened. This is also another example of truth in the Bible. It is also very good practical advice. Don’t waste your time worrying because you don’t know what’s ahead. Face the things that come to you the best way you can, with the Holy Spirit inside of you, leading you.

The other thing this mini flood reminded me of is the times that we are flooded with memories. Sometimes smell, a sound or something visual stimulates our memories and we are taken back to another time in an instant. There are things which we might have forgotten all about and they rush back complete with all the emotions we felt at the time. We cannot choose what we remember, or when we remember it. Sometimes there are things which take us by surprise and tears flow freely, outside our ability to stop them. Other times there’s the warmth of love that takes over. I find that I am much more likely to remember good things than bad things.

John 14:26,  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Deuteronomy 8:3-4, And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:18-10.  And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

We need to remember what God has done for us and that God loves us and cares for us. We need to remember Him actively. God should not only be part of a memory flooding into our consciousness. He should be right near the front of our thoughts. We should train our brains to put God in the centre of everything we do.

Proverbs 16:3, Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.

We have to try and do what this verse says. Consult God about what we plan, always keep Him in the loop and He will guide us and keep us on firm ground.

We need times of floods to wash away and clean up things that don’t belong, but we also need to be conscious of our loving Father and His love for us.