This week I had a super fun opportunity: Elizabeth’s vacuum had quit working and I had the extreme fun of trying to fix it. Remember, I’m not particularly mechanically minded, but I was determined. I looked and everything seemed fine at first glance. I tried the old suction-on-the-arm test and the suction seemed just fine, too, unless you tried to actually vacuum something up off the floor. So I started taking the vacuum apart. I actually got it partially dismantled when I decided to read the manual and learned that this problem really did probably mean the hose was somehow clogged. I put the vacuum back together and removed the hose. As I stretched that hose as long as it would go I noticed a discoloration in the middle and looking closely I could see that something was indeed stuck inside. I looked around for anything Elizabeth had that could reach that far in, and the closest I could find was a metal wreath hanger. I straightened it as much as I could and stuck it into the hose and pushed against something solid. I pushed and pushed, moving the object further down the hose, until the wreath hanger began bending and became useless. I looked for something else to use, but seriously, this elongated wreath hanger was the longest narrow thing in the apartment. So, in order to make the stretched-out wreath hanger even longer I taped a wooden ruler to the end of it. I stuck my now longer tool down the hose and made some more progress. Yay. But eventually my hand, which wouldn’t fit in the hose, prevented me from moving forward as it hit the end of the hose. Giving the problem some thought I went a grabbed a kitchen knife which I proceeded to tape to the end of the ruler. With this now very lengthy professional quality tool I was able to make yet more progress in pushing the blockage towards the other end, until this, too, became too short for the distance required to push the clog out and I couldn’t move it anymore. It was just plain and simply stuck and there were no other tools I could think of to tape onto the end of my very awesome “stick.” After emitting a few screams, I sat back and pondered. Maybe if I couldn’t push the clog any further, I could find a way to pull whatever it was out. So I went to the other end of the hose and using the knife end of my handy-dandy push/pull implement I was able to reach the clog and then slowly but surely pull it towards me. My hands were killing me by this point. I swear it seemed like that clog had a will to live in its own destructive self-determined way (yes, after this long of a struggle the clog had taken on its own persona in my mind). Eventually, though, after what seemed like an eternal struggle of only small incremental progress, the clog caught onto the knife, and as though it was one unit with my stick, the end of the clog, stuck on the knife, poked out from the end of the hose into freedom! Afraid of pulling it out any further with the knife and thus risking having the knife fly back and hit me in the eye (a very likely scenario, given my history), I quickly grabbed the clog with my fingers and pulled it out the rest of the way. Voila! Success! I did it! (For those wondering, the clog that so wanted to defeat me was a sock. A sock. As in, something that should have been on Elizabeth’s foot or in a drawer but was instead choosing to clog up a vacuum.)
I couldn’t help to think about how I am like that sock.
How often do I find myself waiting to be pushed towards change? Life comes along and pushes me in one direction or another, but I find myself very easily stuck when the external pressure lets up, for whatever reason. I then find myself getting more frustrated for yet another failed attempt at improvement. Eventually, with enough external pressure, either resentful progress is made, or I just give up, convinced that change isn’t going to happen.
Interestingly, however, there is another way that usually does work. God, I have learned, doesn’t usually push me. Oh, there are the moments when He gives a bit of a push, but typically God’s M.O. is to invite and entice me to move forward. Like that sock, it’s that style of inviting that actually works to pull me towards change and becoming a better disciple.
Christ invites us to come unto Him so that He could give us rest. He invites us to lay our burdens at His feet and trust in Him. Christ invites us to look to Him and live. God doesn’t push us to come to Him; He doesn’t take our burdens forcefully from our arms and lay them at His feet; and He definitely doesn’t grab our chins and force our faces toward Him until we look Him in the eyes. No, Christ stands at the door and knocks, inviting us to let Him in and let Him help us move forward.
One thing that can be very true about enticing and pulling as opposed to pushing is that progress can be slow. It might seem as though we’ll never get to the end of the hose and to freedom from whatever it is we are seeking release from. Pushing might get us further along the path faster, but unless we are completely willing to change, it won’t get us to the desired end in a permanent way.
Okay, my analogy is starting to break down here, but I think you get my point.
The Spirit often entices me to do good. Too frequently, though, I sit and wait for some external force to come upon me and make me progress like I know I should. Seldom does that external force actually come in any long-lasting way. When I turn my heart to listen and follow the invitations of the Lord I very slowly, but very surely, begin to move towards my goal. I have so much I need to change and so much I need to improve in myself! It really is the easiest thing in the world to feel overwhelmed and just sit in the middle of the hose, clogging up my own life, and wait for life to change me or my circumstances. Recently, however, I’ve made some decisions to follow the promptings of the Lord and catch onto His saving hand (or stick, if I choose to keep with my now mangled analogy). As I do so I find myself more at peace. I find myself moving forward. Oh, sometimes I lose my hold on the stick and have to be sought for again, but in those times I am grateful for the never failing, never faltering, never ceasing reach of my Savior.
I am so grateful for the Lord’s method of enticing and inviting. I am so grateful for His love. I am so grateful for His great ingenuity in finding new ways to reach me. Like the sock, I make more progress by invitation than by force, and I’m so grateful for those welcoming arms waiting for me to grab hold! Truly, with enticing and love, Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of my soul.
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 