There, how do you like that for deep theological commentary on the human condition? Well, that’s what I was thinking last night while trying to print an article I was reading online. The process should have been pretty simple. However, it just didn’t turn out that way.
I was in the middle of printing an online article that ended up printing more pages than anticipated. So, in the middle of my print job I ended up running out of paper. I thought, “Oh well, no problem. I’ll get some more when I get to the store.” So, I proceeded to make a run to get something to eat. In the process, I thought I might as well stop and pick up some paper as well. Once arriving home and proceeding to pull out the tray to place my paper in it, the drawer started going sideways and got stuck. I have to admit I was in a hurry and my finger also hurt due to a recent injury. This made me even more impatient. So, I have to confess I got pretty angry. Don’t worry, I didn’t use any expletives. But I did let my anger get the better of me. In fact, if you were there and had a video camera on hand, you probably would have thought it was pretty funny.
I thought about it later and why I got so angry. I guess the reason it bothered me so much is that it just seemed so stupid that the tray would get stuck like that. I was trying to pull on it without breaking it at first. But no matter how I tried to maneuver it, or shake it, it wouldn’t budge. I shined a light in there to see what was going on, and it was no help at all. I just couldn’t wrap my head around how it would get stuck that bad when I couldn’t even see why it was stuck. This is when my frustration and anger reached fever pitch. I was pulling on the tray with considerable force, all the while thinking to myself, “Wait, you’re going to break it.” Yet, at the same time I was thinking to myself, “I don’t care! This printer is such a piece of junk!” This is when the pieces started flying off the paper tray. One piece, I’m not sure where it even came from. The other piece, I had a vague idea, but didn’t want to bother putting it back. With damage already done, I figured I had nothing to lose. So, I gave it a good yank and the paper tray dislodged from its unfortunate position. I suddenly felt a sense of relief. I placed the tray back in its place and, oddly enough, it still worked.
While frustrating, to be sure, this experience taught me something about myself. I learned another reason I was mad. I think I was partly mad that I had come face-to-face with my own human limitations. And it wasn’t just that, but I think I was mad because my human limitations had seemed to hit a new low. Like I had just lowered the bar for any of my future problem-solving abilities. It’s kind of like thinking, “If I let this paper tray beat me, then what’s next? Will I, tomorrow, find myself wrestling with the vacuum cleaner cord and end up like the calf in a calf-roping contest?” I shudder to think. But there’s probably more to the story.
Coming face-to-face with my own human limitations was actually a good thing. It helps remind me how much I need God. And my anger getting the better of me helped me to realize how much I need to rely on the Holy Spirit to help me to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
AV Ephesians 4:17: “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,” We can easily fall under the illusion that we can handle everything ourselves. When we are placed in a situation that reminds us that we can’t, it can be unsettling for us. But this is when we need to shift our perspective from ourselves. ‘Walking in the vanity of our mind’ suggests that our accomplishments and skills are the sole result of ourselves. This is a prideful view of things. It puts us in an improper place and doesn’t acknowledge God’s proper place in our lives.
AV John 6:63: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.” What the Bible makes so clear to us are the limitations of our flesh. When we are relying on our flesh, we are setting ourselves up for failure. We just can’t handle everything on our own. And we weren’t meant to. Even that is a physical manifestation of a spiritual truth. But this verse delves deeper into our spiritual condition. It also shows us that our own fleshly works cannot save us. It’s by an awakened spirit to the truth, and the truth of His Word, that we are awakened to new life.
The condition does not allow the person reaching sildenafil generic uk icks.org to a level of developing healthy erections needed for pleasing intercourse. Arimidex is a pill which can be taken cheapest viagra canada once in twenty four hours. canadian viagra 100mg Further the brokers increased to 250. It is still the same Herbal levitra uk icks.org and simply the rate is cheap.
AV Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” These are an outward representation of the new life we have in Him. The fruit of the spirit I was struggling with in this instance was the last one: temperance. Sometimes known as self-control. It’s a learning process, and we sometimes miss it, but as we allow these things to be established as an out-flowing of our new life, they replace the negatives of our old life. The Holy Spirit will help us with these things as we allow Him to. But it’s a yielding that must take place in our hearts.
AV John 3:30: “He must increase, but I [must] decrease.” This is an acknowledgement by John the Baptist. He saw the situation for what it is. The more I am filled with self, the less God is able to work in me. But the more I empty of self, the more room there is for God and Him to work in me. It starts by me realizing that I’m not enough, but that He is. Whatever gaps I need filled in my life, He can fill them. And He is always enough.
AV Ephesians 4:17: “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,”
AV John 6:63: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.”
AV Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
AV John 3:30: “He must increase, but I [must] decrease.”