We all want to be more like Jesus, right? We can read a lot, give a lot, even go to church a lot, but there’s one more thing that will help us. Practice. Practice makes us Christ-like. How so?
“Mom, I think the toilet’s clogged.”
Not what I had on my list for the day. And it NEVER happens when Dad is home. Now I’m gonna be behind, probably for the rest of the day. Great.
Sound familiar? Not the toilet part, necessarily but the responses. Life throws us a little curve and we react immediately. Grumbling, complaining, maybe even some of that “unsanctified” speech slips – or floods – out.
But it’s not “life” throwing anything. It’s God.
God backs up toilets? (Well, is He sovereign or isn’t He?) But plumbing? Isn’t that insanely micro-managing things? (Okay, micro-managing is for control freaks. Control freaks try to run things they can’t or shouldn’t. God can and does rule over everything, and sovereignty over these little details is evidence of His vast knowledge and power.)
So why does God mess with all these little details, allowing these aggravations into our lives? It’s training. The annoyances give us a chance to practice all those sweet-sounding lessons we learn on Sundays, that is, practice being Christ-like. How will we respond when the car doesn’t start? Were those hymns and praise songs just lip service? What will we do when the three year old paints her bedsheets with nail polish? What kind of God will she see modeled in our response?
God arranges everything in our lives to make us more Christ-like. Sometimes He uses a “lecture” setting, like sermons or Bible study, and other times, He gives us a “lab” exercise, to put those ideas into action. While it doesn’t make us perfect, practice makes us more Christ-like.