The Drip Before the Flood?

“Forget about the flood for now; focus on the drip!” What does that mean? Hang with me on this one…

I just today got a email from a blog I read, about how to blog (totally nerdy, and I say as I write about it on my blog!). The email discussed how bloggers can get in a rut if they try to drag ideas out to complete thought with long paragraphs and stuff (a many of my posts have been). Instead, the article talks about writing short posts over time. It adds the quote…

“It is almost always about the accrued power of a thousand drips, drips that accrue, drop by drop until they overwhelm the status quo and break through, starting a flood.” – Seth Godin, marketing expert.

So why post this to anyone who is reading this, the majority of which could care less about writing their own blog? Well, as I read the two quotes I have mentioned, I thought about how this seems to transcends into other areas I am wrestling with in my life. So many times I want the flood of change in an area of my life, but by thinking about the flood, I often get overwhelmed and change never happens. But what if I focused on a “drip” of today, a “drip” tomorrow, a “drip” the day after, etc. How would this affect? Like an IV drip, would change and healing come? Maybe I need to be asking the Lord to walk with me through the drips each day.

What areas of your life would you like to see a flood of change? What is the drip that the Lord has put before you today?

Microwave vs. Crock-Pot

I was listening to a talk from my favorite guys in finances: Dave Ramsey (again, I thank my mom for steering my in Dave’s direction! I recommend his stuff all the time). His talk was from a church he preached at, and while much of the stuff he shared was “old hat” for a regular Dave listener like myself (though I enjoy even the old words of funny wisdom Dave presents), one quote stood out as new to me. Dave in talking about the fact that finances takes time, and is hard work, said:

“We don’t sell microwaves here, we sell crock-pots! It going to take a while. You’ve got to cook it awhile. But it will taste better!”

He continued on to talking about how most things in our spiritual life are like that.

Crock-pots, not microwaves…interesting! I guess this is one of those things that I should have known. In fact, I probably did know the under-riding principle here, but more so in my head. I guess I never had a catchy analogy like this.

I have never made anything in a crock-pot before, and well I have gone to the microwave tons (that is probably not a good sign!). The crock-pot takes to long…all day often times! And I guess when it comes to culinary stuff, I am not willing to put the time in for a meal that usually ends up tasting amazing.

But what about life… Am I willing to let it cook? Am I willing to be patient, as opposed to putting the “frozen dinner” in the microwave (which never tastes as good!)? AM I WILLING TO DO THE WORK NOW, FOR A DINNER LATER???

Paul in the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 7, says: “…discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” In, his book Discipline’s of a Godly Man, Kent Hughes talks about this verse in the idea of TRAINING yourself for Godliness. This disciplining and training stuff doesn’t seem like very “microwavable” terminology.

Money, relationships, building movements on campus, etc., etc., etc. How often I want it done now. I want to put something in my life in the microwave and “ZAP, ZAP…Ding! Done!” And wow, how it doesn’t work.

What are the things today that I am trying to “microwave” that I need to move over to the crock-pot? Besides money, what other crock-pot recipes does the Bible have in it?