Russ' Ramblings

Exodus 12:21-28
We become so accustomed to our normal routines that we allow life to slide past us with very little notice. We even become slaves of the routine which takes control of our lives. It is the truly fortunate person or people who has the routine of life interrupted by circumstance beyond personal control. We all talk about doing something different at some time. Some of us even make some well planned gestures at doing what is different. But I am not talking about saving some money, or taking a reasonably controlled trip to a place we have never been. I am not talking about financing a fancy new car to replace the old conservative one. Such things are changes, but commonly happen with some planning and preparation. What I have in mind are the life event changes for which we cannot make adequate preparation. Often, we don't even see them coming. When we do know of them in advance, we cannot fully see what they will do to us. Sometimes, such events are often then seen as the highlight of days gone by.
Listen to the stories that people tell. A man I knew from the time I was a little boy, would often tell of his life. He was a very good man. He did many good things for me and my family. He was an old bachelor. He had been in love once in his life, but that had not gone as he would have desired. He worked for a milk company, as a delivery man for many years. It was his habit to slide low in the pew and doze during the sermon. It became such a common sight that you could sit next to him and not really even notice. Even pulpit pounders had little impact on his sleeping. There was one event in his life that was constantly a topic of conversation. That was the War. You know the War. The only time in the life of this man that his routine was greatly disturbed was when he went to war. His discussion of the events which transpired while he was in France during the War centered on the baseball games that were played by the men who were stationed with him. To the best of my knowledge, He never saw any combat. When he died, many friends attended his funeral. And in the end of all the statements were made, his life may have been a little unusual but like so many of us his life was lived in a routine. Other than two interruptions, his life could have been planned.
My point is not to belittle anyones life. It is not to even make us feel bad about our routine lives. Nor is it to make us be people who do not plan, and are blown by the wind. No, I am wanting us to see our lives as they are. I want us to see the potential that is within the circumstances that happen in our lives. Too often we avoid what may be done and strive for the familiar. We need to see the events about us as opportunities of adventure. These are the adventures of faith. Still, these must not be things that go without any direction and control.
When we are confronted with events that are beyond our control, I think that we ask, and rightly so, "What shall we do now?" If it is left up to human nature we will try to go back to where we have been, where we were comfortable. When we find that we cannot go back, what we must do is to face new opportunities by seeking the counsel of God. We must seek what it is that will promote the best for accomplishing the most with our lives.
In essence we must return to the basic center of life, that is God. In Him we will find the answers to the beginnings that we need. When things are changing we hold to the basic premises that have made us. We return to simply seeking God in humble obedience.