As I sit in my room writing this while the family sleeps, I can easily hear drippings throughout the house. Of all the things I’d mentally prepared myself for (ranging from being attacked by lions* to frostbite), leaky pipes wasn’t one of them.
And you’d think it wouldn’t be that big a deal. What’s a little leak? you might say. Have you ever heard of water torture?
You know, it’s often the little things that trip us up the most. My God is bigger than water drops, but is my faith and trust and patience that big?
I know it may seem trivial to you, but let me assure you, it’s a source of significant potential discouragement. Perhaps it would be nice if we had an Ace Hardware up the road with quality supplies we could count on, but we don’t. Or a plumber who’d just magic the leaks away. (Or a mason who’d actually show up….) But we just don’t, and that’s really okay–we’re here, after all.
This is only the beginning of many lessons we must learn about how to do the everyday living in this country. It’s frustrating that these human limitations get in the way of what we think may be opportunities to evangelize, but our neighbors are watching us.
They know we are struggling with various things. They know the great trials it took to get water here in the first place. We are showing them how God’s people respond to trouble, to disappointment, to injustice. We can show them if we’re faithful. We can model the way Jesus would live.
We are still learning and growing ourselves. And it is enjoyable to learn from our neighbors how they deal with their problems. That takes humility, but I can see how it can be building bridges, too.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about the increasing number of leaking pipes, but I know God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called by Him to fulfill His purposes (Romans 8:28). That’s us!
*I know there aren’t lions here, but I believe in being prepared.
Juan David 