How many times have YOU asked the Lord to help you with something? And, how many times did you then think He didn’t help?

Maybe He did help.

Maybe you weren’t listening.

Recently, I began a project (more on that another time). I  made a list of the “pieces and parts” that would be necessary for the project. First, I put on old clothes, then collected wooden dowels, boards of various thicknesses and lengths, Dremel, jigsaw, palm sander, vise, leather gloves, clear goggles, mask, and …

Where’s my drill? I looked in the place I always kept it – no drill.

Help me, Lord.

I looked in a small cabinet that holds tiny “crafting” tools, glue, and such – no drill.

Help me, Lord.

I looked in the front closet AGAIN, pulled out everything on the floor, tore into the big toolbox, stirred up a bunch of dust, and coughed – no drill.

Help me, Lord.

I looked in my bedroom – a misnomer. That room houses two sewing machines, enough fabric to start my own shop, this laptop, and several files for the novel I’m currently writing, books on the craft of writing, and more books to read. Oh, and a single bed. I moved, opened, looked into nearly every nook and cranny, and stirred up dust – more coughing – no drill.

Help me, Lord.

Out to the little storage space that houses a freezer, Christmas decorations, and other seasonal items – no drill.

Help me find the drill, Lord. Please.

I give up. Yes, I did, I gave up.

Gathered the trash, grumbling I might add, and a few reusable shopping bags – I keep those in the back end of my car, so they are at the ready when I shop. Headed out the door, keys in hand, and touched the clicker to unlock my car. Open the backend and guess what was there – the drill!

Stowed the reusable bags and began to laugh. I laughed all the way to the dumpster and back to my home. “Lord, you think you’re funny, don’t you?” Of course, we know that He has a great sense of humor – just look at tadpoles and puppies. Look in the mirror!

As I went along looking for the drill and asking for help, I “thought” a few times, “Look in the car.” I dismissed that “thought” because I do NOT keep the drill in the car.

EXCEPT – Two weeks ago, I had put the drill in the car to take with me to Lowe’s to get the right thing I needed. I had not yet gone shopping for that ½” bit, so I forgot about it.

You know that “still, small voice”? Yeah, That One. I sometimes wish that my Heavenly Father would YELL at me. I wonder how many times He desires that I would just be quiet and listen? How many times did He say, so gently, “Look in the car?”

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; Matthew

Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth;

Matthew 7:9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Matthew 7:10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

None of these scriptures are new to me. Lesson learned, at least for today.

Ask! Listen, then,

Look in the car, Girl!

© Cat Brennan 2020

Ever have one of those days when something just isn’t right? When something seems off or missing? In animal land, a man might say of his horse, ‘He’s off his feed.”

Even seasoned Christians have those kinds of days.

Get up in the morning and fly through your shower and daily ablutions.

Rush through breakfast and a quick cuppa.

Glance at your inbox.

And you’re out the door.

Into the car and half way to your destination, what did I forget?

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Psalm 63:1 KJV

[ A David Psalm, When He Was out in the Judean Wilderness ] God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you! I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts.

Psalm 63:1 MSG

It IS a dry and thirsty land out there without God. God created in each one of us a yearning and a longing for Him; for His presence and His indwelling.

Do you fill your God-place with God, or do you fill it with Social Networking, Beer-by-the-case, loud music, or porn?  Maybe your filler-upper isn’t so brassy. Maybe your insert is ‘just-a glass-of-wine-with-dinner’, or your face-in-your-phone, or late-night shows ad nauseum, and mid-morning soaps.  These seem less harmful, right?  Wrong.

Let me be clear; God is NOT “going to get you” and you won’t be thrown out of heaven. God doesn’t send lightening bolts or illness or (you fill in the blank). However, your peace is definitely disturbed when you’re not walking with God. His Holy Spirit will gently guide you through all of life as you let Him.

So, please, don’t be thirsty. Drink. Now. The sweet water of the Living Christ is for one and all.

So, what’s in your empty space?