I remember when I was a bit younger watching the cartoon 'Peanuts'. One of them starts like this... Lucy is at her five-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for some advice about life.'Life is like a deck chair, Charlie,' she says. 'On a Cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they've been. Others place their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they're going.'
Lucy looks at her puzzled client and asks, 'Which way is your deck chair facing?'
Without hesitating, Charlie replies glumly, 'I can't even get my deck chair unfolded!'
Well if you've ever tried putting up a deck chair, you'll know its a lot of hard work and even if you get it up, when you sit on it, it normally collapse on you. That's happened to me a couple of times, so I try and avoid deck chairs. But on the 'cruise ship of life' its hard to avoid putting it up and placing it somewhere.
But then how many of us have got past the point of getting the stupid chair up in the first place? I know I haven't and everyday I see people around me who are struggling hard with their deck chair, let alone knowing where to put it afterwards and whether to trust that it won't collapses in on you when you finial sit on it.
As Christian's there is so much about telling you where to place your deck chair and most of us know the answer should be at the front, but where are all the manuals about putting it up in the first place?
The only manual we need is the Bible, yet just like some manuals for deck chairs or flat packs, if you don't know how to read it, it becomes a bit confusing. So many of us feel that we are failing because we are no where near being able to position our deck chair, when we shouldn't be. God isn't looking for the ones who have got there, deck chair up and at the front, all on their own, no help needed, thank you very much. God is looking for those who are struggling with it, those who need Him to help them figure out how to put it up, how to get where He wants them to be. Jesus came for everyone, for all those who feel that they've messed up, that they are failing. He came for those who are struggling and with grace and mercy loved and helped them and continues to do that for me and you. Jesus wants to be needed, He wants us to ask for His help to work out the instructions for the deck chair. Then He'll use us for His work and place us where He needs us, not where we want to be.
If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.
Romans 4:4 (The Message)
