Rusty Tweezers and Multiple Spatulas by Patty LaRoche

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)

How can two people accumulate so much junk? Dave and I are packing to move from the lake area into town.  This move, probably because we are tired of paying per-pound for things we never will use, we are trying really, really hard to declutter.  For some reason, I look at Dave’s things with clearer eyes than I do my own.

“Honey, you don’t need those old baseball folders.  And when was the last time you wore those polyester pants or needed those rusted tweezers or those tireless bikes?”  Dave is equally as helpful.  “Patty, didn’t you wear that outfit on our honeymoon?  How many hair products do you actually need?  Aren’t three spatulas enough?”

And then we both defend whatever it is our spouse thinks we should throw away.  This is ridiculous.  We have no problem moving, leaving behind years of sweet, family memories, but we can’t part with unnecessary junk.  Change is a natural part of life.  We can embrace it, or we can fight it.  The choice is ours.  Just like the eagle’s.

The eagle has the longest life-span among birds. It can live up to 70 years, but to reach this age, the eagle has to make a hard decision. In its 40s, the eagle’s long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey, its food. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent, and its old and heavy wings, covered with feathers that have grown thick over the years, become stuck to its chest, making it difficult to fly.

The eagle is then left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days. This requires the eagle to fly to a mountain top and sit on its nest. There the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until the beak falls off. The eagle will then wait for a new beak to grow back and use the new beak to pluck out its talons. When the new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking out all of the old feathers. After five months, the eagle takes a famous flight of rebirth and lives 30 more years.

Change is sometimes needed to survive. Read the Bible.  Every story includes choices people had, either to follow God or not.  What is God asking of you?  How is He working to increase your faith by making a change in your life?  The answer is simple. He is preparing your steps to move out of your comfort zone, to get rid of useless material junk, to eliminate destructive habits and to focus on what is truly important.

When Dave and I began to concentrate on what we really need, we found a certain satisfaction in not holding onto what was familiar. Joshua 3 illustrates how God works in these decisions. The Israelites were close to the Promised Land, but the Jordan River stood in their way.  God asked them to take one step into the water.  He would do nothing until the Israelites obeyed.  The lesson is one for us all.

Don’t wait until you believe it all.  Don’t wait until you can see it all.  Don’t wait until you understand it all.

Take the first step.  God will meet you there…even if it involves rusty tweezers and multiple spatulas.