I Don't "Wanna"

That is a cry that we often hear from a small child when told to pick up toys, etc. Still, that is part of the process of training them.

Freedom

When childhood and the training phase have been left behind, then comes what you would think would be "your voice, your choice" time. No more being told to pick up toys, to take out the trash, to go to bed, etc. If you didn't wanna do it, you didn't have to. Remember when you got the first taste of being on your own and being able to do what you wanted to do? Nothing like that first taste of freedom, is it? Yeah, I know, been there and done that.

I'm Grown Now

Then comes the realization, sooner than later for some, that those rules that were made for you while you were a child had purpose.  If you did not get enough sleep, you suffered for it the next day. When you did not take out the trash, you lived in a pigsty. The place where you lived was your domicile, and no one else is going to come over and clean it up for you. So, you learned.

Uhm hmm

Just like that child that said, "I don't wanna," as Christians, we sometimes do the same thing. We may not whine at first; we just don't do it. But when life spanks our hands, so to speak, we may whine to ourselves. Uhm hmm, Biblical Jonah didn't want to do what he was told to do either. He flat out was not going to do it, or so he thought. But, when God's whale got through with him, he was running to do as he was told.

Hand Spanking or Whale Time

Several of us had to learn that when you were born to do a thing, that thing you will do. You can go willingly, or you can have a hand spanking or some time in the whale. But, when the spanking is over or the whale time is done, you are ready to do whatever. We have come to realize that this life is not about us and what we want.

Picked with a Purpose

If the Lord has determined that you are a vessel chosen for a given task, be reassured that you will carry out that task. I used to think that because I had been chosen for a particular task, that I would not have to be bothered with naysayers and enemies. Ha Ha, I laugh at my naivety now. I realize that my reasoning was faulty, now, but this is the way that I looked at it. Here I was doing something that I did not even want to do in the first place and having to contend with folks trying to stop me, too! I thought that that was a bit much. But, I tell you one thing. Ha, ha, I didn't want any more whale time, so I continued on with my task.

One Thing I Knew

I had learned from reading my Bible and from other situations in my life that I just needed to continue with my task. I knew what others would soon learn. When a person is on a mission appointed to him by the Lord, leave that person alone. Well, whatever you do, don't make that person's job hard to do. Because if you do, you may find yourself with some "whale time" or something worse.

Just Some Heartfelt Reflections this Morning as I Do What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma Carr-Jones

Poetic Thought for Today

When you show that you have learned a lesson

Shorten your "whale time" by a heartfelt confession.