Mark Spruill

It’s pouring down rain and I have a wet seat.   I drive a little Miata convertible with a leaky top.  From what I hear, it’s not that unusual.  Anybody that has had a convertible for long knows that sooner or later, it will leak.  For me, it leaks sooner AND later. 

Sometimes the leaky top really frustrates me, but over the years I’ve learned to live with it.  I keep extra towels in my car and try to park in spots that lean the right direction so as to run the water in the least leaky fashion.  It’s all part of the trade-off.  A convertible top is just not ideal for a rainy day . . . but oh when the sun is shining on a beautiful spring day . . .  For me, it’s worth the trade-off.

Life is full of trade-offs.   Getting wet in the rain versus feeling the sunshine on a spring day.  More work hours may equal less family time.  A higher paying job may equal more stress.  Bigger house, smaller house, cars, toys, fame, responsibility, donations of time and money, everything has trade-offs.  I think one of the keys to contentment in life is knowing what to trade, and being happy with the trade-offs you make.

Jesus was the master of trade-offs.  Satan offered him some bad trades. 
“Turn the rocks into bread and you won’t be hungry,” he said.  “Worship me and I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world,” he offered. 
Jesus said, “No thanks.”  He had a better trade in mind. 

It happened on a cloudy day over 2000 years ago.  As the sky grew dark, they nailed Jesus to a cross and a trade-off took place.  Many would have thought he got a bad deal.  But He saw the future as well as the past.  He saw me and all of us who call Him Lord and Master.  He saw a world He loved and decided it was worth the trade.  He looked through the eons of time, saw me driving my little Miata while talking with Him on a sunny spring day, and traded His life for mine with no reservations.  I’m so glad He did.  It was the grandest trade-off that will ever be made.  And it’s enough to make me sing His praise, even when it’s pouring down rain outside.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son . . .

Last night it got cold.  This morning the hornets are gone, and I didn’t have to do a thing.   I guess sometimes the easiest battle you ever fight is the one you never fight.

This summer, we noticed a hornets’ nest up in the magnolia tree.  It was right in the front yard and I was afraid someone would get stung so I prepared to do battle.   A can of Wasp and Hornet Spray was the weapon of choice.   I was calculating when I should strike so as to provide minimum danger to me and maximum casualty to the hornets.  Then someone made an interesting suggestion:  “Why don’t you just leave them alone.  They die in the winter anyway.”

It just didn’t seem right, leaving that dangerous nest there.   They don’t say, “Mad as a hornet” for nothing.  But then I thought about the fact that we had been mowing grass right under that tree for half the summer before we even noticed the nest.   Maybe these hornets were not so “mad” after all.   No, the real mad one would have been me.  Out there fighting a battle I didn’t have to fight, because God had it taken care of. 

Why should I worry about a hornet problem when God already had that battle won?  He’s the one who created hornets as well as the seasons of Fall and Winter.  Perhaps I should trust Him to take care of a few more of my battles.  Why not?  He had the outcome of this hornet thing figured out at the foundation of the world.

The fish died, but not from loneliness.  He had lived alone, in a crowded vase with a bunch of plant roots.  He lived that way for years, and he was happy.  His predecessors proved it. 

We tried putting him in a community aquarium with plenty of room and some other fish to keep him company.  He died after a few months.  We tried putting him in a community aquarium with a female of his own kind.  He pestered her until she died.  Then he died.  We tried adding plants.   He hid among the plants .  .  .  and died.

You have probably seen this little fish.  He’s the one they keep in a small jar at the pet store.   The one you feel sorry for, because he is kept separate from all the other fish, in a tiny little jar with hardly any water.  No filter.  No heater.  No room.  No friends.

If you see him and feel sorry for him, buy him and take him home.  But don’t put him in a big nice aquarium.  Continue reading »

I spent most of yesterday laying tile on our basement floor.  Now my knees hurt, my back aches, and my hands are all dried out.  It’s hard work, but once it’s done, the tile will provide a nice durable floor that will last despite the floods.  I don’t like what tiling does to me.  But I sure like what it does for me.  I kinda feel the same way about some of the struggles God allows to come my way.  

Heb 12:11-13 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.       -NKJV