By Bethany Riehl
My favorite job that I ever had was at a coffee shop. I loved the rhythm, the customers, and that my clothes always smelled like coffee. Because the day was repetitive – greet customer, take order, pump the syrup, pull the shots, steam the milk, mix, repeat – it was easy to feel accomplished in a few short hours. I worked the morning shift, and my morning-person, sunny personality wasn’t for everyone. I’m honestly a little surprised I made it out alive.
There was one task we were supposed to do frequently that I could never get right, and that was to calibrate the thermometers. After a quick search this morning, I now see that it is truly simple, but my brain just could not grasp it back then. All I had to do was stick the thermometer in either boiling or iced water, check to see if the thermometer displayed the correct temperature, and, if not, turn a little knob right or left until it did. Why did I think that was complicated?
Let’s not explore that too deeply, okay?
Recently, a friend that is going through the same Bible reading plan sent me a text, in awe over the magnificence of God displayed in our portion of Scripture that day. I could have “loved” the message or replied with something similar. Instead, I confessed. “I know I should be in awe. But pray for me? Right now, it’s all too familiar and I’m just not amazed like I should be.”
Ever been there? I really didn’t want to share that with her. But when we’re in a place like that, we need to reach out to other believers and ask them for help.
She promised to pray and that was that.
I went on a walk that day and listened to some worship music, and God began to move in my heart, as He does. He reminded me of Scripture, some hard to swallow, some comforting. I realized then that my heart needed some calibrating.
I recently began a course I’m taking that has the potential to be intense. The first session, the instructor told us that to be successful at this course, we’re going to need to sacrifice something to make time for it. He encouraged us to write that down somewhere prominent.
It occurred to me on my walk that the same is true for all other goals: if I want to be in better shape, that requires a commitment to exercise and nutritious foods. If I want to be more diligent as a writer, I have to get up earlier (since that’s my most creative time). And if I want to grow in holiness that will take some changes as well.
I know this. We all know this, don’t we? When we first turned to Christ it was obvious; some things in life had to change to be more suited to the growth we wanted. For me, since I was in junior high, that required a change in friendships and the way I spent my time.
Now I see that I’ve let my mind coast through the familiar landscape, not focusing on the details. If I want to calibrate my heart, I need to make sacrifices.
For me the list goes: be intentional about what I put in my mind. Instead of a true crime podcast while I clean or work out, I ought to listen to worship or an edifying book or sermon instead. What I allow myself to think about matters, and the passive intake of stories that make it easy to dwell on the evils in our world isn’t doing me any favors.
I also must change my thought patterns. When I feel offended, I can’t grumble, even to myself. I must take it to the Lord and hold up my offended heart for Him to remind me of my own offenses against Him. Then I can dwell on His mercy and offer mercy in return. It’s imperative that I watch and pray because my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak (Mark 14:38).
None of this will be done by my own might. He must hold me fast; He WILL hold me fast. He promises in Philippians 1 that He who began this work in us will bring it to completion. It’s tempting after walking with the Lord for nearly three decades to check out and coast. But that’s not the picture given to us in Scripture.
Scripture compares the Christian life to a race (1 Corinthians 9:24, Hebrews 12:1), a journey through foreign land (Hebrews 11:16), the life of a soldier (2 Timothy 2:3) in which we must daily put on our armor (Ephesians 6), and a building under construction (1 Peter 2:5). These imply the active working of God in our lives and as such we are to be active participants until the end.
I’m so thankful for a God that sees, hears, answers prayer, and calibrates when we need it. It’s uncomfortable to be called out, to see how passivity has led to sin (bitterness, pride, and indifference to the Lord and His people). But what great and wonderful mercy that the Lord in His kindness plunges us into the deep ocean of His Word to show us where we’re really at. Then He makes the adjustments needed and holds us fast while we obey.
What a wonderful, marvelous Savior.
Bethany Riehl lives in the Treasure Valley with three amazing teenagers and her incredible husband. She aims to write books and articles that show God’s grace in all circumstances and to point readers to His great love through story. You can subscribe to her newsletter – and for a free short story! – and learn more about her works at authorbethanyriehl.com.
