day 2713: Obsolescence Pivot

“Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.”

Wall paper used to get really dirty when we heated our homes with wood fire stoves and coal.  Yuck. How did you clean the soot off of the walls?  Well, of course you used Kutol.  Yes, Kutol.  Everyone knew Kutol and everyone used it.  You scooped it out of a jar and then you rubbed it on the wallpaper and it collected the soot, leaving the wall clean and then you threw it away.  It was a doughy type of substance so it was easy to use and relatively clean.  And then we stopped heating our homes with coal and wood and wallpaper didn’t get sooty, now not needing to clean the walls and Kutol sat on the shelf with nothing to be used for.  And then, a kindergarten teacher recognized that this product was non-toxic (which meant kids could use it) and that the dough like material held its shape if you molded it into something.  So, why not turn it into a product that kids could play with?  Fortunately for the owner of Kutol, that kindergarten teacher was his sister-in-law and she took the obsolescence of Kutol and turned it into Play-Doh. And the rest is the story that apparent obsolescence is not at all the end.  It rather can be a pivot that just might turn out to be something really special.

So many times we will say that one closed-door opens another and that we just need to let God do His work in our lives to open and shut those doors for us.  If it was only just that easy to trust and follow in that way.  Closed doors can feel like we are becoming obsolescent. We feel our skills are no longer needed, we aren’t relevant, we’ve lost our mojo, we are no longer supported, etc.  We’ve all been there and we will likely be there again.  In those times, let’s remember that our God is the great God of the pivot.  It all looked like it was over.  Jesus had been crucified and everything His followers had expected was gone.  Their God, their leader and their faith had become obsolescent.  And then three days later, there was a pivot.  When we think we’ve become obsolescent, we are never so in the eye’s of God.  He is ready to give us the pivot we need.

Reference:  Romans 14:9 (New Living Translation

 

Have a great weekend and please come out on Sunday night to my Tightrope Talk with Pastor Terry Brisbane if you want learn more about the necessary tension between our faith and our work.

 

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