And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Of course, I'm not entirely sure what getting up at 4 a.m. to mop up water from a broken toilet tank has to do with my sanctification.
Yes, oddly enough, the tank in my daughter's bathroom cracked right by the flushing lever sometime last night, and my poor darling discovered it with her bare feet! Wow, that cold water would have been a rude shock, wouldn't it? I am so glad that it was the tank and not the bowl, though. But the water dripped all the way through the floor into the downstairs bathroom (small blessings, Kat - remember "small blessings"!), and I've just spent about an hour helping my husband mop up the excess water, and pouring out full reservoirs from our Vacu-Suck-rug-cleaner-thingy.
Have I mentioned recently that I'm not at my best at 4 a.m.?
So how is God going to work this for good? It's certainly not a good thing, although it certainly could have been worse. It's not even a blip when compared to the madness and tragedies of last month. Yet, God in His sovereignty chose to permit this to happen, just as He chose to allow so many other things in my life. He certainly could have prevented this minor irritation, and He certainly could have prevented horrors like 9-11.
So, why?
I think the answer lies - at least a little bit - in the way we get so wrapped up in ourselves. Day in and day out, it's "Me, me, me, me, ME!!" and sometimes we need to be brought back to the Important Thing. God sometimes does it with a tap on the shoulder, and sometimes, He does it with a punch to the gut. But I think His purpose is the same: Remember the God who made you!
Do you remember what the first three Commandments He gave were?
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
God comes first, not us.
How often do we make ourselves little idols, bowing and scraping before our supposed importance? How often do we take credit for the gifts given to us freely? How often do we ignore the duty and honor we owe to our Creator? How often do we make it all about us, and forget the gratitude and mindfulness God demands?
I'll tell you something. God has this little, minor, trivial thing He does with me - but it always reminds me of His goodness and His personal concern just when I need to be reminded the most. You know what He does? He loses my car keys.
Yep. God hides my keys when He wants me to remember Him.
I go nuts! I look in the kitchen, I look in the bedroom. I check the ignition, just in case I left the keys in the car. I check the door, just in case I left them in the lock. I check upstairs, I check downstairs, I look on every counter and dresser, I toss the sheets and blankets on the bed and rummage through the cushions on the couch. I question my husband and daughter, I enlist them in my search, I fume and cuss and growl and stomp, and I still haven't found my KEYS!
I look everywhere!
Of course, there's somewhere I need to be right now, I'm running late, and I NEED MY KEYS, DAMMIT!
I'm positive that God watches with a grin.
Finally - finally! - I stop and take a deep breath. And I remember my Creator. Remember Him? The One who has the very hairs on my head numbered? The One who adopted me as His child? The One who rejoices over me with singing? The One who formed me in my mother's womb? The One who foreknew me from before the foundations of the earth?
The One who died for me?
That One.
"God, I'm sorry. I forgot You are in control. I forgot that You come first. Will You find my keys for me, please?"
He whisks them out from behind His back and places them right in front of my eyes every time.
EVERY TIME! This has happened, oh, I dunno, maybe twenty or more times in the past ten years? Something like that. But it always reminds me of Him. It reminds me how much He loves me. It reminds me that His shoulders are big enough to take even my little worries. It reminds me that He is my Father, and He's going to take care of me. It reminds me of how much I love Him and how thankful I am for all His blessings.
So, if it takes waking me up at 4 a.m. to deal with a busted toilet to make me think of Him at the beginning of my day, well, that's good enough for me. I can be grateful that it was a toilet that was broken, and not something worse. You see, I think God prefers to give the subtle nudge. An open, tender heart will respond quickly to that nudge and be drawn back to Him. But how can He deal with a hard, stubborn heart? A country of stiff-necked people determined to go their own way?
Sometimes He uses a sucker-punch. Please don't make Him go that far in your life! He can work it out for good - He will work it out for good - if you are called by His name and according to His purpose. But He shouldn't have to use a sledgehammer to get your attention.
In Ecclesiastes, He says,
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come
Don't make Him bring in the big guns. Put Him first NOW.
Christine of 
Today's readings from the 
So, like I told you last week, I 
