When the Owner is Lazy, the Roof Sags

June 12th, 2015

When Hands are Idle, the House Leaks

I got an interesting revelation yesterday.

We complain a lot about the things that happen to us, especially if we don’t believe in God or we have been sucked in by the prosperity preachers. People who don’t believe in God generally think they deserve good things, and people who have been duped by the prosperity preachers think God is obligated to do things for them because they send morons money.

I don’t complain about disappointments and problems. I realize I don’t deserve good things. I’m glad my life is so pleasant. The fact that it’s as good as it is impresses me, because I know what I really am.

Yesterday morning, I realized that I had been sowing destruction and pain for myself for most of my life. That added a new dimension to my understanding of my circumstances.

If you’re not serving God, you’re serving Satan. There is no neutral ground. And going to church doesn’t make you a servant of God. You have to hear from the Holy Spirit and try to obey. You can’t just treat the advice in the New Testament (or Old Testament) as though it were law, obeying it as well as you can. A person who obeys a list of rules can’t, by definition, be Spirit-led.

If you haven’t been Spirit-led, you have been serving the devil, to one degree or another. So you’ve been sowing destruction.

I’ll tell you something personal. I have tried not to discuss this publicly for quite some time, but I will make an exception.

A relative of mine used drugs and refused to change. She refused to acknowledge that anything was wrong with her. She lived in a house for which her father paid the bulk of the purchase price, and she did virtually nothing to maintain it.

If you want to destroy a house, all you have to do is sit on the couch. If you’ve never maintained a property, you would be amazed at what inactivity can do.

There was a water leak under the floor. She paid a $300 water bill every month and didn’t fix the leak. The living room floor started to rot; even the joists and subflooring started to go. One day the hot water connection under the kitchen sink broke, and steam filled the house. When the steam went away, she thought the problem was gone. The added humidity caused black mold to cover the walls in a short period of time. Water kept pouring out under the house.

Rats came in. They wandered in and out of the kitchen cabinets, eating old bags of beans and whatever else they wanted. During the day, they were easily audible, because they got used to ruling the house. Their excrement was everywhere.

Roaches were thick. Large South Florida roaches that fly and bite. The roof gave out, so there was an additional source of water. Termites love water. They started eating the house.

By the time her father bought her out, the house was so far gone that everything except the outer concrete walls had to be replaced. After she moved her filthy belongings out, it cost him about a thousand dollars to get the remaining junk hauled to the dump. Furniture, dishes…you name it. Things that originally cost many thousands of dollars.

Why am I telling you this? Because it shows that inactivity is sowing.

If you haven’t been spending substantial time in prayer every day all your life, you have been sowing destruction to yourself. So if you get cancer, or your business fails, or your kids die, how can you say you’re surprised?

If things go well, you should be amazed, humbled, and afraid. You should reconcile with God before your bill comes due.

I sowed both actively and inactively. I was lustful, ungrateful, disrespectful, proud, gluttonous, lazy, cruel, greedy, and a bunch of other things I could rattle off if I thought about it. That was active on my part. I didn’t pray. I did virtually nothing for other people. I thought pride and confidence would fix my life, so I didn’t fight them the way I should have. I did little to correct my faults. In these ways, I was inactive.

Now things are not what I had hoped they would be when I was 18. I have never married. I have no children. I didn’t make it as a physicist. I didn’t make it as a writer. Well, what did I expect? What did I sow for? A life much worse than the one I have. I have nothing to complain about.

It sounds like the revelation I got was bad news. Of course, it’s not. A mature person doesn’t shoot messengers. When we receive bad news, we generally react as if something bad has happened, but usually, the news isn’t the problem. Very often, receiving the news is a blessing. If you know something has gone wrong, you can react and fix it. If you’re still in the dark, things will fester and get worse.

The revelation was very good news. It showed me that I have not been cheated, and that I have the power to improve my future. It made me feel relieved, because I have a few years of prayer behind me now. I have good seed in the ground. The bad seed is being eradicated before it can bear fruit. Things are getting better and better.

Other people–people who seem evil or just obnoxious–have blessings I don’t have. Does that mean life is unfair? No, it just means they’ve gotten some undeserved blessings I didn’t get. What happens to them is not really relevant to me. God has a prescription for everyone, and yours may not match your neighbor’s.

I know things some of them will never know on this earth, and I have tools and weapons most of them will never have. Is that fair? Should I want to trade places with them? Obviously not. So who got the better deal?

I can’t share this stuff with most of the people I know, because I’m simply not allowed. It would be like drunk-dialing an old girlfriend who ran off with a rich guy and vandalized my car. I would be inviting more disrespect. Once people show you what they are, you have to treat them accordingly. If you keep going back to them, you are as responsible for their bad acts as they are.

It probably sounds like I’m furious with the people I know, but that’s not it at all. They’re not malicious. They just don’t listen. Talking to people who don’t listen takes a toll. I’ve had my dose. I’m not supposed to take any more at this time.

They can’t have it, so it’s yours. If it sounds negative, you didn’t understand it, and you’re not ready for it. If you get it, it will be helpful to you.

I am not good. I still do things I’m ashamed of. But with God’s help, I am becoming good, and I am heading in the right direction. It’s not about how well you obey rules. It’s about submission, confession, repentance, and prayer. Focus on internal change, by the means Jesus prescribed, and everything else will take care of itself.

3 Responses to “When the Owner is Lazy, the Roof Sags”

  1. Ed Bonderenka Says:

    I wonder how her father is doing spiritually.

  2. Steve H. Says:

    Not great.

  3. Ruth H Says:

    That was a great example. You are a writer. You may not be a nationally praised writer, but you write a lot and you write the truth. That is one of your blessings.