I live in a an absolutely gorgeous little village (cold as it may be) and I'm in Japan, the place my heart has always longed to be. I have a job and fantastic coworkers. I play basketball and see beautiful sunsets everyday. I praise God that I am here in this tiny village because He has given me the desire of my heart.
And then I go to the store to buy dinner. While my Japanese is improving, there are many characters which I still cannot read. So while I try to buy meat, I end up coming home with chicken livers. Why would you eat chicken livers?! Why, God, would You send me to a country that eats chicken livers?!
Then it's the realization that Satan got me to focus on chicken livers and take my eyes of Jesus. That I started focusing on me, not the bigger picture.
So now when things go awry, I say, "chicken livers," laugh a little and praise God for His sense of humor. I've learned to use chicken livers as a reminder to thank God in all circumstances and situations. Because chicken livers for dinner doesn't change the fact that God is still God, God is still in control, and God can't love me any more than He does right now. Chicken livers doesn't change the fact that He alone is worthy of my worship all the time simply because of who He is.
Last night, I had a chicken livers moment. I thought I'd be a healthy kid and do laundry on a Saturday night before I went to bed. Threw my laundry in the washer and was journaling and reading my Bible waiting for it to be done so I could jump into bed. It beeps so I open the laundry room door and *splash*. Laundry room is flooded because the washer drain was frozen...just like my toilet and shower drains. My socks, slippers, and PJs were wet, my laundry room was filled with water, and I was tired. It would've been easy to get upset in that moment, and (if you knew me from before I met Jesus) getting angry and frustrated would be my first reaction. But I chose to say, "chicken livers," laughed, and thanked God I had a laundry room and that my whole house didn't flood. I thanked Him for clothes to wash and a washing machine in my own house. I thanked Him for the excessive number of towels I managed to find laying around the house. I thanked Him for a chance to thank Him in wet socks.
Chicken livers.
I had a moment like that last year! Our washer was attached to a spigot that we forgot to close. The pressure from the water made the connection burst and in the middle of the night we heard gushing water. We got up and turned off the spigot but there was water EVERYWHERE! And we had had people stay over that night so the futons were floating in ice cold water. We got brooms and swept the water into the drain that (thankfully) we had in front of the washer. In that moment I thought -- this could be reacted to horribly, but, to be honest, it's not that bad -- so I just thanked God that we could have a humorous attitude towards it. I was a little concerned that I had flooded the downstairs people, but apparently they only got a few drips in their toilet room. Praise God for allowing us to see Him through those situations!
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