My marriage was so much like Honey and Sketch's Clash of Wills. Honey told Sketch, "All I saw was a spirit of fear." I know if that had been me and my wife, I would have immediately looked right at her and said, "All I see is an attitude of indifference, lack of self-control, childish irresponsibility, and psychological denial in refusing to face reality" -- which would have been the immature, stupid thing to say. But I am greatly bothered by the fact that I can't shake the feeling that Sketch really was right. He was being responsible.
It seems to me that Honey was trying to take the easy path and was in denial about the seriousness of the situation, not willing to discipline herself to do what was logical and sound, go straight home and forget the bread and milk. I guess I have to pray about it.
Hey, that reminds me: yesterday the Lord told me not to leave for work until His Spirit said so. He held me over until I was over twenty minutes late. I thought for sure I'd get fired. So then I am driving fast to work, and of course the whole time He was dealing with me about only trusting Him half way. When I got to work, everyone was stressed out because a freak ice storm hit during rush hour and there were auto accidents everywhere as cars slid out of control. It was a front page story in the Washington Post and Washington Times today. When I found out about the ice storm, God told me immediately, "If you had left when you normally do, you would have been caught in the midst of it! Now, learn to trust Me more! Just do what I say and don't question."
Perhaps the strip can show that when anyone is in an annointed place/position, and they pray for God's always needed help and they 'try to do their best', God showers them with His own help, even to the extent that they think and do what is right before they are aware of all the reasons that it is right.
Honey gets to learn on this one!
The latest "coincidence" is associated with this week's strip. I'm about half way done reading "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. The book is an examination of how a boy becomes a man from a Christian perspective, and how our culture and our churches have failed to produce men. I just loved an early chapter on how His creation reveals God, including what the basic nature of men and the basic nature of women reveal of God -- for each reflects a different part of God's nature since we are made in His image. The book moves on to explain how God ordained the "initiation" of men, the role fathers play, the role God plays, how to heal if one's father failed you, et al (hey, I haven't finished it).
I sit on the edge of my seat waiting to see how this Theophilus story thread goes, as I don't believe it is coincidence that this thread comes at the time I am getting to this book.
It began one day when I was on my way to my cousin's house where I lived at the time. God reminded me of one of my problems -- I almost couldn't do a thing without someone telling me how to do it. This was caused by much criticism from my mother, who always expected everyone to know exactly what she wanted.
I said to myself that I ought to tell my cousin; he was like a mentor to me. He and his wife had asked me that day to make dinner and I agreed, thinking they would be there to instruct me. But they were out when I got home. They had left a note that said I could start making dinner, they would come back soon. I was terrified!
So I decided to wait for them. When they arrived, his wife said to me, "Oh, you haven't started yet." When she said that, my heart almost broke with shame. But I didn't say anything. I took all the things I needed to prepare dinner and started slowly, asking frequently. When it was almost ready, I told my cousin about my problem and why I hadn't started making dinner earlier. He told me to pray to God and ask Him to help. I really wanted to, but suddenly I couldn't talk or speak. The shame from the past came to me again and I remembered all the bad things I had experienced when I had tried to do things by myself. My mother had called me an idiot and other terrible things when I had done something wrong. (I have forgiven her and today she has changed.)
I sat in a chair and just looked at the floor and began to cry. My cousin kept saying that I had to tell God all my problems, but I simply couldn't.
Somehow my cousin's wife knew that what she said had made me feel terrible, and she said she was sorry. My cousin told me to look at him. Just to look at him. It was so hard! Slowly I began to look up from the floor, but then he began to say, "Yes. That's good. Just a little bit more." I quickly looked down again, because I couldn't handle the positive words he uttered. I was used to the negative words my mother had used. I finally forced myself to look at him. I have never seen such a tender face. It was like looking into the Face of Jesus. I began to cry and cry and cry. It was so relieving. I felt so good afterwards. All the years of uncertainty and shame just poured away. I was so glad afterwards and I praise God for His Love toward me. He is so good.
You're the first person I've told about this. I really understand what you've experienced and admire your courage to tell about it. Thanks for your honesty. I thank God for you and your comic strip. Amen.