Project Apple Cart

Yes, He humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

How do we know when we are really off on the wrong track?  Whether it is concerning your job or your marriage or your child raising skills or your church attendance or even your communication with God, we get off track…..after all we are human and not perfect by any means.  What happens when we get our apple cart neatly arranged and ready for market only to have something bump in to it and knock it over or upset our arrangement.  Notice I said OUR arrangement.  We spend hours and days on projects in our lives concerning the things I mentioned above and then out of the blue something happens to upset the whole scheme of things.  How does this happen?  Is it us?  It is others around us?  What if it’s just God?

Once upon a time I thought I had marriage figured out only to discover that I really was suppose to still be myself.  I was suppose to be free in my relationship with my husband to be honest about everything.  I was suppose to share my feelings and hurts and wants and needs openly instead of bottling everything up on the inside until everything just tipped over and spilled out everywhere.  I thought I had my marriage cart all set up and perfect until I began to break apart at the seams and my apples starting falling out one by one.  I felt as if I had done a pretty good job keeping things all together.  Furthermore, I felt as if I had done a pretty good job on my own, without God.  It was as if God said to Himself one day,”Time to tip Brenda’s cart over!”

In doing so, God was able to show me many things, I had the concept wrong on a lot of things in my life.  I did not have to submit to my husband when it wasn’t  the right thing to do.  I did not have to just accept the destruction that surrounding me every day.  I had the right to be happy.  As God began to show me who I was designed to me, the more I could see just how wrong of a concept I had of marriage.  Little by little as He pulled me out of my pit, I needed to toss out my old apples (old ways of thinking) and plant new trees.  The more I learned about God’s love the easier it was to get rid of the old apples.

So when I began planting new seeds, with the new knowledge I had, the trees grew very quickly.  Now I can glance over and see orchards of what God has done in a very short time.  He has given me a marriage with a harvest so great I at times don’t have a clue what to do with the overflow.  As I harvest each apple I feel God’s love just pouring into my life as if He desires to ingrain in me what a true apple looks like.  He shows me everyday what a true marriage should be based on.  And everyday I am given sufficient love from my husband as He seeks God for how much to give.