Broken Chairs and Trusting God

The other day Jimmy and I went out. Together. On a DATE!

We do that sometimes, though not as often as I’d like. Our schedules are pretty opposite these days. Anyhow, when we got home and walked into the garage, this broken chair greeted us.

My first thought was “Is everyone okay?” And then I thought “What in the world did they do to make this break?!?” I mean, they do play some pretty heated Mario Kart… but not in the dining room. And they’ve never broken furniture before…

So I asked the girls what happened, and they said simply “_______ sat on it and it broke.” (Names left off to protect the minimally-injured party.)

Obviously something was wrong with that chair, right? Because it isn’t supposed to break just from being sat on. We’ve used it countless times and never had a problem. It’s done its job, and I didn’t even think about it.

You know what happened after I saw the broken chair? For a while I started testing chairs before I sat on them. Even ones that weren’t at my house. Like, pushing on them with my hands to make sure they were strong.

And I wasn’t even the one who fell when the other chair broke.

Imagine if I went around telling anyone who would listen that one of our chairs broke for no reason. Surely if they came to our home, they would test them out, too. Or maybe even refuse to sit at our table.

What I don’t do all the other days the chair does its job is go around saying “Hey guess what? My dining room chair held me up again today when I sat on it!! Isn’t that awesome?!?” People might look at me funny if I did that.

I wonder if I’ve sometimes done the same with God.

Normally He does His job, fulfills my expectations, and I don’t think much about it- until something ‘breaks’. And then I wonder what He’s doing, why He let me down. Can He be trusted going forward? Maybe I should test His strength a little before I trust Him again. Maybe I better tell everyone else what happened, just to warn them. Because it might happen to them, too…

Have you ever done that?

God does something unexpected, or doesn’t answer a prayer the way I think He should, so I start publishing to anyone who will listen how disappointed I am, how I’m not sure He can be trusted. Maybe even going so far as to think (even if I don’t say it out loud) how I’ve invested so much of my life in serving Him, but maybe this ‘church thing’ isn’t worth it after all.

And that causes others to wonder if He can be trusted. Maybe they even rehearse to themselves all the ways He’s let them down.

I need to publish God’s faithfulness in my daily, mundane life, so that when ‘the chair breaks’, I’m not doubting His goodness. I won’t wonder if He is still there, if He sees me, if He knows what He’s doing.

Because I have rehearsed to myself, and anyone else who will listen, that my God is good. He is faithful, just, pure, merciful, powerful, gentle, a light in darkness…unchanging. It is His grace that has held me up, even on the very best of good days.

Lord help me praise you in the everyday stuff so my heart is fixed on You. Help me trust even when ‘the chairs breaks’ out from under me.

Psalm 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

Psalm 9:11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

Psalm 22:22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Psalm 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.