Faith is like loading a dishwasher

That is, if you are a procrastinator, like I am. Do you usually have a lot by the time you're putting them in? Then this is a parable for you too.

I gotta walk by faith in it. After all, how are they all going to fit into one load?

I have pans and trays, three different-sized plates, huge spatula thingies, a bizillion sippy cups, their lids and plastic inserts, etc. All different sizes, shapes, some can only go on the top shelf, and you always gotta check the way the bottom is loaded so that the bar can spin when it's on without getting stuck and immoblie.

Sometimes I when I concentrate on plates and pans for about ten minutes I realize that there's no room left on the bottom for my big bowl I was planning on.

Now what? Okay, God, should I just give up? Is this huge thing going to get clean like I thought it needed?? Then I have a revelation--the top is deep enough to hold it, and it fits perfectly. Hmm. The rest of the cups I was planning on putting on the top actually utilize the space in the cracks on the bottom rack a lot better.

It surprizes me, that I come up with an original and space-utlilizing solution for every scenario the dishes present.

With every dish it is best for me to just stop and say, 'I know I was thinking that bowls only go here, but let me look at the thing and determine the best fit for this load right now.'

In my faith-life I might have a set of plans to do some good things in my day. But what makes them good? Did they 'fit the need' of the persons I came into contact with? Did those people who saw me see a little bit more of their own value and worthwhile in the way that I treated them?

I think that ministering to needs as people come to be around you is true obedience to the will of the Spirit of God. Sometimes that kind of obedience can lead you into some pretty zany situations.

In my life when I consider God's will at any given moment I believe that He directs me through the people around me; their needs and concerns are the stuff of heavenly reward, and like my dishwasher, I am, to my own surprise, making the most of my daily commitments.