Kingdom in a Ten Gallon Tank

A few days ago I cleaned Jonathan's gerbil tank (I know, I know, he should have been doing it...but this is not a parenting blog and, if it were, I would not be writing it!). Despite my love for animals, I have always been afraid of rodents. I think gerbils are endearingly cute, but I am afraid to handle them. So my version of "cleaning" is to simply scoop the soiled bedding out with an old coffee cup designated for that purpose. As I was doing so, I uncovered a hidden world...little Pipsqueak had buried her treasures, half-eaten snack cubes and gnawed-down wooden toys, the occasional full seed, mineral bars both untouched and scarred by her teeth, at varying levels of depth in the bedding and in various and sundry locations around and about her ten-gallon tank. As I turned her carefully orchestrated world upside down with the traitorous coffee mug, little Pipsqueak in effect, panicked. She ran circles around my hand, darted up and back and generally had a mini-nervous breakdown. She wanted everything left as it was. It did not matter to her, nor was she able to deduce, I am sure, that I was going to fill her tank with wonderful-smelling, sparkly clean bedding, and that there would be new treats. Oh, no. Little Pipsqueak wanted to keep her frightfully smelly kingdom in just the situation it was in...a fetid funhouse in her mind. How like the rest of us, I thought. How very like me! God turns my world upside down with conviction, seeking to replace my dank dungeon of useless habit and binding fear with a clean, wholesome, healthy existence, but I prefer my familiar mess. Like Pipsqueak, I want my kingdom in a ten gallon tank, and I'll take it messy, thank you very much. And, just like little Pipsqueak (heavens, I HOPE my brain is larger than hers), I haven't got the understanding to appreciate that when HE shakes up my world, it will always be for the better. And I'm not just talking clean shavings, here! Today I ducked into Tractor Supply for dog food, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bunnies they sell every spring. I found something much better. Following the gentle twittering sound of tiny new lives, I found the bins with the heat lamps. Tucked inside, and busy with each other, were little fluffs of softness. Baby chicks. I thrilled to the sight of one bin housing a strain that had gentle little caramel-colored stripes. New, soft, twittering life. The wonders of God's world, and his everlasting goodness, never cease to thrill me. It is exciting to know that this life is but a shadow of the beauty that awaits us on the other side. I want to grow so close to Jesus that I can say in earnest that I really would rather be there than here...muddying my little tank and wondering why God would ever want to shake it up, or, even more challenging to my tiny faith, turn it over, exposing me to limitless opportunities for growth and adventure!!