This is me holding a blue crab in Ruskin, Florida at age 4. His pincher's were 21 inches from tip to tip. That's what my mom wrote on the back of the picture. Not being old enough to really know what a real good tip to tip length would be, I am guessing that's pretty big in crab world. I do know a little something about the world according to a blue crab. It happens in a bucket full of them.
Have you ever seen a bucket of blue crabs? They are all in there clawing at each other to get to the top. One giant, maybe like my 21 inch friend, will make his way to the top and reach the edge of the bucket. He will take his pincher and cling on the top of that bucket for dear life. It is then, when he is about to swing his other pincher over, balancing and holding his body weight, smelling the salty air, sensing freedom is near...that another crab, maybe only 15 inches, uses him as a ladder and 21 "incher" says goodbye to the prospect of freedom and the new crab on the block is now tasting what 21 "incher" had just seconds earlier. This all happens in the blink of an eye, over and over, a vicious cycle with no winners. Just miserable crabs clawing their way to the top, swinging and fighting yet never reaching the prize.
A good friend of mine, her son, Heath gave me that visual while we were visiting one afternoon. It was in the context of how he felt. Heath was trying to have victory over an addiction and was upset with the other "blue crabs" that kept pulling him down. He felt like one of those blue crabs in the bucket and he just couldn't escape to freedom.
I wanted to do this story today, January 31st, I hope I make my post by midnight. Today would have marked Heath's birthday. Heath lost his battle with the addiction a few years ago, but he did find deliverance. He found deliverance when he went home into the arms of Jesus.
I think we must also find deliverance in loss and death. Loss to our "rights." Death to our "flesh" and our "selfish desires" or even our "godly pursuits." I know it seems contradictory to the world view and even to some of the prosperity messages you may hear in the modern church of today. You know, "the name it and claim it" propaganda?!
I picture it something like this:
You are in a backyard. There is a Weeping Willow with a wooden board tied to a set of ropes, used for a swing. There is a rustic looking, wooden fence with a hinged gate that squeaks when you open and close it. The grass is up to your knees in some places and as the warm, summer breeze blows the grass waves as if to say, "Come on in, it's nice in here." There are patches of wild flowers dotted throughout the yard. No real pattern, just spots of pink, purple, red and yellow.
Now imagine you are in the yard, you are swinging. The breeze is warm, the wild flowers have permeated the air and you feel alive every time you go high and float back down. What could be better. This is the life, not a cloud in the sky.
Except you left the gate open.
You look around as you slow the swing. What is that smell? Is that a wild boar? Where is that patch of red, the pretty pansies are gone. What is going on here? My yard looks different.
Several days, weeks have gone by. Your yard has patches of dirt where there was once flowers. The swing is hanging by one rope and the board looks to be chewed in half. The Weeping Willow looks almost dead. The fence seems to be leaning over in some areas. That smell, it's permeating the air, but it's not pleasant. The weeds, well, they look like trees. That Veggie Tale movie, "The Rumor Weed" has new relevance at this point! And it looks as if the Rumor Weed had as many children as the "Old Women Who Lived In the Shoe!"
The gate is still open.
Shut the gate!
Hebrews 12:14 and 15 "Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;"
What is your bitter root? Alice Smith in her book "Beyond the Lie," defines a root of bitterness as judgments made about an offense, a situation, words spoken or actions taken against us or someone we love without properly forgiving or resolving the issue. That covers quite a few situations.
Do you have something you could categorize in one of those areas?
What happens when we don't forgive and resolve? Is it a cycle that repeats itself over and over? Is it becoming a pattern of sin that is now becoming a stronghold in your life? Literally taking hold of you with strong hands? Clutching you back as you reach toward the prize?
Does it remind you of the bucket of blue crabs?
I go back to the yard. I confess to the Lord my bitter "roots," I release the offender, and I apply the blood. The blood can only come from death. Death on the cross. His death. The reality of the cross is death. Life comes after death, even on the cross.
I picture my yard like this:
I have a floppy straw hat on, gardening gloves and boots. I have a nice big jug of ice water, an I-pod, and a wheel barrel with shovels and clippers and lots of gardening equipment. I am prepared. "Therefore prepare yourself..." Jeremiah 1:17a
I start digging up the weeds. I cut them with the clippers first. I now go for the root. I pull it up and toss it into the wheel barrel. I do this all over the yard. I leave nothing behind. I go over the entire area and this time my gate is shut! "...to root out and pull down, to destroy and to throw down..." Jeremiah 1:10b
The yard looks bare. I have a roto tiller and I am preparing the soil to plant. I am singing praises, I am walking over the ground speaking the Word of God, and praying. I must look wild, most definitely. I no longer care how the world views me. Call me David. I will dance before my Lord with reckless abandonment. This will be fertile soil.
Now this is where the seed must be planted. "...to build and to plant." Jeremiah 1:10c
Galations 5:22 and 23 reads like this, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
We must plant the seeds that will bear the fruit of the Spirit. These are the seeds I am planting in my yard. I want my yard to look like a scene taken from a Miracle-Grow commercial. I want love with action. I want an unspeakable joy. I want the peace that passes all understanding. I want long suffering that is incomprehendable. I want kindness in the face of ugly. I want goodness to wipe out the filth. I want faithfulness like that found in Hebrews. I want gentleness inspite of violence. I want self-control that reveals Jesus.
Now, I love the outdoors and at one time I wanted the farm thing. I still dream about it, but reality is, I'm a beach girl. I don't know the specific details about planting, growing and harvesting. I do know the seed goes in the fertile ground that has been prepared with fertilizer and water. I also know the seed must die and fall off before the plant starts to grow and bear fruit. I am not sure what all the technical terms are. I just know dying is involved. Then life.
Let's go back to the bucket of blue crabs a few minutes. How do they get relief? How do they get out of the vicious cycle of one-up-man ship and just plain misery? Death. It's death. The only way that crab is getting out is into the boiling pot. It is in the death that he is then able to offer delicious, flaky, melt in your mouth crab meat for others to enjoy. A pure and costly in season only gourmet treat.
How do we show others love? joy? peace? long suffering? kindness? goodness? faithfulness? gentleness? self-control? When does it become pure and costly? What does it look like in season and as a gourmet spread?
Don't we have to die to self or flesh first? How much has it cost you? Peace is easy when we have a cushy job, perfect kids, live in a spotless mansion, have money trees in the back yard and have the love of our life beside us smiling daily. Peace is not so easy when we have lost even a difficult job, have rebellious kids, live with relatives in a house that is too small and falling apart, have no money on these trees out back or in the bank.
What about our reputation? Is it being drug through the mud? Is our name being tarnished? Is your name the latest untruthful gossip around town? Does what you did at 16 still haunt you today? That rabbit in Bambi with the cute little speech problem that says, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." Sounds good when you watch that movie with your 4 year old, but after seeing an old high school beau that said some rotten things about you all over town...a bit harder.
The bottom line for you and Mr. Blue Crab. Death. Death to flesh and self. Most people know about the story of Job. He gets back more than he had at the end of the story. But, he lost his wealth, family and his health. It my be great to know the end of the story. We, as Christians know the end of the story. It gives us hope. We need hope. We get excited about our reward.
But Job had loss. He had lots of loss. You can't sugar coat your way through Job's story, September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the list goes on and on.
In my Bible there is a commentary about Job. It reads, "Suffering itself is not the central theme; rather the focus is on what Job learns from his suffering." James is clear there will be suffering. A wise woman, Theresa McBean, a pastor for Celebrate Recovery did a series on suffering last January. Her opinion, as so many others, is that we will all suffer. Not if, but when. Why not be prepared as Jeremiah urges?
Quit grasping for freedom by stepping on others with your harsh words. Quit trying to hold tight to the edge of the bucket. Quit laying on the bottom screaming, "Ouch!" Quit snapping your pinchers at everyone and then question why you feel so isolated? Release. Let go. Die.
It is only in our crucifixion of the flesh, disguised as self life, that there is life. John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."
Stranded in a bucket of blue crabs?
What are you waiting for?
Fillet your flesh!
Have you ever seen a bucket of blue crabs? They are all in there clawing at each other to get to the top. One giant, maybe like my 21 inch friend, will make his way to the top and reach the edge of the bucket. He will take his pincher and cling on the top of that bucket for dear life. It is then, when he is about to swing his other pincher over, balancing and holding his body weight, smelling the salty air, sensing freedom is near...that another crab, maybe only 15 inches, uses him as a ladder and 21 "incher" says goodbye to the prospect of freedom and the new crab on the block is now tasting what 21 "incher" had just seconds earlier. This all happens in the blink of an eye, over and over, a vicious cycle with no winners. Just miserable crabs clawing their way to the top, swinging and fighting yet never reaching the prize.
A good friend of mine, her son, Heath gave me that visual while we were visiting one afternoon. It was in the context of how he felt. Heath was trying to have victory over an addiction and was upset with the other "blue crabs" that kept pulling him down. He felt like one of those blue crabs in the bucket and he just couldn't escape to freedom.
I wanted to do this story today, January 31st, I hope I make my post by midnight. Today would have marked Heath's birthday. Heath lost his battle with the addiction a few years ago, but he did find deliverance. He found deliverance when he went home into the arms of Jesus.
I think we must also find deliverance in loss and death. Loss to our "rights." Death to our "flesh" and our "selfish desires" or even our "godly pursuits." I know it seems contradictory to the world view and even to some of the prosperity messages you may hear in the modern church of today. You know, "the name it and claim it" propaganda?!
I picture it something like this:
You are in a backyard. There is a Weeping Willow with a wooden board tied to a set of ropes, used for a swing. There is a rustic looking, wooden fence with a hinged gate that squeaks when you open and close it. The grass is up to your knees in some places and as the warm, summer breeze blows the grass waves as if to say, "Come on in, it's nice in here." There are patches of wild flowers dotted throughout the yard. No real pattern, just spots of pink, purple, red and yellow.
Now imagine you are in the yard, you are swinging. The breeze is warm, the wild flowers have permeated the air and you feel alive every time you go high and float back down. What could be better. This is the life, not a cloud in the sky.
Except you left the gate open.
You look around as you slow the swing. What is that smell? Is that a wild boar? Where is that patch of red, the pretty pansies are gone. What is going on here? My yard looks different.
Several days, weeks have gone by. Your yard has patches of dirt where there was once flowers. The swing is hanging by one rope and the board looks to be chewed in half. The Weeping Willow looks almost dead. The fence seems to be leaning over in some areas. That smell, it's permeating the air, but it's not pleasant. The weeds, well, they look like trees. That Veggie Tale movie, "The Rumor Weed" has new relevance at this point! And it looks as if the Rumor Weed had as many children as the "Old Women Who Lived In the Shoe!"
The gate is still open.
Shut the gate!
Hebrews 12:14 and 15 "Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;"
What is your bitter root? Alice Smith in her book "Beyond the Lie," defines a root of bitterness as judgments made about an offense, a situation, words spoken or actions taken against us or someone we love without properly forgiving or resolving the issue. That covers quite a few situations.
Do you have something you could categorize in one of those areas?
What happens when we don't forgive and resolve? Is it a cycle that repeats itself over and over? Is it becoming a pattern of sin that is now becoming a stronghold in your life? Literally taking hold of you with strong hands? Clutching you back as you reach toward the prize?
Does it remind you of the bucket of blue crabs?
I go back to the yard. I confess to the Lord my bitter "roots," I release the offender, and I apply the blood. The blood can only come from death. Death on the cross. His death. The reality of the cross is death. Life comes after death, even on the cross.
I picture my yard like this:
I have a floppy straw hat on, gardening gloves and boots. I have a nice big jug of ice water, an I-pod, and a wheel barrel with shovels and clippers and lots of gardening equipment. I am prepared. "Therefore prepare yourself..." Jeremiah 1:17a
I start digging up the weeds. I cut them with the clippers first. I now go for the root. I pull it up and toss it into the wheel barrel. I do this all over the yard. I leave nothing behind. I go over the entire area and this time my gate is shut! "...to root out and pull down, to destroy and to throw down..." Jeremiah 1:10b
The yard looks bare. I have a roto tiller and I am preparing the soil to plant. I am singing praises, I am walking over the ground speaking the Word of God, and praying. I must look wild, most definitely. I no longer care how the world views me. Call me David. I will dance before my Lord with reckless abandonment. This will be fertile soil.
Now this is where the seed must be planted. "...to build and to plant." Jeremiah 1:10c
Galations 5:22 and 23 reads like this, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
We must plant the seeds that will bear the fruit of the Spirit. These are the seeds I am planting in my yard. I want my yard to look like a scene taken from a Miracle-Grow commercial. I want love with action. I want an unspeakable joy. I want the peace that passes all understanding. I want long suffering that is incomprehendable. I want kindness in the face of ugly. I want goodness to wipe out the filth. I want faithfulness like that found in Hebrews. I want gentleness inspite of violence. I want self-control that reveals Jesus.
Now, I love the outdoors and at one time I wanted the farm thing. I still dream about it, but reality is, I'm a beach girl. I don't know the specific details about planting, growing and harvesting. I do know the seed goes in the fertile ground that has been prepared with fertilizer and water. I also know the seed must die and fall off before the plant starts to grow and bear fruit. I am not sure what all the technical terms are. I just know dying is involved. Then life.
Let's go back to the bucket of blue crabs a few minutes. How do they get relief? How do they get out of the vicious cycle of one-up-man ship and just plain misery? Death. It's death. The only way that crab is getting out is into the boiling pot. It is in the death that he is then able to offer delicious, flaky, melt in your mouth crab meat for others to enjoy. A pure and costly in season only gourmet treat.
How do we show others love? joy? peace? long suffering? kindness? goodness? faithfulness? gentleness? self-control? When does it become pure and costly? What does it look like in season and as a gourmet spread?
Don't we have to die to self or flesh first? How much has it cost you? Peace is easy when we have a cushy job, perfect kids, live in a spotless mansion, have money trees in the back yard and have the love of our life beside us smiling daily. Peace is not so easy when we have lost even a difficult job, have rebellious kids, live with relatives in a house that is too small and falling apart, have no money on these trees out back or in the bank.
What about our reputation? Is it being drug through the mud? Is our name being tarnished? Is your name the latest untruthful gossip around town? Does what you did at 16 still haunt you today? That rabbit in Bambi with the cute little speech problem that says, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." Sounds good when you watch that movie with your 4 year old, but after seeing an old high school beau that said some rotten things about you all over town...a bit harder.
The bottom line for you and Mr. Blue Crab. Death. Death to flesh and self. Most people know about the story of Job. He gets back more than he had at the end of the story. But, he lost his wealth, family and his health. It my be great to know the end of the story. We, as Christians know the end of the story. It gives us hope. We need hope. We get excited about our reward.
But Job had loss. He had lots of loss. You can't sugar coat your way through Job's story, September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the list goes on and on.
In my Bible there is a commentary about Job. It reads, "Suffering itself is not the central theme; rather the focus is on what Job learns from his suffering." James is clear there will be suffering. A wise woman, Theresa McBean, a pastor for Celebrate Recovery did a series on suffering last January. Her opinion, as so many others, is that we will all suffer. Not if, but when. Why not be prepared as Jeremiah urges?
Quit grasping for freedom by stepping on others with your harsh words. Quit trying to hold tight to the edge of the bucket. Quit laying on the bottom screaming, "Ouch!" Quit snapping your pinchers at everyone and then question why you feel so isolated? Release. Let go. Die.
It is only in our crucifixion of the flesh, disguised as self life, that there is life. John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."
Stranded in a bucket of blue crabs?
What are you waiting for?
Fillet your flesh!
