“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your heart. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
So, one of my favorite things to do besides eat, is to take a long hot shower. The heat and steam relax me like a sauna and it’s the place where I do my best thinking, singing, and oftentimes my best crying. I’m not the only one that loves to take hot showers in my family. It seems like my son and daughter have taken after me, except they stay in there much longer than I do.
It was a Sunday evening and I was getting ready to wash my hair. I turned the shower on like I normally do; you know to get it nice and hot, but no hot water was coming out. I not so nicely asked my kids if they had just finished taking a shower and they said no. I turned the water back on again, let it run a little longer this time and still nothing; then I had everyone turn all the faucets on, but that didn’t help either. It was at that point that I came to the dreaded conclusion, the hot water heater had gone out. “But how?” I said. There was no warning. It had been hot earlier today, so how could that have happened? I immediately ran down stairs and told my husband about the tragedy and he seemed absolutely unbothered; so, I went upstairs and began a frantic search of Google to get some information, thinking maybe it was something small I could fix myself. Of course, I don’t know the first thing about fixing water heaters, but at least I was doing something.
Have you ever felt as though a situation was out of your control, but you felt like you had to do something? Anything, but wait. Well that’s how I used to handle everything. I wouldn’t rest until I “fixed” whatever it was that in my opinion, needed to be fixed.
I then rushed into my daughters’ room to tell her what happened and she answered me saying “try it again in the morning. It will be ok”. What? How could she be so calm while I was so anxious? So, then I went into my other daughter’s room, you know, to see if she’d be worked up like me, and she said “It’ll probably be fine Mommy”. At that point I went back to my room realizing that my kids had just taught me a lesson in peace, and their peace began to rub off on me.
Through the broken water heater issue, I realized that I had been so impatient; wanting everything now, wrapped up in a neat and tidy bow. I wanted to be in control of every situation and when I wasn’t, I felt helpless. I learned that I needed to involve God in every part of my life, even those that seem trivial and then do what I liked least, wait.
I needed to be grateful for the simple fact that we even had water, whether it was hot or not, and that there was enough provision to pay for repairs or to buy a new one. But most importantly, I realized that God will use anyone, even my teenage children to impart into me whatever is necessary for me to grow spiritually.
“Do not let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity”. 1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT)
So needless to say, I heated some water on the stove, took a nice shallow bath, and realized it would all be well. Once I swapped worry and anxiousness for gratefulness and peace, the Lord stepped in allowing the heater to be fixed days earlier than scheduled and less expensive than quoted. I can’t help but think that I would have missed out on that blessing if I hadn’t let God be God. I’ve gained a whole new perspective on hot water.
Angela Scott
CHM Contributor
