Photo Credit: John Clare. Flickr. Lemur Leaf Frog. No changes were made.
The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger, not jump out and will be ultimately cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for our inability or unwillingness to react to threats or harmful conditions that occur gradually over time.
Like the frog, so many of my friends are in water that is slowly being heated. They are struggling with problems… family problems, problems getting along with co-workers, problems with health… and many of those people are Christians! I understand the problems…I don’t understand the extended struggle. Jesus said that “in this world, you will have difficulties.” Being a Christian does not give us a free pass away from difficulties, but what we DO have is a better way to deal with them…
We are to pray, then we are to focus on what we can and should do…and then do it…then we are to turn the rest of it over to God.
That’s it…every problem…every situation…same remedy.
So why don’t we do that?
- I think many of us love God…but deep down…we don’t trust that He will work in our favor…or in our timeframe.
- I think there is a certain sense of pride that comes with having to “deal” with stuff…laboring brings a certain sense of self-worth.
- I think we know what we need to do to get out of our problems…but we imagine it to be far scarier or more painful than our current condition…so we stay put.
What we fail to realize is…
- God can be trusted. Think back on your life…has God ever told you to do something and you are worse off because of it?
- We miss out on “peace.” I think having a peaceful heart is one of the most underrated conditions we have as humans. Peace reminds us that everything is just as it should be. Peace tells us…someone else can… and will take care of me. Peace reminds us we are not God, …nor should we try to be.
- Sometimes we are a “stiff-necked people.” We know what to do…but we just don’t do it because what we “imagine” we will have to experience. We think about the future and in our mind…it is scary, painful, and uncomfortable and that “picture” has less than a 10% chance of really happening anyway. Yet…it is enough to stop us from moving forward, growing closer to God and being happy…we CHOOSE not to move.
What this reminds me of is…God is extremely patient with us.
- He will love us enough to allow us to wallow in our own “stuff” for an extended period of time.
- He will listen to us say how much we love Him but understands that we don’t really trust Him.
- He will be there for us when we finally DO turn to Him and He will welcome us with open arms.
But in the meantime…many of us will just continue to struggle, kick and complain…
Go figure…