I was having lunch today with a friend and he shared with me a story too good not to make a devotion about…
The story goes that this Russian couple had gotten married and their friends and family bought an all-expenses-paid luxury cruise as a gift for their honeymoon. Supposedly…the family and friends had booked the most expensive suite on the entire ship! Decked out with multiple rooms, a master bathroom, a balcony, and a fully stocked fridge.
Can you imagine the happy couple!
They arrived at their port, went through the check-in process, and embarked toward their luxury suite. Expecting a grand experience, they were somewhat stunned when they opened the door to a rather modest suite. It was true that this suite had a larger bed than most – it was a pullout sofa, offering a full queen size bed for you sailing aficionados…
The room was elegant, but simple. It had a nice television, a nice living space that converted into their bedroom, an adequate bathroom, and a stocked fridge. Sensing that everything is as it should be…they embarked on their cruise.
For seven days they enjoyed the luxury of their suite, soaked in the sun on the deck, enjoyed the food at the restaurants, toured the stops, and began their marriage in a life of modest luxury.
They arrived back to their port and began to disembark. While leaving the ship, they found the captain wishing everyone a safe return. When it was their turn to greet him, he asked, “I hope you enjoyed your stay with us. Was everything found the way you expected it?”
They thought about their answer…desiring to be honest, one of the two said, “To be honest – no. Our room was quite lovely. It had an elegant mirror right on the one side and a nice area, but it was really a lot smaller than we expected. We were told that it was the “largest suite” on the ship and were quite surprised at how small it was.”
The captain was a little confused. After asking for their room number, he said, “You must be mistaken. This is the grand suite.” After the couple assured him they were not, he asked if they could go visit the room together. Agreeing, the three of them took off across the deck, finding their way back to their respite room for the previous days.
Opening the door, the couple said, “See…it really is quite small.” The captain turning to them in some confusion, walked over to the mirror…and…slid it to the side revealing the master bedroom, bathroom, and balcony!
The couple had stayed an entire week on the ship and never noticed that the mirror was meant to separate the rooms and merely needed to be slid to the side! Sitting a mere three feet away from where they laid their heads every night were the amenities they had been promised.
THEY WERE CAUGHT LOOKING AT A REFLECTION AND MISSED THE AMENITIES…
I wonder how many times I’ve missed out on the “amenities” that God offered because I was preoccupied with an image…a mirage…a reflection? Like the mirrors that just need to be slid out of the way, sometimes I get caught up on the reflection and miss the best part of the journey – God’s faithfulness.
I guess I could offer a lot of illustrations, but one that came to mind was MONEY.
We live in a world of the “Golden Rule” – the one who owns the gold, owns the world. We tend to think about everything from a financial perspective. And because of that, we tend to hold really tight to our treasures.
Countless times we are taught about giving by our pastors. We are taught the importance of giving in many important texts. One that is often misused and abused – Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Some have misused this verse…focusing on the first part – “Give and it will come back running over.” But it is the last portion that is so instructive – “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” When I give sparingly, I receive sparingly. When I give cautiously, I receive cautiously. When I give in fear, I receive in fear. When I give legalistically, I receive legalistically.
Over and over again, God promises to take care of us – even to assume the responsibility of providing for us. But we hold back because…we are afraid…we are stingy…we are busy…we have a family…and a plethora of other reasons. But God promises to be enough, to meet our needs, to clothe our children, and to feed our stomachs.
We miss out on the “AMENITIES” because we are focused on an image – a nice car, nice clothes, a beautiful house…the list goes on. When if we would just slide the image out of the way, we would find out that God has even better for us on the other side.
What image do you need to slide out of the way?
WHAT ARE YOU MISSING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR?
Held by Grace, PC