Dropsies

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-12

I am a klutz.

According to my mother, I have always been one. In fact, her favorite joke is "You inherited my grace, baby." (of course, she means lack thereof.)

At least once a day I will run into some stationary object, such as the corner of the bed post, doorway, dining table, etc. I trip over thresholds, sleeping Boxers, the floor, you name it. (Although I am convinced the floor has a vendetta against me and reaches up to trip me regularly.) My fellow grocery shoppers probably get a great laugh out of me running into helpless Hostess snack or Coca Cola displays with my shopping cart. Oh, and don't even get me started on spilling things. Like my coffee. On my keyboard. Just now.

The days I hate the most, however, are the days when I have what my Memaw used to call "The Dropsies". Those are the days when everything I pick up seems to have a death wish and jumps out of my hands. I had one of those days this past Saturday, dropping the same pen cap five times, my cell phone at least twice and the remote control hard enough that it had to be reprogrammed. Not to mention, my perfectly cut up apple pieces, right onto the kitchen floor, ruining them.( In a house with two dogs, two cats and a teenage boy, the "The Five Second Rule" does not exist.) Needless to say, my frustration grew with every slipping object to the point that I just wanted to sit down and not move for the rest of the day to avoid harming myself or any other helpless objects. I felt like I just could not do anything right.

As I sat there, safe on my couch, I started thinking about another kind of "Dropsy" days we have as Christians.

I am talking about those days when you wake up feeling happy and blessed, have your coffee and quiet time, and head out to take on the world, determined to live for God and be an example to others. You drive to work, singing along to your praise and worship music, filled with joy and peace, feeling blessed and strong enough to handle anything.

Then, life happens, and in spite of your best efforts, you end the day feeling defeated by all the things we "dropped" that day.

You just couldn't help but listen to the office gossip and express your disgust at what so and so said or did. When the boss gives you an assignment that will take at least two days and expects it by 5:00 pm, you slip and say a bad word out of frustration. When the cute new guy in the office smiles at you in a way that says much more than he is glad you are co-workers, you allow yourself to smile back and feel flattered by the fact that he noticed you, which causes you to feel guilty and angry with yourself. By the time work is over and you drive home, your level of frustration and weariness causes you to yell at your husband because the garbage hasn't been taken out instead of kissing him hello, and push your kids away when they want to tell you all about their day at school. By the time you crawl in bed that night, you wonder how God could ever forgive you for the way you behaved that day, and how you will ever overcome the never ending "dropsies". Can anyone else relate?

The reality is, Sister, that we all go through these things. We live in a fallen world with a real enemy, Satan, who "prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour". (I Peter 5:8, NIV). He knows that if he can make you feel defeated and worthless, then he can prevent you from telling others about Jesus, and maybe even make you fall away from God yourself. It's hard, scary, real stuff.

The good news is, God loves you, no matter how many times you "drop" things in a day. He knows that we are imperfect children and that we are going to mess up, just like we know our own kids will. More importantly, though, just like there is nothing our children could ever do to make us stop loving them, there is nothing that you or I or any of God's children could ever do to make Him turn His back on us. The Psalmist puts it beautifully in this passage:

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:8-14 NIV)

God knows that we are weak and frail, and He knows that because He made us. That is why His son had to come to earth in the form of a human, weak, frail and tempted, just like we are, to be a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus paid the price for all the things that you and I screw up with daily, so that we don't have to feel unworthy and defeated. You see, sweet sister, if we have placed our faith in Christ and trusted him as savior, the "Dropsies" don't matter. In Romans 8:1, God's word tell us "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (emphasis mine). If God doesn't condemn us, what right do we have to condemn ourselves?

So, the next time you have a "Dropsie" day, don't beat yourself up. Stop, pray and ask God to help you pick everything back up, and start over again tomorrow. He will be faithful to answer.