God is Hilarious!

Whether you have experienced God's sense of humor in your life or not, I pray that this blog entry enlightens you. :-) He's been pressing me for about 24 hours to write it, so I better! Surely, there are many who need to see Him in this context.

A little over a year ago, He spoke to my spirit: "Cut back on sugar." I heard (sensed) Him very clearly and knew that He meant business. My flesh, however, has continued to struggle ever since.

You see, I'm what I call a "chocoholic". In fact, there should be meetings for people like me. Be it chocolate milk, a Hershey bar (dark!), a chocolate chip cookie, brownies, or my worst enemy, chocolate ice cream with Oreos in it...I love it all. The more chocolate, the better. In fact, my dessert motto is: "If it ain't chocolate, I don't eat it!" Why waste the calories on lemon pound cake or blueberry muffins?!?! I could easily find a place in my diet for alternative desserts like those, but I would much rather blow it on chocolate.

What I have learned is that the Lord Jesus is patient with us as we move toward the changes He's inspiring. I have also found His sense of humor again in this particular experience.

We have a cafeteria at the office where I work. Four days each week, a little restaurant called "Sports Page" caters lunch for us. I am frugal and don't believe in wasting money every day on eating out, so I carry my lunch. But they make this killer chocolate chip cookie, and it is often on my mind.

One afternoon, I decided it was okay to have one of these dreamy, giant cookies. I gathered up some change I had in my desk, as I knew it would be a total of $1.09. I eagerly found my place in line and smiled at the cashier who greeted me. "One chocolate chip cookie, please!"

"Oh, we don't have any more of those. But we have the Reese's peanut butter cup cookies."

"That sounds even better! I'll have one of those."

"Sure! That'll be $1.75."

I began to laugh. Needless to say, I didn't have enough money nor did I have any more back at my desk and I rarely carry much cash as it is. I declined her offer and walked away, outwardly polite but inwardly frustrated. Ha!

I then decided to go into the little snack room just around the corner from where lunch is served every day. I had another idea! There are chips and sandwiches in there, but most importantly, there is plenty of chocolate. I decided on a Three Musketeers bar.

When I got to the machine where we must ring up the item with our Market cards, the card would not scan. I knew I had enough money on it, but it simply would not scan. I became increasingly (but light-heartedly!) frustrated and decided to return to my desk. "Okay, God...You must be trying to stop me from doing this." I laughed to myself.

Later that afternoon, I completely rebelled and went back to the snack room. I refused to leave until I got that Market card to process, so I could have my candy bar!!! It tasted really good, but at the same time, I knew I was rebelling so it felt wrong! I could just feel God shaking His head at me, with a huge, loving smile on His face.

On another occasion, I thought I would have some hot chocolate. Seemed like a safe alternative. I went to the cafeteria to get some hot water from the machine so that I could mix the hot chocolate powder that I had in my desk with it. I also filled up my ice water while I was in there. When I returned to the area where I work, someone bumped me as I was coming through the door and - yep, you guessed it - the hot water flew out of my hands (NOT the ice water) and spilled on my jeans and the floor. LOL!!!!! God knew I was too lazy (that day) to go back and get more hot water, so I didn't end up having any hot chocolate that afternoon. He's so clever...

This past week, I was heading for the candy/chips aisle at Walmart. I have recently fallen in love with Hersheys' dark chocolate bars. Hey...antioxidants, right?!?!?!? The minis I buy are only a dollar and some change, so they are within the budget and they are manageable portions (that is, if I can stop at one!). Just as I began to make a bee-line for that area of the shelving units, an inventory worker pulled his giant (immovable to the ordinary citizen) cart with boxes on it full of items needing to be stocked on shelves. And yep, you guessed it...he parked directly in front of where the Hersheys dark chocolate bars are.

So, I rebelliously grabbed a box of Whoppers instead, because they were within reach. LOL...I'm soooooo bad....

Last night, I stopped by Walmart again and while I am trying to be disciplined with the candy bars thing, I decided that chocolate pudding is acceptable. When I got to the bakery aisle - yep, you guessed it again - there was a shopping cart full of merchandise situated directly in front of where the chocolate pudding was! I had to laugh...as I moved the cart and grabbed the pudding and ran!!! Ha ha ha ha!

As I have grown (and will be forever growing) in my personal relationship with Jesus, I enjoy the humor in things like this. As a kid, I always viewed Jesus as this big "force" somewhere out in the universe, and I firmly believed that He was way too busy to deal with me and my issues. But as I discover things like He cares about how much chocolate and sugar I'm consuming, I become more and more enamoured by Him and His personal touch.

After all, He knitted us together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) so this is proof -from the very beginning - that He wants to be intimately involved in our lives. In fact, He already is, but are we on board with it? Are we engaging with Him from a personal standpoint? Are we discussing life's struggles with Him honestly, or are we somehow keeping our distance by just going to church every week and reciting creeds like robots?

I passionately encourage you - right this minute - to let Him into your heart. It's more than just believing in Him and the fact that He died on the cross for our sins. And it's certainly more than church attendance.

He wants to be your best friend. Won't you let Him?

P.S. Please pray for me to continue getting better at cutting back on sugar in general, sweets, and especially chocolate! Be encouraged to know that I am making progress, though. It's just slow progress!