A Bucket...

Ever feel like a bucket?

A nice big storage device used to hold everyone’s stuff that needs to be carried around. We are tied to the end of our rope, constantly being let up and down by the pulley of life (Corny line …. I know).

You ever wonder why life is full of its up’s and down’s? 

How many times have we hoped, dreamed, and wished for the simple act of consistency? Why can’t I live about mid-way between the mountaintop and the valley? That way, I’ll never be too high or too low.

Sailboat
Fells Point (Baltimore, MD)

If you plan on making a difference in this world though, you are never going to stay in one spot long enough to get comfortable. And if you are really doing life, some of it is spent on top and…well (no pun intended), you know where the other times lead.

This is where I begin to really feel like a bucket dangling from its rope…when I’m being let up and down into a well. This is where it is imperative that we gain an understanding that our lives must have moments where we are lowered in order to be refilled again.
The reasons are many:
* Anyone can become dry in this world we live in.
* Life can become so overwhelming that we settle into comfort mode, just existing instead of really living.
* We can get so caught up in giving to others, that we eventually begin running on reserve because we don’t take the time to fill our tank back up to the point of overflowing.

Even Jesus had to step back from ministry and rest. Even He had to humble Himself. He went through moments of utter agony in order to be an overflowing ‘well’ of hope to this world.

S. Broadway St.
(Baltimore, MD)

So you see, being the bucket is not such a bad thing. We just have to be willing to endure the trip down in order to be filled to serve our God-designed purpose to our world.  

Our ‘bucket existence’ should be faced with joy.

Isaiah 12:2-4  (NLT)
2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Don’t worry if you feel like you’re in a downward spiral…you are just a bucket that needs refilling, not only for your own sake, but for the sake of those you influence. Put God in charge of your rope, and face wherever you are with joy.