Matthew 14:31b. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
I could hear the beeping before I even entered the barn door. I somberly followed the tolling of the death knell until I stood in front of the big white box. Handshaking I lifted the lid. Cool air caressed my face as I peered into the deep recess, but it did nothing to raise my hopes. My fears were confirmed as I reached in and touched the squishy packages that dripped red tears into the pool of blood forming at the bottom of the box. My deep freezer had died!
With my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach I stumbled back to the house wondering if anyone may have noticed when the electricity had gone out. The air was still cool and maybe it was not too late to save some of the still solid pieces of meat on the bottom of the freezer.
“Oh yeah, I noticed that the outlet wasn’t working on Saturday, Mom, but I forgot about it until today when I reset the outlet.” This was Tuesday and all I could think was, “Are you kidding me? How could you forget to tell me that all our meat might be rotting away!”
Upon further investigation, I noticed that there was still a bag of ice intact on the floor of the freezer so I crossed my fingers and decided to keep the items on the bottom, but the thawed packages in the hanging baskets would have to go. I sadly loaded them in black bags and laid them to rest at Grandma’s house where the garbage was due to be picked up the next day.
For the next couple of days, I felt very down and depressed. What a waste and disappointment! But in the midst of my sadness, I heard a small still voice whisper in my ear, “Sandy, you prayed about this.””I did,” I answered.
“Remember, you asked me to help you declutter things in the house? You have had the meat you threw away in the freezer for a few years. You never ate it because it was mostly liver, a cow’s tongue, and a cow’s heart. The chickens and steak at the bottom were still frozen.”
“Wow! You are right. Sorry for my unbelief, Lord. I’ll do better next time.”
How many times do we pray and talk to God about things that are bothering us? We ask Him to do things for us or to help us, but when He comes through with answers we either miss them or misunderstand His ways. God cares about the details of our lives as well as the big things. He wants us to have a relationship with Him in which we share everything we are struggling with – even cluttered houses. But when you open yourself up to Him, be ready for answers, big and small.
My freezer is less cluttered now. I can even find the items on the bottom. Why did I have so little faith? Why did I doubt? Rest in peace as you bring all your cares and concerns to the One who loves you enough even to help you clean out your freezer.
