Accountable.

Putting it mildly will be for me to say, “We got a lot of rain yesterday.”
Yeah.
Therefore, here is where I show you some comparisons.
These pictures were taken Saturday, all with me in a flourish of saying “’Hallelujah,’ it’s spring” (said in a way only a girl who has waited months and months for spring can say)!

Oh yay. Bike rides and cousins.

Perfect little camoflauged Goldfinches.

 

And just because I figured you were curious, this is what "Hallelujah, it's spring!" looks like.

Isn’t spring lovely? Surely God is good.
Then, Sunday morning I woke up and the sky was…orange.
No, not like a gorgeous sunrise-orange, but like when you find a container of food in the back of the fridge and find yourself saying “I-didn’t-know-mold-came-in-that-color” kind of orange.
Yeah. I was a little creeped out considering that it was painting all the light both inside and outside of my house that color.
Yikes.

Anywho. The orange went away but then it got all hot and muggy, which, for those of you who don’t live in summer storm areas should be told, that means you are going to get storms. Big storms.

Herein lies where I show you pictures of what I am talking about.
Case in point #1: When the clouds are not moving in the same direction as the wind, that’s a bad sign.

 

 Then you typically hear sirens going off from towns ten miles away. That means, “Get to the basement, a tornado is coming.” Which, if you are new to this, you get to the basement, but not before opening the door and looking to see the monster coming to rip your house apart.

This is what you look like in thinking that your home might be destroyed. Because really, what else are you going to do? You can’t stop it from happening. It’s either going to, or it’s not. Some things in life are not in your control.

Then, when your house doesn’t get destroyed by a tornado, usually it is now in danger of being destroyed by flash floods.

Caused by rain like this:

 

Um, I think we got like 5 or 6 inches of rain in something less than two hours.
Oh, and do you remember that cute little creek I showed you from Saturday night? It’s not so cute anymore.

 

In July it won’t even be there (because where I live, it doesn’t rain the entire month of July. Like ever. Which makes July miserable, btw.).

Then, the storm will stop and you will be left with really black clouds and really green trees.

 

Finally followed by round two of the whole thing. And then all that wants to come today, too.
And don’t forget the hail!! That comes intermittently, too.

Why I am telling you the anatomy of a storm?

Because while my cousin and I were watching out the windows, all I could think as I looked around and saw lakes that had been fields not two hours before was, “I am so glad I don’t have to direct this water…”

Can you imagine? What if you were the one who had to tell the water where to go? And it was your responsibility to decide which roads you were going to to wash out and which bridges you were going to collapse and which houses would be without power for days.

Have you ever stopped to think that God decides those things?
That might make some of you mad (because, for whatever reason, you are already angry with God about something), having him decide what “calamities” to place where.
But remember, God is good, and what he does is good (Psalm 119:68).

It’s not as if he is a “whatever-will-be-will-be” kind of God. No. He knows why he does things. He has plans those things are accomplishing. He doesn’t ever do something just to do it. There IS a reason—even if that reason isn’t directly YOU.

So back to the question. Can you imagine if you were the one who had to direct all that water and all that weather?

I can’t. Even in my overactive imagination I cannot comprehend what it is like to, really, when it comes down to it, know how to be responsible for big things.
Aren’t you so very glad then, that he only makes you responsible for what he has given you?
And nothing else?
Sometimes we try to take responsibility for that which we are not responsible, but no—that never really goes well, does it?

All this being said, sometimes I think I must be a complete moron because, while I can understand such theological concepts as Substitutionary Atonement, the elementary principles such as “God will provide,” or “God is good,” or “God created everything,” seem to boggle my mind and I can’t get my lifestyle to line up with these truths.

What am I talking about?

The last one.
“God created everything.”
It’s easy to look at storms like last night and beautiful spring evenings like Saturday and go, “Yeah, duh. This didn’t just happen. Only God can do this. Only he is big enough to handle and created and be responsible for this.”
Big things it is easy to credit him with.
But what about all that other stuff? The little day in, day out kind of things. Did he create those, too?

In my Bible study with the little girlies I have been harping on them about accountability, and how they will be held accountable for the things God has given them. Be it talents, gifts, family, jobs, money, looks, houses, properties, intellect, athleticism, poise, influence, presence, whatever—they will be held accountable for how you used it.

Stemming from passages in Luke that I have been devouring and feeling very convicted by, the parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16), the talk on watchfulness (Luke 12:35-48), the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-27)—{Go read them all}, there is this theme that Jesus says over and over again of “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).

God will hold you accountable for the things he gave you the responsibility of.

Period. You can’t get over that fact in the gospel of Luke (and other places, too, obviously).

A fault of mine has been for the longest time thinking of this in terms of those big things. Some responsibilities are obvious (I especially think of being a parent. Your child’s eternity starts in your hands first—wow, or if you are married what a HUGE responsibility you have to the nurturing, protecting, and caring for of your spouse {i.e. your closest neighbor, your constant ministry}), but what about all those little things that I seem to fail to remember God created?

And I know I am pushing the envelope on this, but, in my defense, I don’t have kids or a husband I am responsible to (I do have sibling and parents and friends, etc. though, which I know I will be called to give an account of my interactions with them), so I have some time to think about the little things.

Which little things?
Well, if I am being honest, I roll around questions in my mind of, Does God have an opinion on the foods I eat? The books I read? The clothes I wear? The music I listen to? The things I create? The gardens I grow? The foods I cook?

Yeah. No joke. I am plagued by thoughts of this. Which, I don’t know how much I recommend thinking these things because it can make you go crazy…and then you start judging every motive you have…and then you start taking three times as long getting ready in the morning. Gag.

But seriously.
He created all things, right? And when I say all things, I mean ALL THINGS. Because, oh that’s right! Colossians says it, too (1:16-17): “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
It say “All things” 4 times in two short verses, fyi. Then, as if once was not enough, it describes what “all things” are. Heaven, earth, visible—don’t forget the invisible!—all powers, kings, authorities.
All things. Oh, and not only were they created BY him, they were created FOR him.

Yeah. So I’m not crazy in thinking these things, I promise myself.

Here in lies the danger for me. I can let these things become a higher law. A law unto itself which I pay more attention to than “Love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Which, for the record, there is no law above that.

But I tend to want to make one.
So, in your thinking about these things, guard against that. Just a note of caution.

I would stop my argument/thought process here, but I am haunted by Luke again. From whom much has been given much will be demanded.

See, I have said it before and I say it again now: I possess things I never asked to possess. Gifts, talents, abilities, personality, blessing, etc. Which, if thought about long and hard can mean but one thing:

I am to use them for God (I Peter 4:10).
My life is not my own. I recognize that. I call Jesus “Lord”and that means something.

I guess what I am getting at is I want to be found as a faithful steward when I will be called to give an account. Does that make sense?

And not just a faithful steward of all those “big things,” but of ALL THINGS. All those things I have that I didn’t ask for. All those things I have that He wants me to use for Him. All those things I see every day but have maybe never thought about before. Until now. Until a rain storm made me realize that I am not responsible for commanding storms, but I am responsible for what I have been given.
Nothing more—and maybe more importantly, nothing less.