Category: Christian Allegory

Unexpected Influences

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

“Ready, Mommy?” My toddler called from her car seat.

I twisted in the passenger seat to see her. “Ready for what?”

“Ready for me to put my sunglasses on?” She held her sunglasses poised above her head, ready to be put on.

Amused, I glanced at my husband who was driving. “Okay, I’m ready for you to put your sunglasses on.”

Slowly, and with great emphasis, my toddler pulled her pink sunglasses down over her eyes and settled them in place.

“I have my sunglasses!”

I smiled. “Yes. You put them on. Very good.”

I was slightly puzzled at her wanting my attention when putting on her sunglasses, but toddlers sometimes do things that don’t make sense to me. I didn’t dwell on it.

Turning back towards the front of the vehicle, I resumed my conversation with my husband.

This event repeated itself several times over the course of a few months. I still didn’t think much of it, until my husband made an observation.

“It’s because of the babies wearing glasses videos she’s watched.” He pointed out.

I immediately saw the truth in his statement.

We don’t watch many videos or TV shows at this point, but from time to time, I will watch YouTube videos with her. Her absolute favourite, which she often requests, is “babies wearing glasses videos”.

“Babies wearing glasses videos”, as she termed them, are short videos of babies or toddlers, who have vision challenges, trying glasses on. Typically they have huge smiles as they get to see clearly for the first time. Family members cheer and exclaim adoringly as the little one takes in the world.

It was in mimicking these little ones that my toddler was insisting I watch as she dramatically put on her sunglasses.

I know that what youngsters see has a huge impact on them. Therefore, I am quite particular about what we watch. These “babies wearing sunglasses” videos seemed harmless and cute. Other than being wary that she might try putting her sunglasses on her baby brother, I hadn’t expected them to influence her much.

Yet here she was, clearly repeating what she’d observed.

What about me? Is there something seemingly benign and unimpactful that is influencing me?

Most likely yes.

Peers, TV, books, social media, church, friend circles… They all influence me whether I know it or not.

I am instructed to imitate what is good, not what is evil (3 John 1:11).

The writer of Hebrews tells me, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Hebrews 6:12 NIV)

Then later, in Hebrews 13:7, he says, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” (NIV)

So what about my life? Who or what has influenced me?

Are there any things or people that may be influencing me towards ungodly and unhealthy attitudes or lifestyles? How can I minimise those?

On the flip side, how can I increase the good and beneficial influences on my life?

May I be intentional about who and what I imitate with the ultimate goal of imitating Jesus.

For Granted Flush

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

I reached for the doorknob, grateful to be home. It had been a pleasant outing, but there is no place like home.

Unlocking the door, I stepped inside, then wrinkled my nose. Something stunk!

My toddler followed me in and, a minute later, my husband entered carrying our baby in his bucket seat.

He sniffed and looked at me.

I shook my head. “It stinks in here.”

My husband set our baby down and moved to untie his shoes. “What’s making it smell so bad?”

I shrugged out of my light jacket. “Don’t know. Maybe we have a mold problem? Or a dead rodent?”

“Maybe we should get our furnace cleaned.”

“Yes. We might have to. This stink has been around for a while.”

As we stepped into the living room, I glanced at my husband. “Can you watch the kids while I go to the bathroom?”

Our two year old was already pulling out the paper and crayons. “Colour with me, Daddy.”

My husband began unbuckling our baby. “Yup. I’ll watch them.”

“Thanks!”

I headed for the bathroom. As I entered, I took a deep breath.

At least our bathroom didn’t stink anymore!

We had been under water restrictions for the past month during which our city urged everyone to conserve water wherever possible. This included a direct request to not flush toilets unless absolutely necessary. We were warned that non-compliance could result in a boil water advisory for everyone until they could flush the systems out in the Spring.

We certainly did not want that!

As we did our best to use less water. We quickly discovered why outhouses used to be outside the house… Without flushing every time, our bathroom quickly began to stink and that stench worked its way throughout our house.

Now that the water restrictions had been lifted, we could use water freely again.

What a wonderful thing to be able to flush! My appreciation for flush toilets reached new heights.

As I flipped on the light, I wondered, “Could the bathroom be the source of our entryway stink?”

The bathroom was on a different level of the house, and the stench in the bathroom had cleared up a few days ago. Perhaps, though, the foul air had made its way into the furnace system. The past couple of weeks had been comfortably warm so we hadn’t run our furnace. Now, as autumn drew near, the furnace had run a time or two, circulating whatever air was sitting in its ducts.

Maybe it was time to get the furnace cleaned as my husband had suggested.

Why do I share this smelly story? Because I see a valuable reminder for me in it that perhaps you will appreciate as well.

A flush toilet is one of those things that is taken for granted in my city, as is clean drinking water piped straight to every house.

I hardly think about it. I flush and move on with my day.

What else do I take for granted?

Do I take my family for granted, always assuming they will be there rather than being thankful for them?

Do I take a warm safe place to live for granted? Or the ability to read and write?

The list could go on. There is so much to be thankful for! 

Then my thoughts turn towards my relationship with Jesus? Do I take Him for granted? When was the last time I thanked God for inviting me to come before Him freely in prayer? 

Have I thanked Jesus today for enduring the cross so that I may have life? Or do I take that for granted? 

I was recently reading in the New Testament. In Romans 1:21, Paul talks about those who didn’t glorify God as God. God gave them freedom to follow their own desires and ideas though the end result was suffering.

That’s not all he said in that verse. Not only did these people not glorify God as God, they did not thank Him or show gratitude to Him.

When was the last time I stopped to thank God? Or do I forget to be grateful to Him?

Thanking God is an act of worship.

With Canadian Thanksgiving just past and American Thanksgiving coming soon, may I remember to thank God rather than take Him for granted. He is worthy of all my gratitude.

Here’s one of my favourite songs about thanking God. Do you have a favourite song for thanking God? Share it with us in the comments below.

Water Pipes

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

I jerked awake when an emergency alert sounded from my phone.

Dazed, I reached for my phone as I glanced at the clock. Not yet 7 am.

What could require an emergency alert so early in the morning?

I squinted at my phone: “Critical water supply alert.”

Fully awake by now, I sat up to read the details.

A major water pipe break was affecting my city’s ability to provide water. The alert instructed everyone to cut back water use wherever possible.

Definitely an unexpected shock in a city where an abundance of clean drinking water is taken for granted. Our rivers never run dry. Yet suddenly our tap water was about to run out.

Over the following days, the city provided more specific instructions and information.

Outdoor water use was forbidden. Fines were issued. Voluntary indoor water use reduction was urged.

Don’t shower as often. Only run the dishwasher or laundry machine when it’s full. Use “grey water” to water plants. Don’t flush your toilet unless absolutely necessary.

We joined countless neighbours in turning the tap off while rubbing soap on our hands, and trying to use as little water as possible to boil pasta.

We were shaken by the realization that clean drinking water in our taps is a luxury, not guaranteed.

It became a common sight to see various bowls or plastic containers poised under drain spouts to catch rainwater for backyard gardens.

After several weeks, the pipe was repaired and life returned to normal, yet a question remained for me to ponder.

“What pipes do I rely on?”

Where do I find the umph to keep going? What do I turn to for happiness?

Pipes such as good health, friends, family, financial savings, a good job, or a pet, will eventually break, sometimes without warning.

What will I do then?

I am so thankful that I know of a pipe that will never break. It is the pipe that carries Living Water.

May Jesus be my source and my umph to keep going. He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5b-6)

Here’s a song that reminds me to ground my life in Jesus.

Build My Life by House Fires

Clogged Drains

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

I ignored the flash of lightning and tried to hide my concern about the heavy pattering of rain as I helped my toddler into her pajamas.

My husband headed downstairs to check how the drain in our driveway was doing. He returned with good news. The drain was keeping up with the rain. No sign of flooding.

Cheerfully, my husband proceeded with our toddler’s bedtime routine while I prepared to settle our baby for the night.

Once our toddler was in bed, my husband decided to check the drain again. His return wasn’t so quick this time.

Instead of hearing his footsteps coming, my phone buzzed. He had sent me a video.

It was a 3 second video of water flowing over the doormat just outside our door.

That’s not good!

My phone buzzed again.

This time it was a photo of water beginning to seep under our garage door.

I hurried to finish putting the baby down.

Before I finished, my husband came in.

“I pulled the drain cover off. It’s working now.” He crossed the room.

“Good!” I replied.

“The next door neighbours opened their door at the same time,” he continued. “They swept off their drain. It’s working now as well.”

He reached for his flashlight.

“The main drain on the street is backing up. If it doesn’t get moving, it’ll flood soon and then our drain won’t be able to keep up.”

“Uh oh.”

“I’m going back out.”

“Okay. I’ll come too.”

By the time I got downstairs (baby monitor in hand), my husband had pulled on rubber boots and a raincoat and was heading outside with a broom.

I followed suit.

When I got outside, I spotted my husband standing some distance away on another neighbour’s driveway. The lightning had moved on, but the rain still poured down.

I glanced at our drain. It was keeping up, but the water on the road was nearing the brink. Soon it might overflow to our little drain. Then what?

I watched my husband gesturing. Evidently he could see the neighbour through the window.

From where I stood, I could see why this neighbour hadn’t opened their door. A lake of water, deeper than their doorstep, pressed against their door.

Something must be wrong with their drain.

Spotting me, my husband came over.

“He already has his drain cover off, but it’s still not working. He’s mopping inside his door.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Not really since his drain isn’t working.”

Gesturing toward the growing pond on the road, my husband continued.

“I tried to get the main drain going. I stuck the broom handle down as far as it could reach, but there was nothing. The jam must be further down, or the volume of water is simply too much for the drainage system. If it gets much higher, we’ll be in trouble.”

Just then, a car drove by. The wave it caused in the pool crested over the edge of our driveway and down towards our drain. Thankfully it was a small wave.

We spotted yet another neighbour staring at his driveway drain from a distance. We walked over.

Evidently he’d used the door on the other side of his house to get out. The pool on his driveway was several inches up his front door and his garage door.

My husband offered to try to help.

The man shrugged. “You can try, but I don’t think anything will help. I have an inch of water in my garage already.”

My husband poked at the drain with the broom handle to no avail.

We stood chatting with the man as we helplessly watched the pool of water.

Eventually we noticed that the water line was receding slowly, very slowly.

I glanced back at the road. That puddle, too, was draining away.

Our property had weathered the storm sufficiently, unlike some of our neighbours who now had to deal with clean up and repairs. The question on our minds was “How can we prepare now to make sure our home isn’t the one flooding next time.”

It wasn’t until nearly a week later, as I was praying about which allegory to write, that I noticed the lesson for me.

When I think of the rain as all the wear and tear of life, and the drain as my ability to pass those burdens to the Lord, the story holds a significant reminder.

God has invited me to cast all my cares upon Him. No, that’s not the right way to put it. “Invited” is too soft a word for it. I am instructed to cast my cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7).

Am I casting my cares upon the Lord?

In the light rain shower of day-to-day life, only a small amount of water reaches my drain. If my drain (my ability to cast my cares upon Jesus) is slow, but existent, I can handle the small day-to-day trials without getting backed up or overwhelmed.

Even if my drain were totally clogged, the small puddle would dry up when the sun comes out and no one would know the difference.

The real test comes when a storm hits. Can my drain handle the huge volume of rain that gushes towards it? Or does a lake form, seeping into my home and thus causing damage.

In such a situation, sandbags could temporarily help. I could protect myself from water damage, but sandbags would also block the use of my door. I’d be cutting myself off from the good as well as the harm.

Indeed, even two weeks after the aforementioned storm, as I walked by my neighbour’s house, I noticed sandbags piled against her door. This rendered the door impassable, though the day was warm and sunny.

I don’t want to rely on sandbags to hold the water out. I want my drain to work so that I can give my burdens to Jesus.

Is there anything I can do now to help prepare for the storms of life that will undoubtedly come?

Yes.

For our driveway drain, keeping the area swept clean from debris – pinecones, flower petals, leaves, and so on – helps keep it from clogging.

Perhaps this symbolizes keeping my life free from sin (no matter how seemingly small) and grounded in the truth of God’s Word.

Sharing times of fellowship with other Christians certainly helps as well. We hadn’t known that we ought to sweep our driveway or that our drain cover could be removed until we observed a neighbour tending to his drain.

Sometimes, however, there is a deep underlying problem in my ability to cast my cares upon Jesus. In such cases, seeking help from a pastor, Christian counsellor, or other mature Christian may be needed.

This parallels the situation for my neighbours whose driveways flooded. A couple of days after the storm, I spotted a plumber assessing their clogged drains. Their clog was too big for them to fix on their own.

Oh, that I may learn to keep my drain functioning well so that when the storm comes, I may say with David:

“The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.

Therefore my heart celebrates,

and I give thanks to Him with my song.”

Psalm 28:7 CSB

 

 

If you would like a real-life example of what this looks like, I highly recommend the book: “Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret” by Dr. Howard Taylor and Geraldine Taylor. It is available as a paperback, an audiobook, or on Kindle.

Water Displacement

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Having used the toilet, I pulled the lever to flush, but nothing happened. There was no tension on the lever.

I frowned. Something was evidently wrong with the toilet. Not a fun problem, and in a house we’d only recently moved into.

With a sigh, I closed the toilet seat lid and lifted the top off the tank.

I peered in, frowned, then looked again. Something was in the toilet tank.

What was a small plastic jug doing in the toilet tank?

I looked closer at the plastic jug, its lid barely above the water line. It looked like a familiar shape.

Hesitantly, I reached into the cold water and pulled out… apple cider vinegar?

Who puts a full jug of apple cider vinegar in their toilet tank? 

Various theories rushed through my mind – as an author, I can come up with some pretty wild ideas.

Was the previous owner hiding something? Perhaps drugs or something valuable? Did they leave it behind accidentally when they moved?

Yet the container appeared to be still full of apple cider vinegar – likely never opened.

The previous people in this house were respectable and smart. Perhaps there was some other reason? A logical helpful reason rather than something sinister.

I spotted the problem I had originally opened the tank for – a break in the chain causing the failure to flush. Based on the rusted safety pin at the end of the chain, it had broken and been fixed before.

Reaching in, I pulled the chain to complete the flush.

When my husband returned from work, I wasted little time before telling him about the toilet troubles and my discovery.

After taking a look, we decided to check our other similar toilet tank.

Sure enough, it also had something in it but this time it was two standard plastic water bottles filled with sand.

My husband, who is very intelligent, suggested right away that the previous people may have added them to displace some of the water in these large, not-so-water-efficient, toilets.

For those unfamiliar with how this type of toilet functions, here’s a quick toilet 101.

The tank on the back of the toilet sits full of water. When you press the lever to flush, a release valve is opened and all the water rushes into the toilet bowl washing away whatever is there. Once the water has left the tank, the release valve closes allowing the tank to refill with water.

This particular toilet had a large water tank – larger than it needed. Therefore, the previous people had added a jug of apple cider vinegar into the tank to displace some of the water. This allowed the tank to reach “full” without using as much water.

To the untrained eye, the toilet still flushed effectively. However, it was conserving water – a helpful thing for both our city’s water supply and our utility bill.

It wasn’t until a few months later that it occurred to me that this toilet held an important allegory for me to learn from.

Although in the story above, the apple cider vinegar was a good, simple, and inexpensive improvement to the toilet, in my life an apple cider vinegar jug displacing the living water is a bad thing. Let me explain.

Jesus taught the crowds about living water in John 7:37b-39a:

“Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”‘ Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive…” (ESV)

I don’t know about you, but I want this living water in my life and overflowing out of me. I want to be filled with it fully. I don’t want something displacing part of the living water that could otherwise flow through me.

Sure, when there is displacement in my life, it may still appear the same on the outside to the untrained eye, but the power and effectiveness will be decreased.

I want to be fully effective in the ministries God has given me. That is only possible when fully filled with the living water so that it may flow through me.

So, what does the apple cider vinegar jug represent in me? Unless I stop and take a look inside, I’ll never know. I probably won’t even realize there is a jug displacing the living water in me at all!

Rather, I must ask God to reveal this jug to me. Often He does so through prayer, study of the Bible, and fellowship with other Christians.

As I went to write this allegory, I took a moment to pray asking God to reveal my jug of apple cider vinegar. As I did so, I added “but please don’t reveal it to me through trial and hardship.”

That right there was my answer. My love of ease and comfort is the apple cider vinegar jug that is displacing some of the living water in me.

With God’s help, I will be able to remove this jug from my life.

Then it will be time to ask Him if there is another jug displacing the living water within me.

What about you? Will you dare to take a moment to ask God if there is a jug of apple cider vinegar displacing His living water in you?

As David wrote:

“Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my concerns.

See if there is any offensive way in me;

lead me in the everlasting way.”

(Psalm 139:23-24 CSB)