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Faith Imagined: Granola Bar Devotional - Zipper

Faith Imagined

Alisa Hope Wagner: Christian Writer

February 1, 2010

Granola Bar Devotional - Zipper

Here is my latest Granola Bar Devotional. If you are interested in writing a devotional, please come check out our Info Page. You do not have to be a writer to submit; you just have to be willing to share what God is doing in your life!

As I watched my five year old son try to zip up his jacket, I grew impatient. I had all the kids ready to get into the car, but he was holding up our exit. We were in our third minute of waiting when I asked, “Can I please zip it for you?”

He kept his focus on his jacket and replied, “No. I want to do it by myself.” He was having trouble connecting the jacket zipper on the bottom, and I was tempted to just do that for him and let him zip it the rest of the way. But before I could reach down to help him, I had a flashback of my childhood.

I distinctly remembered one morning when I was determined to zip up my own jacket. I saw myself standing in the hallway of my childhood home concentrating solely on that zipper. I don’t remember how long it took me, but I know I was there for a while. I wouldn’t budge until I figured it out!

Many times as Christians, we forget about the struggles we went through to gain the wisdom and skills that God desired for us. We see others who are smack-dab in the middle of a God-ordained teaching season, and we become impatient with them. We see them struggling in an area that we have found victory, and we ridicule them or make them feel guilty. We become impatient and try to take over their valuable learning lesson.

Even worse, we experience a “holier-than-thou” attitude and think that somehow we have “arrived” spiritually. The truth of the matter is, however, we are all designed uniquely and have different backgrounds/upbringings that God is shaping and molding according to His timeline.

Each of us will be held-up in a learning season during anointed moments on our path toward heaven. If we would simply decide to extend each other the grace that Christ extends us, we would become holy cheerleaders instead of jeering opponents. Let us remember that we are all fools that God has made wise.

Memory Verse:
“Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
- Proverbs 26:12 (NIV)

Prayer Prompt:
“Father, help me to be patient with those around me. Don’t ever let me forget that I am a fool without You. Show me how to offer grace to others and to myself when we are struggling with an area of our lives. Bring any one to mind that I have condemned unjustly because of my lack of mercy and grace, including . . .”

Contributing Writer:
Alisa Hope Wagner


* This Friday is First Friday Fiction! Make sure to post your fiction piece on baptism and send us the link before or on this Friday! We can't wait to see your imagination muscles at work! Also, please don't feel intimidated, insecure or apprehensive about submitting your work. There is joy in taking a step of faith for God, and He will bless your efforts. We want this writing group to be your fun monthly push out of your comfort zone!


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15 Comments:

Blogger Holly said...

Your story is poignant, relevant, and it stepped on my emotional toes.

I feel both humbled and guilty in reading these words. How many "zippers" did I rush to do, getting in the way of God's design for the lessons learned in the struggle?

The Lord immediately brought the people to mind that I have done this with. Oh God forgive me!

"Please, please remind me Lord, that when I want to play 'mother' to others, that the only zipper I need to worry about is the one that needs closing over my mouth."

Oh how I long to say I'm mature in the Lord, but somewhere along the lines, I feel I'm still such a preschooler. Old enough to learn, but immature enough to lord it over another. *sigh*

8:42 PM  
Blogger Karen Lange said...

How true this is. But for the grace of God...

Thanks for a wonderful post.
Blessings,
Karen

9:46 PM  
Blogger Amy said...

Another hit out of the park...LOVE this. There are so many times I want to be the mommy to swoop in and rescue. Not just my kid's problems, but others around me too. I so needed this :)
Blessings,
Amy

9:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Proverbs 26:12 is a great reminder to all of us who call Jesus our Lord to acknowledge that wisdom comes from God.

God bless you, Ron

8:11 AM  
Blogger Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Such a great reminder! Sometimes it seems easier for us to swoop in and do something just to save time, but that's not always the loving, graceful thing to do.

8:32 AM  
Blogger Beth Herring said...

It always amazes me, the simple lessons we learn in our everyday existence. God teaches us through the things that we would overlook without His promptint Spirit.

In Him,
Beth

11:32 AM  
Blogger Sierra said...

So glad that you are observant of what God is teaching you, even through your little man! :)

1:54 PM  
Blogger Tonya Ingram said...

Conviction hurts! But grace is beautiful. Thanks for this timely devotional. I need to be constantly reminded with everyone in my life, especially my sweet boys, the value of patience! I am a fool without you Lord.

2:33 PM  
Blogger Dionna said...

Awesome reminder.

2:52 PM  
Blogger Debbie said...

Wonderful point. More and more I can see the correlation between my relationship with my kids and God's relationship with me.

8:25 PM  
Blogger Annointed Beauty said...

Alisaaaaaaa..... that devotional hit home. That was powerful. I will start letting others zip their own zippers especially in ministry. It is so hard to wait on others when you are fired up and ready to go for Jesus. However, had it not been for God I'd still be fighting with my zipper. Nice one!

Rachel @ Break-Free

7:48 AM  
Blogger Debra@CommonGround said...

Hi Alisa, such a wise thought here. I'm sure as a parent I made that mistake way too many times. I used to want to "fix" everyone, and it's hard to let someone alone so God can do His job; a much better job than I could ever do!
Thanks for the reminder!
Debra

9:17 AM  
Blogger Test said...

Thank you for the reminder. It was what I needed to hear today.

12:30 PM  
Blogger Tracy said...

That is so interesting. Today, I sat with my mentor about a similar situation and she said, "We do not give burdens to children that they cannot understand because they cannot bear that". We should not get frustrated with other people growing up in the Lord. Everything comes in due time.

Thank you for your writing, as always!

6:23 PM  
Blogger Bernadine said...

Love this post Alisa, I'm thinking that your son's determination to do it himself is a compliment to you. He'd learned his lesson and was desirous of putting it into practice and becoming more independent. I think I can probably learn a lesson or two from him.

6:29 PM  

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