Spilled Milk

Have you ever heard the old saying; "No sense crying over spilled milk"? Well I had an interesting morning the first day of school this week. I wanted to cry over spilled milk! I woke up late and was just beginning my time alone with God when all of the sudden, one of my children went to lift a new gallon of milk out of the refrigerator when it slipped out of his/her hand and landed like a bomb on the floor. The reason I say bomb is because it pretty much exploded all over the kitchen. The refigerator, island, barstools, cubboards, table and oven were all covered with milk. As my child rushed the leaking jug to the sink; the floor, the dishwasher, many more cubboards, and even the window were freshly saturated with milk. I give you this vivid picture of my morning in order to share with you the way the Lord used this experience to get to an issue in my heart.

You see I had plans for my morning, I had things I wanted to get done. Helping to clean up a gallon of spilled milk was not on my agenda. As I was mumbling in my heart,"what a way to start out the day". I was quickly reminded of a verse I had written in my journal just minutes prior to the explosion. It was from Ecclesiates 7:9 "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit for anger resides in the lap of fools." So I was doing my best to not be angry with my child, however I continued grumbling in my heart. Thinking thoughts like, "This isn't how I wanted to start my day especially on the first day of school" and "How am I ever going to get everthing accomplished now?" You can imagine the other thoughts that ran through my mind as well.

After working together to get all the milk wiped up I went back to what I had started a half hour before, my quiet time. (I decided I could mop the floors after my devotions). I was gently reminded by what seem to be a whisper from the Lord, "Maybe this isn't what you had planned for your day, but it is exactly what I had planned for you today!" You see, I had been praying for God to reveal sin in my heart and that is exactly what He did. I had my plans and I didn't want them to be interrupted. I had an adgenda and didn't want it to be "jolted" with an unexpected gallon of spilled milk.

I'm thankful that God graciously brought to the forefront the sinfulness that presides in my heart. The area of pride, thinking I know what is best for me. The idea that I deserve a life of ease, without "spilled milk" interrupting my plans. As I continued in my quiet time the Lord highlighted another verse that spoke volumes to me, found in II Corinthians 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death". I'm grateful that the Lord helped me to see that I needed to repent of the sin of pride that was so evident in my life that morning. His Holy Spirit helped me to have that "godly sorrow" as a result of my sin. I'm thankful that He opened my eyes once again to see my need for a Savior in every moment of my life, especially when there is "spilled milk" along the way!