Here on the Pacific Coast we have these 10 pound clam-things living in the sand by the shore. Their name is spelled "geoduck" but it's pronounced "gooey-duck." People love to dig them up. Why? I have no earthly idea.
When I was in gradeschool, my teacher said you can't dig up a geoduck by digging straight down after it. She said it can dig faster than you can. You'd never catch it.
She said you needed to dig a hole adjacent to it, and once you're deeper than the geoduck, you dig under it. At that point it senses danger and begins to dig down...right onto your shovel.
A google search of geoduck hunting methods seems to indicate my teacher was clueless about geoducks, but to her credit, she introduced a concept that was completely counter-intuitive to a chubby-cheeked 4th grader: You can't always obtain things you want by going straight after them.
What about apple farming? (I don't know anything about that either, but why let that stop me?) Seems to me apple farmers want their trees to grow lots of big fruit. Rather than focusing on the little apple buds, I would suppose they spend most of their time NOT worrying about them...but, instead concentrating on things like soil acidity, fertilizer, sunlight, pesticide, water, temperature and humidity.
They know how their trees are wired. If all the requirements for fruit exist...trees being wired the way they are...the fruit will grow. In fact you can argue that if you place an apple tree in the right situation with all the requirements for growth...the tree CAN'T HELP but produce fruit. It's what apple trees do.
Do you suppose that's what Paul the Bible-man was talking about when he listed off the fruits of the spirit? I can't remember them all right now, but some were "joy, peace, goodness, gentleness and self-control."
Take one..."Joy" for instance. Is that one you can chase after and catch? Or, do you think that...like the geoduck...you won‘t chase it down. Do you think that Joy is like an apple that grows if you focus on it alone? Or maybe it appears when that person is in the proper environment with the requirements for joy...whether they focus on it…or not.
My thought is that the Spiritual Losers' Operational Plan (SLOP) is exactly the right manure (so to speak) that's needed for the spiritual fruit to form and grow. It puts us in the right environment so that we are depending on, trusting in, hoping in, and relating to...God.
Take two healthy apple trees and put one in Antarctica and place the other in a healthy Eastern Washington orchard tended by an expert apple farmer. The first tree can't possibly produce any fruit. The second...if tended properly...can't help BUT product lots of fruit.
Take two healthy people and place one apart from God and the other in a healthy, close relationship with God. The first person can't produce any true spiritual fruit, and the second...tended to by God...can't help BUT produce lots of spiritual fruit.
One thing I know that I lack in several areas of my life is confidence. Not having confidence is hurting me. But here’s what I’m NOT going to do about it. I’m not going to worry about it. I’m not going to focus on it. I’m not going to chase after it. I’m not going to "act confident." I’m not going to read positive self-affirmations. And I definitely NOT going to “believe in myself.”
Instead, I’m going to set myself firmly in the SLOP. I’m going to relate to God as much as I can and as best as I can. And I’m going to let God supply me with all my needs.
I also know from a previous post that I want to be a River (giver) and not a Laker (faker). I know how selfish I am and I don’t like it. But I’m not going to visualize me being selfless. I’m not going to put slogans on my bathroom mirror and I’m not going to sing strains of Old Man River. I’m just going to do the SLOP and let God do what God wants.
I believe God knows how I'm wired. I believe that relating with Him as much as possible will be the right environment for me. And like those apples, I believe that I CAN'T HELP but grow into what He wants me to be.
I'll keep you posted.
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