Making It All Fit...

Often times I find myself so consumed with "stuff" that it seems God is simply not listening when I pray... Ever been there? When the bills are due, the car needs serviced, the laundry needs to be done, the work duties completed, pick-up my nephew from school, prepare dinner, visit with the family, etc., then try and squeeze in some prayer time and bible reading just before bed! Isn't that the way we live our lives? This agenda just doesn't seem to work and/or it leaves me SO exhausted that by the time I start my prayer, after the, "Dear Lord, I pray..." I am waking up to discover that I nodded off! If we are totally honest, we rarely give God even a tenth of our lives as a whole! However, when the tests and trials of life seem to surmount, God is the first thing that comes to mind!! So, I wanted to share a visual description with you that I heard a few years back, and I hope that this will help you to put life into perspective order! I have tried it myself and it really works!! Here it goes...

Imagine if you took a water pitcher:
1) Place about 3 or 4 large rocks inside of it.
2) Now, pour in some small gravels. They will fall into all the open spaces to make the volume of the container appear full then, huh?
3) Then, get some sand. It's granules are so tiny that you could shake the pitcher a little and get quite a bit of sand between the gravel and the rocks! Now the pitcher is filled!! Wait, not so fast!
4) Lastly, (just when you thought you couldn't get anything else to fit), you can take a glass of water and as you pour the water into the pitcher it will press away the air bubbles left from the sand and fill them up making the container finally completely FULL, yet contained without overflowing!!!

If you tried this illustration, literally, then way to go! However, you can take the same pitcher and try these steps backwards. What happens? It doesn't work! The contents spill over the edge! The only way to get all of the objects and substances to fit, you have to put the large rocks into the container first! WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH LIFE? Okay, I will tell you! Your life is symbolized by the water pitcher. The large rocks represent God. All of the other things can be the important things that you have to get done. If we start our day, first and foremost with God, then there is always room for the other "stuff" to fit!! It may be a full day, but it will all fit! However, when you try to put the "stuff" first (the water, sand and gravel) and then try to squeeze God in last (the big rocks) the contents overflow!!!!! Strange analogy, but I think God designed it that way! If you put Him first in your everyday life, then you will find that there is ALWAYS enough room left to fit the "STUFF"!