I am the sink.

24 hours ago, I was totally undone.

It was Monday night.  I'd been fighting my drippy sink off and on for about 30 hours, with the help of my good friend William.  Three trips to the hardware store, who knows how many little O-rings later, and I was no further than when I started.

Now, you have to understand, I've become sort of medium-handy around the house. 

• I'm well acquainted with minor plumbing repair.
• I can do basic electrical if I have to. 
• I can deal with washer, dryer and dishwasher issues without help.
• I repair kids bikes.  ( adult bikes are not in my repertoire, just ask Jenn... )

When I looked up faucet repair, all the trustworthy sources and tutorials said this was the easiest of home repair tasks.  Confident in my growing home improvement-fu, I decided to knock it out on Sunday afternoon.  30 hours later, I was reduced to a shell of a man.

 

My frustration wasn't all about home repair.  Really, it was about all the major side projects that I'm working on.  Jesus says I can do it.  I feel helpless and out of control.  So when I plan to quickly fix my sink, if it doesn't work out, I'm immediately in crisis, cause I'm now behind - or so I feel. 

Jesus says that I am to lean on Him in these projects.  He wants to be my friend...He asks me to let Him call the shots, and let Him bear the burden.  I've got work to do, but somehow, He wants to bear me up in this. 

Apparently, this season isn't about working hard.  It's not about discipline, it's about walking in your gifts, and in the favor of God.

I hear you amen-ing out there.  That's all very easy to talk about, but hard to walk.  I'm constantly finding myself back in fear and anxiety over this stuff.

Well, after my failure to progress in plumbing 101, I was in full anxiety.  Angry, depressed, mad at God, afraid of failure, curled up in a ball.  Completely non-functional, and totally not about the sink at all.

I asked Jenn to listen with me, to see if Jesus wanted to talk with us about anything.  We listen for a minute, and here's what she says to me:

'You know that african violet that just started blooming on the counter in our bathroom?  Jesus says that's me.  And He says that you're the sink.'

What?  I'm the SINK?  The drippy, unfixable, permanently broken and hopeless SINK? 

I told her that prophecy was supposed to be comforting and edifying, and she clearly wasn't hearing the Lord on this one.  So He said it again to her.

Now that's just mean - talk about kicking a guy while he's down. Tell me I'm the SINK! Now you can add MAD! to my list of swirling emotions.

So I process all this a little more, and make a satisfactory truce with my emotions and with Him over the fact that He's in control and I'm not...and Jenn agrees to call the plumber in the morning.

Well, after Tuesday AM prayer at Glory of Zion, William and Marcus ( my brother in law ) decide over breakfast that they're going to replace the sink.  Apparently Marcus keeps really nice white porcelain sinks in his backyard in case Holy Spirit gives him the unction to suddenly install them.  Which is what happened.

So by noon today, I had a brand new sink.  It fit the hole in the counter, and everything worked out really really fine, really really fast. 

Seems I need object lessons to reinforce what God is doing in me ( and the Body at large, I would bet )  I was totally undone over a hopeless situation, little though it was.  Ready to give up and call the plumber.  Did everything I knew how to do...and was totally ineffectual.

Then the Lord surrounded me with the two guys in my life that love me the most, fixed my problem ( well, almost - still a little more to deal with... ) and gave me a new sink, faucet, garbage disposal and arrangement of pipes. 

So I'm the sink.  In a matter of a few hours - overnight, even - He says I'm going to be different, better and new.  And it won't happen because I was able to work it out or make it happen.

I guess Jenn heard right.