Have you ever been so happy about something and equally sad at the same time?  Well, here is my story.

I have a shampoo bottle that was purchased a few years ago.  It is a refillable bottle.  Every month or so, I would refill the bottle with shampoo from a big bag.

I would screw open the nozzle and pour the shampoo into the little hole on top, but it was so hard to get it all in without spilling. I had to carefully hold the bottle and squeeze the bag at the same time. I hated the chore every time.

Then, it happened. One day I accidentally dropped the bottle, and behold, the whole top came off!  I thought I had broken it but no, it was supposed to open like that.  I was so happy because I knew that my refilling job would be a snap from then on.  But I felt terrible that I had not realized this for years!!

Life can be like that.  We know that God’s grace is there to help us, but we feel like we have to work hard to change ourselves.  And sometimes, even when we pray and try to balance our lives to please God, we just cannot get things quite right.

Then something happens.  We realize that the only thing needed is to open one’s heart wide, to simply be vulnerable to God and to people.  We discover the opening in our own heart that God wants to fill.

I met Jesus when I was very young.  But for the longest time I thought that Jesus was there only to save me from sin. But it was up to me to try to change who I am. By my own efforts I tried to become a decent human being.

God allowed shaking in my life until I thought I was broken, yet He knew what He was doing.  He helped me see that there is a big opening in my heart and it is there so that He can pour His life in me.

for while bodily training is of some value,
godliness is of value in every way,
as it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:8 

So my encouragement to you today is this.

Let Him show you the big lid in your heart. Don’t keep trying to squeeze God in on your own. We sometimes don’t even know what it means to open our hearts.  He does.

Trust Him to give all that you need. He will not take advantage of you. He wants you to have a more fulfilled and fruitful life.

Trust the people He gives you and know that it’s OK to be vulnerable.

Don’t wait another day unless you want to waste your life taking the hard way.