Do I buy handle-tie trash bags, though? No. Will I ever buy them again? No. Tying a regular trashbag has now become an act of worship in my life. I don't think I could buy the others if my life depended on it.
How could I ever worship God with the ordinary and mundane task of tying up garbage? Can God be found in the most simple of tasks-- a re-orienting of my life and focus throughout the daily drudgery of chores? Can God use even the most common things to teach us great truths about Himself...to teach me that I am not my own, but that I am bought with a price?
My story about trash bags goes back several months to the time before we found out that my husband Paul would be deployed to Iraq for twelve months. Our pastor was preaching on Daniel 1:8 where Daniel purposes in his heart that he will not eat the king's food. I have always heard it preached that this decision was based on the fact that the food would have been served to idols first. While that may be true, Babylonian culture would have dictated that EVERYTHING be served to idols, including the vegetables. Daniel went to the king's schools and wore the king's clothes. So why did he reject the king's meat and wine in favor of the vegetables?
Yes, Jewish dietary laws may come into play, but my pastor asked these important questions--"What if Daniel chose the very mundane ritual of eating to continually remind himself that he belonged to Yahweh? What if he purposed to live in such a way that there was no question who his God was?" Simply put, in a culture full of idols and ritual religion, would dedicating one daily task to his own great God be enough to constantly remind himself that he did not belong to any other? Would it tell the God-ignoring culture around him what, or for that matter, WHO was most important to him?
I listened to that sermon and began to mull it over in my mind. "Is there anything that I could deliberately give up daily to remind myself that I belong to Yahweh?" I began to pray that the Lord would show me what could become "the king's meat and wine" in my own life.
Fast-forward a month or so to April 2008 when we knew with certainty that deployment was the next challenge appointed for us. As the reality began to sink in, I realized how much life would change. In fact, there was one huge task that Paul had done regularly since our twins were born that was going to fall to me when he left: grocery shopping.
Now, I can shop for groceries, but with so many little ones at once-- four children in less than five years, to be exact-- it was just easier for Paul to go to the commissary or grocery store on his way home from work. He also loves the challenge of finding the best deals. He was happy to help, and I was happy to let him!
As we talked through the changes that were about to come, Paul said one day, "Sweetheart, I'm sorry that you will have to do all of the grocery shopping." I then teased my deal-loving husband, "That's ok. Now I can buy handle-tie trash bags!" Throughout our marriage, we have had an ongoing joke about those same wonderful bags, but since he did the shopping, I was content to let him bring home the cheapest flat-topped bags. It really didn't bother me, and he knew I was teasing him to say so. He then retorted back to me, "Well, I'll just buy you twelve-months-worth of regular trash bags before I leave!" We had a good laugh and went on with our day.
Over the next few days, the Lord began to prick my heart about the way even something as insignificant as a trash bag could become an object of disrespect in my marriage. Even though I was truly teasing Paul, could that become a tool for Satan to use down the road as he craftily drew my attention to myself, whispering, "When your husband was gone, you got to buy whatever you wanted, but now that he's back..."? I so badly wanted to uphold and respect Paul's leadership in our home while he was gone so that it wouldn't be such a hard transition when he came back home. I know my own sinful potential for enjoying being in charge. Does the curse in the Garden of Eden come to mind? While he was gone, I was going to be responsible, but not in charge, and I needed to live that truth.
So I finally had the answer to my prayer about the "king's meat and wine". Trash bags. Plain, ordinary, flat-topped, cheap trash bags. I could worship the one true God every time I tied a trash bag. I could be reminded of I Corinthians 6: 19-20 which tells me the amazing truth that I am not my own, I am bought with a price. I am to glorify God in my body and in my spirit, because they belong to Him.
So now every day I tie the bag, and say the verse, and let the Lord re-orient my perspective. It has not always been easy. At times, it has been very difficult to be reminded that I don't live for myself. The Lord continues to gently lead me down the path toward godliness, although I have so very far to go and spend most days just plodding along by His grace. Truth and trash bags-- two seemingly unrelated things that had a head-on collision in this Army wife's existence.
When Paul deployed, I decided to keep track of how many trash bags I would tie throughout the year he's gone. I may have missed a few here or there, but at the time I write this, I am up to 198 with six months to go. Almost two hundred reminders that I am not my own. Two hundred opportunities for the Lord to remind me that He bought me and I exist to glorify Him.
Handle-tie trash bags... I love them, but I am learning to love Christ and His claim on my life more. Can you worship with the mundane task of tying a trash bag? I sincerely believe that you can.
3 comments:
What a precious reminder that we are not our own. A daughter of God relishing her place in His plan. I take much from this. Much too much to delineate with mere words.
Beautiful, Heidi!
Thank you, Debi. More than two years later, I can still say that the Lord uses this lesson in my life almost every day.
this is so neat!
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