Are You a Raw Egg or Cooked?

A message from our Pennellville chapter coordinator, Shirley, on our theme for October, #RemainFluid

Shirley writes,

I am a math and physics person; logic and reasoning are the bedrock of my life. I studied Calculus just so I would know the instantaneous velocity of roller coasters. (that's how fast at any instant of time I was going while on one!) I learned to swim by studying Bernoulli’s principle of drag. This taught me that by creating less drag in the water I would reserve energy, allowing me to swim faster. I know whether it is better to put the milk in first and then the tea, or to add the milk to the tea with physics (thermodynamics). I love puzzles. I love to solve puzzles.

Recently, a pastor from my church prayed for me. He was praying for my healing and he said something weird. He said, “Your reasoning is holding you back.” At the time, I thought those words were ironic as I’ve radically changed my life to follow God. I’ve stepped out in faith countless times. Yet, those words left me puzzled.

So the other day, I was playing with eggs. (Yes, I am that person.) One was raw, the other cooked. If you were to spin them, the raw one will spin, however, the cooked one won’t. It is angular momentum. Watching the eggs I questioned myself, Am I the raw egg (fluid in a body) and God wants me to keep going or am I the cooked egg and can’t move?

Jesus described the Holy Spirit as living water in the Gospel of John. “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified’’” (‭‭John‬ ‭7:37-39‬ ‭ESV‬‬). We, who are led by the Spirit, must remain fluid.

If I lead a life that is ordered, scheduled, and routine, how can the Holy Spirit direct my life if I don’t have any time to spare?

Wait. But. My calculations.

A life led by the Holy Spirit is flexible, free, and fluid.

Do I want that life?

The Good News

If you live a fluid life directed by the Holy Spirit you love as Jesus did.

The Bad

This means living with spontaneity. People will look at you weirdly. You might be misunderstood. You will be criticized. Some people might be upset with you.

The Ugly

You might even lose some friends (but then were they friends)?

BUT

To love like Jesus requires a life that is flexible, fluid, and free.

#RemainFluid