A watched pot never boils. But it does contain a great word-picture for how I’ve been feeling this past week….
Have you ever watched a pot come to a boil? I don’t mean walk in and out of the room and suddenly the pot’s boiling. I mean – have you ever stood at the stove and watched the water actually come from tap-temperature to 212 degrees.
If you have, then you can imagine what I am describing. If you haven’t, go put a pot on and crank it up to high….go ahead, I’ll wait.
These little bubbles begin to form on the surface of the pan. They form, pop, and more form in their place. As the heat ramps up, a few rogue bubbles break away and topple to the surface. Then, suddenly, (as though you had no warning – but you knew it was coming because you were watching) the water is at a rolling boil. No longer insignificant pinpoints at the bottom of the pan – no longer a few breakaways – what was brewing below the surface has come screaming to the water’s edge…..
It’s exactly how I have felt this past week. Jesus is messing around, just below the surface. And I am intently gazing into the pot waiting for the boil – and though those small little insignificant bubbles are indicative of what’s to come – I just have a sense that it’s going to explode to the surface in a surprising, churning, hearty boil, taking me completely by surprise even though I’m expecting it.
What are you expecting from Jesus? Are you ready for the surprise that comes with expectation?
That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. –Romans 8.18-21
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