On our kitchen countertop, Thor relaxes after his latest victory. He truly is the god of thunder, his red cape proudly displayed for all to see. No, we’re not describing the flying, hammer-wielding character from the Avengers movies. Do you think we’re crazy or something? Why would a resident of mythical Asgard — especially the son of Odin — be hanging out in our kitchen? Give us a break! No, we’re discussing our new blender. A legend among household appliances! A superhero to the teeming masses of weaker food processors!
A hero is born: We love making smoothies — a splash of skim milk and a cup of frozen strawberries and blackberries. (The blackberries actually grow wild in the woods behind our home.) And sometimes we toss a scoop of protein powder into our smoothies. But we encountered a big problem while making our favorite shake. Our other blender is too mild-mannered to accomplish the task of grinding and mixing the icy fruit and other ingredients. Actually, we’re being kind: it was downright wimpy. It grumbled at us every time it had to make a smoothie. Its motor even whined! So we retired “Wimpy” to the garage, with the promise we’d bring him out once in awhile, for easier jobs, like blending a chocolate malt. Then we put in a call for help, and Thor arrived — via UPS — to save the day!
Thor is a rather impressive, even imposing, blender. He pulverizes frozen strawberries and other fruits. When he whirls his hammer — uh, blades — he creates a whirlpool of delicious smoothie! Until …
One day — gasp! — Thor stopped working! He’d been fine the previous morning, but when we pulled him out of the appliance garage (Thor likes to call it Avengers Tower), tossed in some fruit, and punched the button … nothing! No action. No hearty battlecry. Nothing. “Thor,” we lamented, “Call down the lightning and make our smoothie!” Nothing.
Fear not! Thor is alive and well; and whipping smoothies into delicious submission. But on that particular morning, when we pulled him from the appliance garage, we accidentally unplugged his power cord. Doh! Thor couldn’t get the job done because he was no longer connected to the power source. Once he was plugged back in, he was again able to call down the thunder and rescue us from … er … being hungry!
Lesson learned: You can have the world’s greatest kitchen appliances, but if they’re not plugged in to the source of power, they’ll never do the jobs they were created for. Betcha know what’s coming next.
God created each of us for a special purpose. We each have great value and a particular set of talents and abilities bestowed upon us by our Heavenly Father. And part of the joy of life is discovering His purpose and plan for each of us. But it’s no great mystery. We were created in His image and set upon earth to make a positive contribution: specifically, to help those around us — especially, to point the way to salvation through Christ — and to bring glory to God. In other words, we were designed to reflect God’s character to the world. “…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 NIV)
But we need to be plugged in! If we’re going to “call down the lightning”; if we’re going to tap into God’s Holy Spirit power and anointing (His divine, supernatural influence which is necessary to accomplish His will and impact the world for His eternal purposes), then we need to maintain an unbroken connection to THE POWER. First, we do our utmost NOT to impede the flow of current. Sin separates us from God. So when we fail, we must run to Him, confess our weaknesses, and ask Him to cleanse us — of anything that could drive a wedge between the relationship we have with the God of the Universe. Sin, by the way, is not a list of DON’Ts. Sin is anything that separates YOU from God. “…If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us … and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:9 NLT)
Second, we never cut the lines of communication. To the contrary, we must remain vigilant over everything we do. We must stay in constant touch with our Lord, through daily prayer and Bible reading. Prayer is a fancy word for talking to our Lord: sharing your thoughts, your concerns, your problems; telling Him how much you appreciate the things He’s accomplished for you (including salvation); and reminding Him (and yourself) exactly how exceedingly perfect and wonderful He is! “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7 ESV)
Third, we need to stay in fellowship with other believers, encouraging and strengthening one another. There’s great strength in numbers, folks. “Let 
us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together … but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT)
For more Wit and Wisdom inspired by Food, Cooking, Kitchen Tools and Appliances, read Tom & Wilma’s book Angel in the Kitchen
We can’t control how people will treat us in this life. We can’t make them value us or our work. We have no control over whether they will value us or show us respect. And we should never try to force any of these things! We have better things to do than dealing with the shortcomings of those bad eggs we daily encounter. For one, we should be far more concerned, and far busier, about the business of pursuing our dreams and achieving our goals.
ing them.
row peace, patience, love and forgiveness from the dirt of our adversity.