Are You a Roomba Vacuum? Patricia Tichonoff
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6:
Sometimes I can describe myself as a vacuum cleaner. I am not describing the type that is handheld where you walk it around and clean up messes. This is the newer invention called the Roomba. It works on its own by the direction it picks up on its initial run. But does it really do a great job, or does it miss important places that need to be cleaned?
Let me explain why I am comparing my life to the Roomba. It looks so wonderful and keeps your space semi-clean. The debris is picked up and tossed later at your convenience. The one above even squawks when it hits the wall.
How can you ever be sure that it has done a good job? We do know that sometimes it does keep running into walls, it gets clogged up, and it stinks! That sort of sounds like us, doesn’t it?
We are like the Roomba! Most of the time we think we’re running the right course and then we hit a wall. We keep hitting the wall because we have lost our spiritual sense of direction. When our navigational system has failed, we shut down. We are useless to anyone depending on us.
There’s good news; we have a dock just like the Roomba. Our lives need to be recharged and cleaned out. Our Fixer tosses out the trash that we have accumulated. The Almighty hand of the Lord is our Fixer. He keeps us on a healthy path and helps us from continuing to bang into the walls.
On my own, I constantly turn in the wrong direction which leads me into unhealthy turmoil. He picks me up, empties me, and sets me back on a cleaner path. There I can find His Love, Joy and the Peace He wants for me.
God gives us perfect instructions – even with the dirt, debris, and walls He knows we will face. It's called the “Word of God” and it gives all the direction for our Roomba lives; there we find a perfect plan about healthy living. He removes all the dirt, repairs us, and sets us back on the right course through His own Son who went to the cross to salvage our lives.
Instead of squawking as we repeatedly hit the wall, perhaps we should simply draw near to God and bow our heads.
Father, thank You for taking perfect care of us, making sure that we are moving in the right direction even when we bump into obstacles. We call and You listen. Please fill and empty us as needed. Amen