The Plate Spinner

Do you sometimes feel like life is out of control?  So many things to do that you can barely focus on anything?  Sometimes it reminds me of a common circus act from years ago.

Remember the plate spinner? He took large plates and set them spinning, precariously perched on the top of rather flimsy poles. He set plate after plate and had to constantly return to the first ones to add energy to the spin so the plates wouldn’t come crashing to the floor. By the end of his performance he was running frantically back and forth between the poles attempting to keep everything going at the same time.

Does that sound like how our culture has conditioned us to see our lives? We try desperately to keep everything going in our own strength. We become a one-man-show so to speak.

But I believe God has a different idea about how it’s supposed to go.  Consider for a moment, the Master of the Universe. Would He need to run back and forth in a panic, trying to manage everything at once?  Of course not. God could simple lean against the nearest wall, casually cross his arms and look toward the collection of spinning plates.  With a nod of His head and one word He could control the entire activity. A simple command of “spin!” and… all would have to obey Him.

Jeremiah 10:23 says,  ”I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”

It’s not that God doesn’t want us to be responsible to do the things He has designed us to do. It’s when we take it upon ourselves to do it on our own that we get into trouble.  We become that plate spinner, focusing on the task of keeping it all going and perhaps missing the joy along the way.  No, God probably won’t take over and leave you nothing to do but watch. But you can be sure that if you look to Him for direction and focus on that task…the plate that is His priority at the moment, He won’t let even one of the other plates fall.