Always Something

Last updated on: August 10, 2021 at 8:33 am by Matt Pearson

Always Something 2021-08-10T08:33:18-05:00 Matt Pearson

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The morning of May 19th I woke up to major water damage caused by an overflowing second floor toilet. One of the three Pearson teenagers was, um, let’s just say un-attentive. Repairs are still being made. Monday of last week I received a call from my wife that the second floor HVAC unit was out. Completely. A month ago, while getting a routine oil change, I learned the tires needed rotating . . . on both mine and Katie’s vehicle. Two weeks ago, a nail caused a flat tire on Luke’s car. Yesterday, a malfunctioning sensor caused a flat on Katie’s car. Last night, the toilet in the boy’s bathroom refused to function properly. I can’t wait to see what today brings! Maybe our dishwasher will will stop rinsing or our dryer will only blow out cool air. Who knows?

Though bizarre to think about and weird to type – I needed these things to happen this summer. I am the type of person who allows things like this to stress me to the max. I don’t mean all of these things at once. I mean if only one of the above occurred, I would be beyond tense and not fun to be around. Things like this mess with my routine. They force me to readjust my plans. They stretch my bank account. They cause me to feel like everything is in disarray. They, dare I say it, threaten my control.

I’ve heard my dad say, “Son, there’s always something.” What he means is that there is always something happening, or something going to happen, to mess up life’s equilibrium. He’s right. There is always something.

What the events of this summer taught me is to expect the “something.” Anticipate it. Look for it. If there’s always something (and there is), find the something and deal with it. My default mode is to pitch a fit, get mad, and act like a raging toddler for an hour or so. In other words, I tend to act like I didn’t know there’s always something. What I am learning is that expressing anger has never – not once – made the situation better or go away.

Anticipating life with the understanding that there will always be something reframes my perspective. There will be an interruption. Something will break. Something will not go as planned. At the risk of sounding too spiritual, the “something’s” that occur are opportunities to pause and recognize Who really is in charge. They are moments to stop, take a deep breath, and rearrange according to the Father’s agenda for the day (or summer). As one of the wisest men who ever lived said, “Humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” Boy is he right. Maybe there is always something to remind us who orders our steps?

I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet but I predict something in and around your life will malfunction soon. It will force you to rearrange your morning, your afternoon, your evening, your day, your summer, and/or your year. I feel safe predicting it because there is always something. Submit to it. The LORD doesn’t need your plans to work for the globe to keep spinning. In fact, he might be rearranging them to show you just how little you are needed.

If you forget this, that’s okay. There’s always tomorrow. And there’s always something.

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