A Lesson Learned: by Robin Thomas
My daughter loves to make Espresso. Last week my husband found the little filter part of her Espresso maker in the garbage. Oops. I told him what it was for and didn’t think about it again. UNTIL my daughter said the Espresso had grounds in it. I assumed that meant the filter that was in the garbage must not have found its way back to the machine. So I jumped into “problem solving” mode. I questioned my husband, I tore everything, and I mean everything, apart looking for it because it had to be there. No filter.
Defeated, I consulted the internet god, Amazon, and ordered an after-market replacement part. The part came, and guess what? Like Cinderella’s stepsisters trying on the glass slipper, it didn’t fit. I had ordered a 2 cup when I needed a one cup. So, I ordered again. Twice as much and half as tall, the new filter didn’t fit either. What? It must be a fluke, you know after-market parts, so I ordered a third time with the same result. It just wouldn’t fit. The parts were discontinued so I was thinking we were out an Espresso machine, because one little part matters.
But Lo and behold, another middle of the night brain epiphany!!! What if the original filter is still in the machine?
The next morning I got up and with dreamlike anticipation, I checked the machine, and sure enough it was wedged in there. That is why none of the replacements would fit. Duh. When I got the original filter out, guess what? All the filters fit.
Sometimes we work so hard to be right that we forget to really pay attention to what is “right” in front of us.
The Jews were looking for a Messiah, a King to come and save them from oppression, but they didn’t see THE Messiah right in front of them. He didn’t “fit” their idea of what “The Savior of the World” should be.
Jesus said,”That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.” (Matt 13:13 NLT)
I was so wrapped up in what I thought was a missing filter, that I didn’t see the filter right in front of me.
“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Cor 11:3)
Sometimes things, or people, don’t need to be fixed, just found!
Comments