Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
May 3, 2012

“Being Teachable”
“I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors.” – Proverbs 5:13

“I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” – Philippians 4:12 (New Living Testament)

“Pain is inevitable but misery is optional.” – Barbara Johnson

A woman bought a parrot to keep her company but returned it the next day. "This bird doesn't talk," she told the owner.
"Does he have a mirror in his cage?" he asked. "Parrots love mirrors. They see their reflection and start a conversation." The woman bought a mirror and left.
The next day, she was back; the bird still wasn't talking. "How about a ladder? Parrots love ladders. A happy parrot is a talkative parrot." The woman bought a ladder and left.
But the next day, she was back. "Does your parrot have a swing? No? Well, that's the problem. Once he starts swinging, he'll talk up a storm." The woman reluctantly bought a swing and left.
When she walked into the store the next day she was sad and downcast. "The parrot died," she said. The pet store owner was shocked!
"I'm so sorry. Tell me, did he ever say a word?" he asked.
"Yes, right before he died," the woman replied. "In a weak voice he asked me, 'Don't they sell any food at that pet store?'"
The moral of the story is to always make sure to keep the main thing the main thing! Putting God’s principles and disciplines are always the first priority—and then allowing ourselves to be teachable!!
In one of her books, Barbara Johnson tells the story about a friend who saved money to buy very special, expensive wallpaper for her son’s bedroom. She had to special-order it. When it arrived, she put it away, planning to hang it as soon as she could. In the meantime, her husband discovered the wallpaper and decided to surprise his wife by hanging it while she was shopping one day. The design on the wallpaper was a group of colorful balloons with strings hanging down. It took him an entire day to finish the job.
He made one mistake: he hung all the wallpaper UPSIDE DOWN, with all the strings pointing up rather than down. When his wife returned home, she was pleased that her husband had done the job for her, but she was in shock that he had failed to hang it in an appropriate configuration. His work could not be re-done. The author commented, “She had wanted it to be just perfect, but it had come out exactly opposite of what she had planned.” Life is like that sometimes. We determine that things will turn out a certain way, and when they don’t, we are devastated! We make a concerted effort to do the right thing, but everything turns south. Conflicts happen. The choice is ours—be miserable or adjust to the circumstances. I like this poem:

Life is easier than you think—All you have to do is:
Accept the impossible, Bear the intolerable, and Be able to smile at anything.
How teachable are you? Seriously…are you teachable enough to allow God to make changes in your life…your agenda…your lifestyle if need be?
Pastor J. T. Carnell