The Rubik's Cube

Have you ever completed a Rubik's Cube?

I mean like actually completed it on your own- NOT by watching a YouTube video or reading directions online.

I am a child of the 80s. The Rubik's Cube was a phenomenon that everyone tried to conquer. There were maybe a couple kids at my school who had figured it out, and man were they celebrities at the time- but I honestly don't remember who they are now. (If you did it- shout out to you Maple Street Mustang!!)

 

I do remember that we had one at our house, and it belonged to my brother. He would try it out, and after it had sat in his room unused for several days, he would let me try and figure it out. But no matter how long I spent with it, or how long I would plead with it to just "Go the right way already!!!", I could never figure it out.

I'm an organizer by nature. I like things tidy. If things can be categorized by color or size, so much the better. So this little box with all the colors mixed up all the time needed 'fixed'. (And those of you who knew me then, no comments allowed on my pretty much constant state of dishevelment. I was a tomboy, okay?)

I also maybe had (have) a pride problem and couldn't let it continue to defeat me.

*Ahem.*

One day I decided that instead of throwing it across the room in frustration, I would get the better of it and just peel all the stickers off and put them where they belonged.

So I did.

Sort of.

That first sticker took WAAAAAY longer than I anticipated. I couldn't get it with just my grubby fingernails, so I got the tweezers involved. (And my mother may have asked what I was doing, and I confidently assured her that I was doing "Nothing!" and went to hide and finish my business.)

When the sticker finally came off, it wasn't pristine anymore. It may have actually ripped in half. I started to remove another one so I could switch their places. But the second one wasn't sticky anymore. The color had come off, but the sticky was still stuck to the cube!!

There was a fleeting moment of regret, thinking I probably should stop and just put them back the best I could, but I was invested now, and I was GOING to get this done, by golly!!

So I worked a little longer trying to get it all sorted. But it was tiring, all this close-up sticker manipulation, and eventually I gave up. I couldn't even follow through with the cheating I had started.

Then I had the bright idea that I could glue the stickers back on, and I tried, but it was an abysmal failure. I just ended up a mess, and so was the cube.

But because I had been so focused on getting each of the stickers removed and then in the right order, I didn't really pay attention to the quality of my work. In the beginning I honestly thought I could fix it. That no one would know. But when I took a step back and looked over what I had done, things were not looking so good.

At this point panic began to set in. Because while this seemed like a good idea at the time, the Rubik's Cube did not belong to me- it was my brother's! And I was going to have to give it back to him all messed up. And suffer his wrath. And probably give up my allowance to buy him a new one.

The only problem was I owed my sister like $3,000 from buying Barbies and candy with borrowed allowance from her.

I was definitely in trouble.

I don't remember the exact details of how things panned out, but my brother still talks to me today, so he is much more gracious than I deserved. <3 Thanks, Matt. (And Joni, I'll get you your money someday- I promise.)

Sometimes I do this to God too. But instead of it being a Rubik's Cube, it's circumstances in my life. Instead of waiting in patience for Him to work, and lead, and provide, I rush around in secret trying to manipulate circumstances, moving stickers here and there, scraping them with tweezers if need be, trying to get things all lined up.

But my handiwork is always a mess. And many times I have come to God with my tail tucked between my legs, offering him the Cube I've so ruined with trying to fix it on my own.

And he always forgives me. He always, somehow, even with my thick-headed ways, makes it all okay. There are definitely consequences to my choices, but knowing I caused the issues in the first place makes it a little better to bear them.

The point is, I can trust God. I can learn to be patient for Him to work all things out for my good and His glory. I can sit on my hands if need be to keep away from the stickers. And I can ask people I trust to hide the tweezers from me.

I should invest myself in trusting in Him, and doing good. 'Good' is not 'cheating so everything works out the way I want'. Good is doing the things God puts before me every day, learning to delight myself in Him so I have no desire to manipulate. Building that trust by waiting and watching Him sort things out.

Maybe you're in a place right now where you don't know how things are going to work out. And maybe you're tempted to manipulate the Cube. Can I encourage you to trust in the Lord? If you are his kid, He's got you. He has a plan. And while you may not be able to see HOW He will do it- rest in the fact that He is able to do it, and He will. It may not look the way you expect, but it will be good, and beautiful, and right.

Ephesians 3:14-21
(14) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
(16) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
(17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
(18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
(20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
(21) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 37:3-5
(3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
(4) Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
(5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.