Bomb

I can be a very socially awkward person, so I'm usually very comfortable dropping bombs. So, when I told some friends yesterday, "Hey, guess what? I got fired," some people were shocked, of course, but the people who are closest to me knew that my news was a reason to rejoice.

Oops. I just dropped a bomb on you, too, didn't I, reader? Heh, heh.

Awkward pause.

I've noticed that God my Father likes to drop bombs, too. Or perhaps it's just the fact that God is the most powerful Being in the universe: Anything He says will more than likely be pretty weighty and will feel like a bomb regardless. But one cool thing about being His friend is getting to hear the bombs when He speaks them... and then following Him around like a lovesick puppydog until He explains what they mean.

My relationship with Him has been very much like that, especially in recent years.

About three years ago, if I remember correctly, God was tucking me in one night. It was around my birthday, and I was enjoying my life. I don't remember His exact words, but He suddenly said, "Things are going to get serious now." Then I began a very long twofold journey: 1) identifying Jezebel spirits in my life (inside me and inside the people around me) and ousting Jezebel away from me and 2) detaching myself permanently from my immediate family. This was a very heavy journey. God was definitely right about it being a serious one. (When is He ever wrong? I won't leave that as a rhetorical question. He's never wrong.)

Three summers ago, I went on a very long road trip (which I always enjoy doing), and I went alone, so I had lots of time to chitchat with God. While He and I were hanging out, He gave me a nickname. He started calling me "knucklehead." At first I was like, "Yeah, I know I'm a knucklehead. I've done some really stupid things in the past." But He wouldn't stop. He kept calling me "knucklehead." I got offended. I think it was that evening when I finally asked Him, "WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME 'KNUCKLEHEAD'??!!??" Then He explained that my head is like a fist. If I clench it, my head becomes like knuckles, and my head becomes a weapon. I think this blog is an example of how I can clench the fist of my head and punch my word-knuckles in the face of anyone or anything that needs a good knockout. So, when God explained to me what He meant, I went from being offended to being encouraged. (Just to be clear, only God is allowed to call me "knucklehead.")

I think my past job journey has been me listening for God's bombs and following Him around like a lovesick puppydog to find out what He meant by everything. I think I've already shared some of them on this blog. Until Thursday morning, pretty much everything He had said about me leaving my past job happened, except for getting fired. That hadn't happened yet. I was wondering when that was finally going to happen. (He had instructed me, "Let them reject you.")

So, on Thursday morning when I was in my employer's parking lot and about to leave my car, God said, "I'm going to come with you today." (I've often had to pray to and/or negotiate with Him because He'll say something like, "Nope, I'm not coming with you today" and I'll be like, "BUT I NEED YOU!" Sometimes He'd change His mind and come with me; other times He'd chitchat with me in the ladies' room at work; other times He'd wait to greet me again after work.) I thought it would be awesome to have Him with me, of course. He added, "I'm in this job now, because you're on your way out."

So, when my boss called me into a spontaneous meeting on Thursday morning with her boss and the call-in HR guy, everything suddenly made sense. They were like, "You missed a deadline, so, we're terminating your employment." I didn't argue, even though the deadline wasn't completely mine, completely my fault, or completely a deadline. (Have I mentioned that this job was extremely weird?) I'm happy to report that I left without incident, everybody was polite, of course the atmosphere was awkward, and I felt very good about leaving.

I still feel mostly good, actually. I've had one of the Brady Bunch songs stuck in my head for the past couple of days. Whoo-hoo!!!

Honestly, I hope my termination serves as an example to my former coworkers: If you work hard for a certain company, you will be rewarded with rejection. (Have I ever mentioned that one of my spiritual gifts is martyrdom?)

Awkward pause.

"And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, 'Who do the crowds say that I am?' So they answered and said, 'John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter answered and said, 'The Christ of God.' And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, 'The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day." (Luke 9:18-22)

Like Father, like Son. I think Jesus was very comfortable dropping bombs, too. He was like, "Hey, have y'all noticed that I'm the Son of God? Cool. Well, I'm going to be killed, and then I'll rise again on the third day."

I'm guessing there was an awkward pause...

Right before Peter gave in to whatever demonic force that belched into his ear and prompted him to rebuke Jesus, who never did anything wrong...

And then Peter had to endure the King of the universe saying, "Get behind Me, Satan" right to him, or probably to whatever demonic force was influencing him, which I'm assuming was Satan himself.

Bombs can stir up all kinds of trouble. Or they can be the beginning of a healing process.

Sometimes before you can rebuild something, you have to demolish it. You condemn the building, and then you bring in a demolitions team, and then bombs away, and then you bulldoze all the rubble off the property, and then you start rebuilding. (I've never done any construction work, so I'm using my imagination.)

So, the King of the universe is the most perfect Bomb-Dropper in existence. I fully intend to follow Him around like a lovesick puppydog for the rest of my life. I need to know what the bombs mean. I need His bombs. I need Him.

I think I'll go for a walk outside now. The summer sun's callin' my name. I just can't stay inside all day...