OK, Enough Already

When my first Homebrew bottle, in the second fermentation/carbonation phase, blew up the other day, I thought "big deal." Since then, 4 more Jihadi Brews have exploded. "When will the carnage end?" I keep asking myself that question.

Something in quality control went awry...and the frustrating part is I don't know what. I have brewed three times previously, same bottles. No explosions.

We all expect to have problems in life. And, I know as far as problems go, this is just a gnat versus a snarling dog or a 100 mph locomotive ready to ram me to heaven in a trillion pieces. I just heard today that a friend of mine has been diagnosed with cancer. So, no need to call Crisis Intervention.

However, what I struggle with problems great and small is the inability to solve them....the chronic reappearance of the same issues over and over again, just change the date. The same old battles, same old struggles, same old failed strategies. Just waiting for the next bottle to explode.

Do I pray enough, how much is enough? Is God giving me an answer and I am just not listening? Is it because I have hidden and unconfessed sin? Does God not want to give me deliverance and instead wants me to learn patience in the trial. How long? Will I not escape my past ever? Exploding bottles are just a metaphor for objective problems with unknown causes and cures. So I reside on the Island of Unknowing.

I believe this for sure. Jesus died for sinners like me. I am forgiven. Everything else, I am not so sure. Knowing that one thing is enough.

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