Skip to main content

Do it Yourself Fireworks

I've lived in NY my entire life. Aside from sparklers, NY law has never allowed private parties to use fireworks for any occasion. Therefore, 4th of July and other celebrations that employ the use of firework displays are done in public parks or in downtown Albany under strict regulations and laws.

Now living in Kentucky, I can't drive two feet from house without seeing roadside displays of fireworks for sale. Apparently I've been told that this is the first year Kentucky has allowed the really big fireworks for private use.

Driving home the other night I saw a few fireworks weakly being set off above a quiant neighborhood off the main road. A few actually exploded into what resembled mini fireworks, but most shot up and quickly diminished into the slowly fading evening. In the process of deciding whether to get together with friends for a do it yourself fireworks show or go see some done by professionals, I thought about what I had witnessed on my drive. Sure, it would be fun to shoot off fireworks yourself, but the end result isn't all that impressive. Plus, I've seen professionally done firework shows where the fireworks were shot a little too low to the tree line, sending a line of fire across the horizan. I can't imagine a private show by amateurs would much safer. Consequently, I imagine that many individuals will be flocking to purchase big fireworks seeing as it's the first year they're able to, so I assume there may be less of a crowd downtown watching the professional show. In the end, I concluded the professionals would give a more impressive and safer performance.

This whole ordeal got me thinking. How often do we live our lives like individuals putting on a private, amateur firework show? Sure, we get to do things ourselves, but we're missing out on the majesty and safety of letting the professionals do it for us. In life, how often do we tell God, "Sure, you can do this better and you'll make sure I'm okay, but I wanna do this myself!" In the end, we end up disappointed and usually in a lot of trouble. In my own life, I've been taught this lesson (not quite sure I've really learned it yet!) many times over. I try to control situations and do it myself and everything falls apart. After I've tried and tried to set off fireworks and create some magnificent scene, I have to admit I'm just not capable. I need to let God, the expert, create a beautiful firework display in my life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Come Just As You Are

Growing up in church I’ve always heard the phrase, “Come just as you are” thrown around but I’ve never really thought about what this means. As I was worshipping in service Sunday morning, the meaning hit me. God is holy, yes, so we should never enter His presence in a flippant manner, but with reverence and humility. However, God is also merciful and longs to meet us where we are, in our sinfulness, our brokenness, and even in our doubt. The power of coming into the presence of a holy, merciful God in the right spirit and bringing all our baggage is an encounter with this God who has the ability and desire to change us from who we were to who He wants us to be: a whole, joyful, righteous individual full of the life God intends for us and free from everything that keeps us in oppression and bondage. It in worship and in the presence of God Almighty that transformation is possible. During the MOVE conference as Asbury Theological Seminary this past week, this reality became more evident...

Seasons

It wasn’t your typical staff meeting. There was some discussion on what was going on with the residents we ministered to, but the focus of this meeting was edifying the staff. Our director started off discussing how there are various seasons in our life. There are some seasons where God must cut things out of our lives and when there has to be death; these seasons are often painful and confusing. We’ve all walked through these seasons when God seemed to be weeding out everything in our lives. In these times, it is often difficult to see the purpose. It can often feel lonely and like God is abandoning or punishing us. But then follows seasons of growth and life; times when He lovingly replaces the things he cut away with newness, hope, and joy. Most often, we see these seasons manifest through our relationships. It’s common as we grow up and move on in our lives to naturally grow apart from childhood friends and maybe even family. But there are more painful moments when people in ou...

God doesn't need defending

I love one on one conversations. It's very fueling and inspiring for me. I find, very often, that it is during such interactions with others that God speaks to me. Today I had one of those encounters during a conversation with a good friend from church. We were discussing the issue of grace and sin and whether or not someone can still be identified with his or her sin after coming to Christ. For example, can someone who is a recovering alcoholic or who has same-sex attraction sincerely be a follower of Jesus Christ? Well, I posited the explanation that Scripturally, someone cannot accept Christ as their Redeemer and continue in a life of sin. Paul is emphatic about this throughout Romans 6 (for instance, verses 1-2  Well then, shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? Absolutely not! We died to sin, how can we continue to live in?). It is a mockery of Christ's sacrifice to free us from the bondage of sin to continue in it. Galatians 5: 1 declares that "it is for fre...