How Many Ditches

I've made this
commitment to change
before.
It hasn't gone well
in the past.
fear
confusion
depression
laziness
love of sin
all stumbling blocks
in my path to real change.
I don't want change to be difficult.
I want it to be fast and easy.
I want it now.
I want, I want, I want.

In Joshua 3, God tells the Israelites that if they want to get across the Jordan, they can... but they have to step out in faith by putting their feet in the water. You can't just WANT something. You have to step out. You have to DO something for God to keep His promises. But for me, what was that?

Today I was reading about Elisha in 2 Kings 3. The armies needed water for their troops and cattle and had no way to get it in the middle of the desert where they were. They asked Elisha to ask God for help.

God could have instantly made it rain.
God could have killed the enemy
so these troops could walk into those enemy villages
and eat and drink all they wanted.
God could have saved them a million different ways.

Instead He told them to dig ditches.

What struck me about this is that God wasn't just asking them to do something to prove they had faith. He was giving them a chance to participate in their own miracle.

He said, "Make this valley full of ditches."
He didn't tell them how big to make the ditches.
He didn't tell them how many to dig.

By telling them to "fill the valley" ... He asked them how big a miracle they wanted.

They could have considered 5 "full" or 25 or 250. God was willing to fill as many ditches as they dug. How much water do you want? Dig more ditches. You can't dig one and then complain God only blessed you with one ditch of water.

How much change do I want?
How big do I want my miracle to be?

One step at a time, at first without realizing exactly what I was doing, I have been digging ditches.

Eating better, no more pop, exercise, becoming more organized, getting my business in order, self control, self respect, spending time with God daily, not hitting "snooze" when the alarm goes off, loving others more... some are new ditches, some I've been working on for awhile. Some are small. Some are huge.

Digging ditches is hard work.
Digging ditches is dirty work.
Digging ditches is rarely fun.
But when I cut through all the dirt
and junk that has been filling the places
in my life where God wants to put living water...
my life gets better.
So when God tells me to "fill the valley with ditches"
I can't say, "How much work do I want to do?"
I have to say, "How many miracles do I want to see?"
Truth?
I want to see a lot of them.