bucket

Do you ever feel like you’re using a bucket with holes in it? No matter what you try to fill that bucket with, it just seems to keep leaking, until you finally run out. Sometimes, you’ve either got to change the substance you’re putting in, repair it, or throw out the bucket and get a new one!

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about… While I was doing crafts at youth camp a few weeks ago, we had a bucket that had a big gash in the bottom. From the outward appearance, that bucket looked perfectly fine, but the second you put liquid in it, it just flowed like a river out the bottom. The first day, one of the girls helping filled that bucket with water to use outside, not realizing it had a big crack in the bottom. She filled it in the sink and proceeded to carry it through the concessions area, out the door, and over to the tent-covered picnic tables where we were set up. After she sat down the bucket, she realized it was almost half empty, and just about that same time, the guys from the canteen hollered out the door, “Hey, there’s a big mess of water on this floor you might want to come clean up!” What a time we had cleaning that up!

At the beginning of the next day, I made the exact same mistake, except thankfully, I realized it before I left the kitchen! I just made a huge mess all around the sink area. Once I finally got all the water mopped up, I dried out that bucket and wrote “Hole in bucket!” on the side and on the bottom of that stinkin’ thing! Because we needed it, we kept using it for the rest of the week, but we no longer tried to put water in it. Instead, we used it to store all the containers of liquid tie-dye! The bucket was still useful, just not for the liquid with which we were trying to fill it! 😊

When you feel as if you’re using a bucket full of holes, when things in life just don’t seem to be working right, you may need to step back and figure out the problem. Sometimes, you’re just going to have to quit putting liquid in there expecting each time to yield a different result! Sometimes, you’re gonna need to use that bucket for another purpose than what you intended, or you’re going to need to make some repairs, and sometimes, you may just need to get rid of that busted pail all together.

Can I get real for a moment…? When your decision-making doesn’t seem to be taking you in the right direction, time and time again, you may need to change the methods by which you make your decisions, or you might need to start actually listening to the right people. When your relationships seem to be more “busted and disgusted,” rather than a source of joy and healing, you might need to change your choosing process or even the location of your “pick up.” When you just seem to be spinning your wheels, never getting anywhere, never growing, never succeeding in life, you might need to change the source on which you rely. Christ is the only One who can fix the broken places in this bucket called life, and He’s the best source for knowing which “bucket” to use. If you will but yield your heart and your life to Him, He can and will help you avoid those buckets with holes!!

*Note: I do not own, nor did I photograph the image above. I simply did a Google search and found it in images.*

Years ago, someone gave me this little analogy, and I have adopted it as one of my mottos in life. It came to mind today; so, I thought I’d share it with you…

In every situation, whether it be crisis or peace, excitement or sorrow, you carry with you two buckets to use (Figuratively speaking, of course). With one bucket, you can soothe or dispel all you encounter. With the other, you can explode or inflame from the very core of a matter. You see, in these buckets, you carry water in one and gasoline in the other.
When you walk into a crisis, and you don’t know what to do, you have the option, at that very moment, to choose to pick up that bucket of water and sprinkle a little soothing liquid to calm the soul. You can even take the entire bucket and pour it out, leading an entire assembly to an utter calm by the words and actions you use. You can walk into that very same scenario, carrying with you the bucket filled to the brim with gasoline, and using that, you can send the whole congregating body into utter and complete chaos!
This can also be applied to a child and his dreams or a teen and her aspirations for life or even an adult struggling to make a new way for him/herself. You have the choice, in those moments of inspiration or desperation, to diminish any hopes of survival or fuel that tiny spark into the biggest flame, one that even a rain cloud won’t be able to quench. You can build a ladder upon which these tiny seeds can grow and thrive, or you can demolish the very foundation within which they were planted. It is up to you.
So, I ask you today, “What will you choose to do with those buckets you hold within your grasp? Will you do good or evil to those around you? Will you bring harm or joy to those you encounter?” You carry the power within your words and actions. You may bring life or death, depending on the liquid you choose. It just takes a little spark.