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.*
