What’s Wrong with my potato? Well, there is nothing wrong with it. It’s just BEING a potato.

I decide to have a fun simple experiment with my potato that was growing roots and new shoots with tiny new leaves. Without explanations or any directions, I would just walk up to someone and show them the potato. Here are the top three responses:

“What’s wrong with it?”

“What happened to it?”

“Can you still use it?”

I guess people think that I can’t be DOING anything with this potato because, well, it’s too busy BEING a potato!

I mean, you got to do something with a potato. Make potato chips, potato salad, potato soup. FRENCH FRIES!!

It’s only a good potato if you do something with it. Mashed potatoes would be good. A baked potato with butter and sour cream would be great! Bake it, grill it, mash it, slice and dice it…… Do Something with it. That’s what makes a potato good. It’s good because you can do something with it. By doing something with it, it gets better.

But my potato is too busy BEING a potato to actually be “Doing” something. To most people, that’s not a good thing.They think the only way to get something good out of a potato is to “DO SOMETHING WITH IT”.

I took the time out of my busy life to take a four hour drive with my good friend Ralph. He also took time out of his busy schedule to allow me to ride shotgun on this trip. We didn’t “do” anything. We were just “Being”. We were being two friends, being two Christians together on a journey. We shared ,we discussed, we wondered, we laughed. We also did something that’s highly unusual in today’s highly social society. WE TALKED! Face to face. Not just superficial stuff. We talked about each others life and life in general. Since we are both on a Christian journey, the subject matter always seemed to come back to how God is working in our lives. God’s working even when we don’t know why. God’s working even when we kinda wish He would leave us alone for a while. God’s working even when we ourselves are not. God’s working even when we don’t even realize it. But really, God is just BEING! He’s Just BEING GOD!

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Notice it didn’t say to be good and acceptable you have to “DO” something. “God is good, I’m not, I need to get better” My friends, where did this kind of thinking come from? It’s preached at us. Society tells us we must “DO” something with our life to amount to anything. I get it, but here’s the real question. Is what you “do” truly more important than what you are “being”?

By being what God has created me to be, any “doings” will fall into place. The first step is “BEing” in a personal relationship with Jesus. What happens after that will not affect how much He loves me. Can you let that sink into that “Mister Potato Head” of yours. What you DO will not make Him love you any more,……. or any less.

This is a tough lesson to explain. I’m guessing it’s gonna take me a lifetime to figure it out for myself. God’s wanting me to BE His loving child. Any “Doings” that I do will fall into place . When you are “BEING” with God, what you DO will be guided by God’s Will. I also have figured out that since God made me, He also will be better at showing me what to do than me, myself, and I!

There’s nothing wrong with my potato. There’s nothing wrong with me either. I’ve asked God to let me come alive spiritually like that ‘tater has physically. Something inside me has caused me to be transformed. I’m now growing roots into God’s Word. I’m now growing new shoots and tiny new leaves that reach for the SON (Jesus). To the world, (and even to other potatoes), there must be something wrong with me. What happened to ‘tater Dan?

Nothing’s wrong with me. I’ve just come alive! Being what God created me to BE!

“Lord, would you help us come alive. Help us to focus on your will in our lives. You are good! That’s true. We are not! That’s also true. But thankfully because of You it doesn’t end there. We get too busy trying to “Do something to make ourselves good”. I’m asking that You help us realize that Your Grace is what makes us good. Help us to follow You to BE what You would have us to BE. Then all the doing will come from You. Amen.

Pass the potatoes. See Ya! Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher