As we fixed our eyes on Jesus in prayer this morning, the washing machine suddenly started making a terrible, disturbing racket.    It does that when the clothes get off balance on the spin cycle, and immediate attention is required.
 
After shifting the load, we had a great discussion wrapped around the interruption.    Life sometimes throws us into a spin, with loud noises and thoughts that reveal areas of instability.    Sometimes, those interrupting seasons are opportunity to shift around the busy garments of activity,  the overused security blankets we trust in, the robes in which we hide, or the T-shirt  messages we display to others.   Sometimes minor adjustments get us stabilized again, at other times something needs to be removed from the current load.
 
Have you been in  a spin cycle?   Anything you need to unload?   Initiating some balancing adjustments will help us to stay centered on Christ alone.   With Him at the center, there is true cleansing.   With Him on the throne of my life, I am  washed in the Word (Eph. 5:26),  and clothed  in His righteousness.
 
With these thoughts, we also embraced the opportunity to pray for those in poverty stricken places.    People with few clothes, little food,  and substandard living conditions  have a  special place in God’s heart.   They are in our prayers  as we prepare Thanksgiving bags for distribution this week.    We have often been deeply blessed by the simple faith and uncomplicated joy of poor believers who recognized that Jesus is all they have---- and that He is all they need.    They have learned something profound, that with Jesus as the center of a simple faith,  fewer belongings and trappings might offer the blessing of handling the spins of life with greater joy.    Poor believers may  not have much for Thanksgiving, but with Jesus they have much to be thankful for.    We are thankful for the testimony of these whose reward awaits them.   They are saints with fixed eyes even in the storm, and their faith will not be shaken.