𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐞

At my old church, we used the expression “𝘉𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦,” meaning that we should use God’s blessings to bless others. We receive love, faithfulness, and gifts from Him and so should we pass on love, faithfulness, and gifts to others.

That sounds good. In fact, it seems common sense. Rainbows and butterflies, right? Should be easy!

Until your pipe gets clogged.

What clogs your pipe? Better yet, how do you unclog it?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞?
For me, stress is an easy answer but it’s not very specific, is it? What causes us that stress? An insurmountable to-do list, one too many discouragements for too short a time period, a tiff with a loved one, a looming uncomfortable meeting or task, an imbalance in hormones. Anything that can give volume to that voice in your head who won’t stop berating you, “Woe is me. I’ve done everything and it’s not good enough. I’m not good enough. I’m too tired to keep trying. I’m too frustrated to keep trying. I’ve put myself through enough already. Why should I subject myself to more?” All of these are common lines that voice uses inside my head. Maybe yours sounds different.
Whatever the diction and whatever the cause, I bet you have “funk” days, too. Or weeks.

What clogs your pipe? What gets you so stressed out that you can’t think straight and you struggle harder than usual to pass on God’s blessings?

𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐭?

I withdraw as much as is necessary. Sometimes, it means hiding from my phone for an hour; sometimes it means staying home on the weekends; and sometimes it means skipping some of my regularly-scheduled activities. I withdraw in order to reserve energy to address the necessities and still fight the clog.

I’d like to say I always pray my way through it but sometimes I get so lost in the clog that I even clam up from Him. I will say, though, that the clog doesn’t dislodge until I let Him in, though.

Here’s something I’ve been pondering, though: the withdrawal itself prevents me from being the pipeline. What I do in the name of fighting the clog is actually accomplishing the clog’s mission (to stop the outflow of blessings). Don’t get me wrong – we do need to care for ourselves in order to better serve His purpose. Everything in moderation, though.

This line of thought came from a discussion about forgiveness with a friend of mine. His question was whether forgiveness is real when our memory of the transgression still affects our actions, 𝘪𝘦 he still is unwilling to have a relationship with the one who wronged him. I waffled on my response. I said initially what I wanted to believe, that exposing ourselves to “pipe cloggers” does nothing to further the Kingdom but chokes us up so we can’t spread it elsewhere.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌! I really said that. We both wanted to believe it. We all silently looked down, knowing how far from the truth my words were.

In the silence, I heard God’s response quite distinctly in my head, “Don’t you think the pipe cloggers need my love?”

Yes, God, they do.

Well, that brought me back to my current clogged pipe. My clog is not people-related. I’ve fought depression for years (stress is a trigger) and I’ve learned my coping mechanisms. Well, it seems my coping mechanisms are starting to do more harm than good. Some people worry (they don’t know what I know – that it’s a repeating cycle for me and I will be fine once it comes full circle), some people feel betrayed by me (I don’t particularly care to talk extensively about why I withdraw when I do), some people are disappointed in me (well, at least I think they are – but that could be the illness talking) and some see me failing to fulfill expectations.

I don’t know the answer and I’m not looking for sympathy. I am offering my story in case there’s someone out there who can relate. People have a million little quips of advice and some of them work a little bit. None of them is a one-stop shop, at least that I’ve found. And too much advice that doesn’t work actually serves to make a person feel worse – adds volume to that voice inside warning you that it’s never going to get better.

Here’s what I do know. If your pipe is clogged and you need to take five, do it. Whatever the reason – whether your clog is anger, depression, fatigue, or countless others – if you need five, take them! While you’re there, talk to God and ask Him to talk to you. Listen to Him. Talk to anyone else who understands, too. After those five, try again. Rinse. Repeat. Until it works. God has work yet to be done. Do what you need to do to get yourself back in the game and then come back. Always keep coming back.

𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. – 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5 The Message