In Pursuit of Peppy Cola

When my little sister, Lisa, was two, she discovered the bubbly, sweet goodness of "Peppy Cola." You might know it by the more widely-used name of "Pepsi." In the late seventies, you could get a half gallon of Pepsi in a giant glass bottle called the Pepsi Boss, and it was a staple in our house. Of course, my mom understood the folly of fueling up a toddler with large amounts of "Peppy Cola," so Lisa was only allowed to have it occasionally, and only in small amounts. And Lisa responded by locking my mother in the basement.

At the time, we lived in one of those big, old houses that had keyhole locks on every interior door, with charming little keys to match.  My unsuspecting parents—clearly underestimating the clever machinations of their cola-craving two-year old—foolishly left the keys in the keyholes.

On a day when no one else was home, and Lisa was occupied with a book or Sesame Street or something, my mom ran down to the basement to grab a load of laundry from the dryer. Knowing she'd be gone only long enough to fill her laundry basket, Mom's only worry was that Lisa would follow after her and fall down the basement steps. Confident her preschooler couldn't turn the old-time door handle, Mom closed the basement door firmly behind her and ran downstairs.

She had just reached the dryer when she heard tiny footsteps crossing the living room and heading toward the kitchen. "Lisa, I can hear you! Go back to the living room; Mommy will be right there," she called out. But Lisa didn't go back to the living room, she started moving faster toward the kitchen…and the door to the basement. By this time my mom was running up the steps, second-guessing her assumption that Lisa wouldn't be able to open the door and worried about the stairs.

"Lisa! I'm coming! Stay away from the…" Click. Lisa wasn't trying to follow Mom, she was trying to shut her out. And she did. Awash in panic, and certain Lisa would be too, my mother poked through the keyhole to dislodge the key on the other side. Peeping through, she saw not fear, but determination, as Lisa struggled with a giant glass bottle of "Peppy Cola."

Clever as she was, Lisa had not yet mastered the skill of bottle opening, so the cup she had placed on the floor remained empty. That didn't stop her from trying though, and as my mother called and admonished her from the other side of the locked door, Lisa simply ignored her. Her back turned, she relentlessly pursued the object of her desire, occasionally casting furtive glances over her shoulder to make sure my mother was still safely locked away.

I'd like to tell you that I would never engage in such rebellious behavior, and that that's why I'm Mom's favorite, but that's not true (well, I am Mom's favorite, but it’s kind of a secret, so shhhh!). Regrettably, I have often attempted to shut God out when chasing after something He has withheld, limited, or forbidden. Rather than trusting Him enough to obey, I instead choose to ignore Him so that I can pursue whatever I have convinced myself I need or am entitled to.

It never ends well. It can’t. The idols we chase do not satisfy, and our Heavenly Father loves us too much to allow us to exchange His providence for our will. At some point, everything starts to fall apart, and our foolish endeavors end much like Lisa’s quest for “Peppy Cola.” Things did not turn out the way she planned, and even if she had been able to get the bottle open, it would have eventually run dry. It wasn't long before Lisa began to understand what her coup had cost her. Frustrated and unsatisfied, she realized she was alone. She was cut off from the person who loved her most, and she no longer had someone to comfort and care for her and to provide her with loving boundaries to keep her safe. She was anxious, lonely, and afraid.

"Mommy! Mommy, I want you!" she cried. Of course, my mother had never left the other side of the door.  She could see her, hear her, and call out to her, but until she had Lisa's attention, there was little she could do to help her. Mom eventually talked Lisa through dropping the key through a grate in the living room floor that had once led to a long-since-removed furnace. But before Lisa could do that, she had to turn away from the "Peppy Cola," come to the door, and listen to Mom's instructions.

Have you shut God out and ignored Him in a stubborn attempt to have your own way? Have you found the price of your defiance to be too high? Call out to Him. He has never left you. Turn from the object of your rebellion, come to the door, and listen for His instruction.

"Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity." -Joel 2:13