Problems and Pain

 Everybody has problems. They come in different shapes and sizes. They vary in degrees of severity. Some are just minor irritations. Others are mountain like in scope. Impossible to dismiss and way too massive to shove to the side. Chances are you are facing problems even as you read this. Problems you have not told anyone. Problems you cannot solve without divine intervention. 

Everybody faces pain from time to time. From scraped knees to scary diagnosis like cancer. People suffer various forms of pain. No amount of money can keep pain away at arms length. Pain penetrates when people we love die. Especially when it is prematurely. Brenda and I ate at one of our favorite restaurants a few days ago. We talked with the owner who took a leave of absence for a couple of weeks. We asked about this and turns out her mother recently died. Brenda instantly connected with as her mother died a little over a year ago. None of us are exempt from pain. 

When you put problems and pain together, God followers have opportunity to grow in faith. It is in the problems and the pain that we are forced to trust God and in doing so our faith is stretched. This stretching actually grows our faith to believe God for more. We cling to Him and His word to get us through the tough stuff. We cling to assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1

We are told in Ps 34:18 that God is near to the brokenhearted. He saves those who are crushed in spirit. Are you one of those today? Have the problems and pain worn you down? God is still near to you even if it doesn't feel that way. Are your problems weighing you down and sucking the life from you? Cast all your cares on God and He will sustain you. Ps 55:22 Do you weep nightly in despair. Find comfort in Ps 30:5 which reminds us that weeping may last for a night, but that joy comes in the morning. Sometimes that joy in the morning may seem like a long way off. It will come if we persevere and keep trusting. 

Problems and pain are really opportunities to behold the faithfulness of God over and over again. Those are not pleasant seasons. Some of you are waiting on God and wonder why He delays. I cannot give you a satisfactory answer to that question. All I can do is testify when I have waited on God long enough and trusted Him, He comes through. Sometimes at the last possible moment. Often in ways I never expected. Now when facing problems and pain I am able to look back and be reminded of all the times God helped in the past. 

A verse I have clung to for decades is Ps 46:1. God is our refuge. A safe place to retreat and find shelter when the problems and pain get the best of us. He is also our strength. When we don't think we can take anymore, press on through another day, pray another prayer, or take any more pain, God helps us. Helps us through the next minute. Helps us through the next hour and the next day. He is also our very present help in trouble. I love that verse. Maybe God will use it to help you through your problems and your pain. 

Doing Your Best

 I confess I was not a good student in high school. I was never into math and science. I did enjoy English and history more. I calculated during my senior year that I did not have to pass my math class in order to graduate. I passed it during football season so I would be eligible to play. After that, I did not try. I don't think you understand. I did not turn in homework assignments. When our teacher passed out tests, I wrote my name on them and turned them back in completely blank. From late November to May, I should have had a zero on my report card. I think she put a 40 I am sure more to protect her. What would it look like if a teacher gave out a zero on a report card. That was what I deserved. 

I used that class to do homework in other classes, study for tests in other classes, and to read. One day I was reading a football magazine. The teacher walked by and commented, "I hope you are better at that than you are in this class." I replied, "I am." She could not motivate me. Once I learned I could graduate without passing that class, I was no longer motivated. Nothing the teacher did or said motivated me. I was the man in our home. My mother did not comment on my grades in high school. There was nobody else to do so. I am ashamed of this now. I should have tried harder. 

I was a very young Christian at that time. Nobody had ever taught me that God wants our best. I had never heard of Col 3:17 or Col 3:23. I would not learn those truths until my second stint at seminary. Even in college I did just enough to get by. I tried. Thankfully I only had one math class. The classes interested me more. I had to pass classes to be eligible to play football. I did not do my best except on a few assignments that interested me. 

I hated seminary. I never felt I fit in with a bunch of preacher boys wearing ties or bow ties. I was bored in classes with the exception of two professors. I was put on academic probation after my first semester and was suspended after my second semester. I did not do my best. I wanted to get on with ministry. God had several things He needed to teach me before He would trust me with people to lead. 

I got married in this time and God opened doors to serve several small churches. Seminary was out of mind. I can't say for sure when it happened. One day I read those verses in Colossians and was convicted that God wants our best in whatever we do. We are to work heartily as unto the Lord and not men. Col 3:23. We are to do everything in the name of the Lord. Col 3:17. 

As the years passed, it really bothered me that I started seminary but never finished. I followed the counsel of my pastor from my hometown who told me about a distance learning Seminary. You moved along at your own pace in your studies, the professors sent the assignments to you. I listened to lectures on cassette tapes. It took a while. Little by little I did the course work for each class. In 2014 I graduated with a Masters degree. I made the best grades I ever made in school because I tried my best. I fought pride but not putting that degree on the wall in my office. It sits in a box along with my college degree and ordination certificate. 

God wants our best whatever we do. School. Work. Sports. Band. Volunteer work. Not doing our best for people dishonors God. Look around. Do you see people always trying their best? Customer service is lacking in many places. Employees cut corners glued to their phones instead of the work they are supposed to do. Some employees give minimal effort just to earn a pay check. Unfortunately, many students do what I did. 

Brenda and I certainly did not let that attitude fly around our house raising four sons. We did not demand perfection. We did challenge our sons to give their best. If their best was a C in a class so be it. If they were capable of earning an A that is what we expected. Parents fail children here when they demand perfection. None of us are good at everything. 

I don't know your role in life. I challenge you to give your best in whatever you do. Do it as an act of worship. Do it for the Lord even if nobody else notices. He sees. I think He is pleased when we try our best. Even if we are surrounded by people who give less than their best. You heard the old saying, "If it's worth doing it's worth doing right." Let us be people committed to doing our best.