Trust - Even When It Doesn't Make Sense

Yesterday, my daughter Abigail and I were driving on the western side of Caroline County, Virginia. Along a rural country road, we travelled between what felt like mile after mile of corn fields. Beautiful corn stalks, blowing in the breeze, field after field after field. I pointed out the window and said - "Abigail, look at all that corn." Her reply, "Did somebody have to bend over and plant all of that?" I said, "No, baby, they have all kinds of great machinery now that make it easier for the farmer to be able to plant his fields." She then said - "But how does he water it all." My response, "Baby - farming is really an act of faith. He plows the ground and then he plants the seed - but he has to trust God for the rain."

It's awesome the things that we can learn by just observing the day to day events in our lives. Farmers are amazing to me. They invest in a field that promises them nothing. They believe in a product that lies dormant beneath the ground. They prepare for a harvest that they can not guarantee. They faithfully go out and work fields, even when the return is unknown. They do everything that they can to insure that they will have sufficient in the end. And yet, their are variables that they cannot control. No amount of work on their part can insure sufficient rain, sufficient sunshine, lack of storm damage or destruction by flood. They really don't know about the fluctuating changes that could occur. No - they just do their part and they have to trust God for the rest.

How many times have I screamed at the heavens - "God this just doesn't make any sense. What are you trying to do? What is your plan?" You probably have to. I mean, we plowed the field. We planted the seed. We seemed to do everything right. We followed the Farmer's Almanac. We planted at the right time. We've done all we know to do - and now Lord - where's the rain. Where's the growth. I don't seen any green sprouts bursting through the surface out in my field. Did I misplant? Did I do something wrong? Am I not the farmer I thought I was?

Of late, in midst of all my questions, I've been hearing a voice coming back to me. It's sweet and gentle - not harsh or rude. I haven't gotten the "How dare you question me?" routine that sometimes I've probably deserved. Instead, I've heard the words of an old Sunday School lesson which are really the words of Jesus from His Sermon on the Mount. "Consider the lilies of the field - they don't labor - they don't make clothing and yet have you ever seen anything arrayed as beautifully as them. Consider the birds of the air - they don't sow - they don't reap - they don't have a barn or a bank account and yet God feeds them. Aren't you more to God than birds and lilies."

Trust is such a tough lesson to learn. In our modern world, we're taught that if we are going to make it - if we are going to survive, it is going to be based on our own abilities, our own merit. I am not an advocate of the welfare system. We have too many who are constantly waiting and believing that someone should bail them out and God should be their sugar-daddy in the sky. We have too many preachers preaching a prosperity gospel that is no more biblical than pigs are aeronautical engineers. BUT - Jesus did tell us that we should not be so consumed with day-to-day concerns that we miss the big picture. Don't get so caught up in what you will eat, what you will drink, what will you wear, where will you live because He knows what you have need up before you even ask.

And so today, I'd like to propose a modern day parable. Consider the corn farmer - he plows his field - he insures that the land is prepared with necessary fertilizers and nutrients. He goes to the grain supply house and he purchases sufficient seed to plant his field. He sends out the tractor, pulling the seed spreader and he drives in the late spring sun throughout his field spreading the seed. He has done his part. There's really nothing else that He can do. He returns his equipment to the barn and he simply is forced to trust. Will the rain come? I trust God. Will too much rain come? I trust God. Will the sun shine enough or will there be a drought? I don't know but I trust God. Would if a tornado destroys my field? I don't know but I trust God. Does farming make sense? I don't know but people are counting on the grain that I provide. Somewhere someone is preparing a pot to boil the ears of corn that I will produce. Somewhere someone is pulling out the butter and the black pepper and the salt and their about to get that greasy corn on the cob face that looks gross but tastes so good. And so I'm not sure if it makes sense or not - but I trust God - even when it doesn't make sense.

Some of you as you read this are going through things that just don't make sense. I wish I could tell you all the answers that you're seeking because the truth is, I need some too. But since I don't have the answers, I am left to return to the one who knows the end from the beginning, the one in whom all truth originates and in whom there is no shadow of turning. In Christ I place my trust - and in Him today you can lean and trust even when it makes no sense to do so!

Love all of you - hope you have a great weekend - until next time - I TRUST GOD! --- RP

Strength Through Struggle

Have you ever noticed those guys at the gym? You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who all seem to gather together in a corner of the gym. They have muscles on top of their muscles and they push each other to do one more rep, one more set, a few more pounds. They push their bodies to tremendous levels , through tremendous resistance, not necessarily because they enjoy it but because of the strength that is gained through the struggle. True of a weight lifters struggle -- even more true in life.

For many, the thought of struggle, the thought of pain is something that we shun. Who wants to go through trouble? Who invites pain? I've yet to meet anyone who walks out their front door in the morning, takes a stand on the front porch, looks out into the world and says, "Come on world, give me your worst. I'm looking forward to gaining strength because of the resistance that I am going to face. I'm looking forward to the struggle. Bring it on!" No - we'd rather be pampered, catered to, and treated with kit gloves in the lap of luxury rather than have to face the struggle. And yet many of us are living lives in a horrible state of weakness, not because God is not strong and not because we're incapable of strength. Rather we are weak because we resist God's allowance of us to go through the struggles in life that are not sent to kill us but to strengthen us. Strength is always gained through struggle.

It is the struggles of labor that gives us the great miracle of child birth. It is the struggles of cracking and breaking through the outer shell of the egg that causes the baby bird to have enough strength to survive. It is the effort of the crushing of the grapes that produces the wine. It is the crushing of the olives that gives us the chef's best friend, olive oil. It is the pressure of the earth that turns coal to diamonds. It is the struggle to remove the grain of sand from the mouth of the oyster that creates the pearl. It is the struggle that brings strength.

Babe Ruth is considered to be one of the greatest baseball hitters of all time. Most fail to realize that he is also one of the most prolific strike out producers to have ever played the game. Most think of Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player of our generation, if not of all time. Certainly he was a prolific scorer and when you consider his championships and his scoring titles and his ability to play defense, the word great seems to fit. No one ever complains about how many shots he missed. Until John Elway won his first Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers in January of 1998, he was considered just good enough to win games but not good enough to win the big one. As a matter of fact, he had lost 3 Super Bowls. As with every great athlete, it is not their victories that define them but rather their response to their failure. The main difference between the good and the great is the desire to get up and keep going despite their failure. Those that keep going, accepting the struggle and gaining the strength.

Why must we struggle? Why couldn't God just give us all the strength we need? Why must we go through tough times to become what God wants us to be? The Bible describes Job as a man who was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. Job seems to be a man who spiritually had it all together. Until one day God decides to allow the life of Job to face some amazing struggle. And yes, it got pretty tough. His struggle was something that no one would ever want to have to go through. And yet, because he endured the struggle and lived through the shame of perceived failure - the Bible says that the latter days of Job were more blessed than the beginning. Strength birthed in struggle.

So why does God allow us to face adversity? Paul gives us, in my opinion, the greatest explanation as to His purpose for our struggles, our hurt. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." God allows our struggle and then when He comforts us, it is not because He feels sorry for us. He comforts us because He knows the strength that we gain through the struggle gives us the ability to now comfort others in the same way that Christ has comforted us. Know that when you are facing horrible struggles that seem completely out of control, it is not designed to kill you but rather God intends to use those moments of hurt to allow you to be able to bring peace and comfort to someone else who's also going through a time of hurt that is about to overwhelm them.

I talked to a friend this morning. She and her husband went through a horrible event in their life. Their entire home was destroyed by fire and they lost everything - their furniture, their pictures, their clothing, their memories, everything. When it happened, they went through a horrible period of depression and frustration, couldn't understand why they were facing such a horrible event. A few years later, they received a call from a friend who's neighbor had just lost a home by fire. As the ashes were still smoldering, fire department was still on the scene, my friend showed up and walked up to this lady and said, "I once lost my home in a fire. . .". In that moment, she realized the joy of knowing that her hurt could now be a help to someone else. She realized that God's comfort to her was now being shown to someone else. Her struggle had birthed a strength in her that God was now using.

So why do we face struggle? So why do we go through pain and even failure? God is using them to give us strength and out of our weakness He is made even stronger in our lives. Jesus never wastes a hurt, He never waste our pain. He gives us the strength to overcome and we can then be a blessing to someone else. I pray God's best in your life - Love each of you - In the midst of your struggle, you are gaining strength - and the strength you gain will help you overcome every obstacle that you face. And having overcome, begin to look for opportunities because God will bring someone to your path who needs the comfort you received from God.

Until next time - God bless - RP

Through The Fire

One of my favorite groups of male singers has never cut an album. As a group their not really known outside of their local church. Collectively, Buddy Thompson, Eddie Wilber and Matt Evans were only known as the Men's Trio. Though they didn't sing as a group often, when they did, the harmonies were in my opinion of a similar quality to any Southern Gospel trio or quartet in the music industry today. One of my favorite songs that they ever sang was written by a man named Gerald Crabb and it is called "Through The Fire." While I know that it has been recorded by many and was made famous by the authors children, particularly Jason Crabb, it was the Men's Trio of Life Church where I first heard the song, the words of which have ministered to me over and over again. Allow me to share:

So many times I've questioned certain circumstances
Or things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
And my frustration gets so out of hand
Its then I am reminded I've never been forsaken
I've never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories
The spirit rises up in me
And its through the fire my weakness is made strong

He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
And the hill would not be hard to climb
He never offered our victories without fighting
But He said help would always come in time
Just remember when your standing in the valley of decision
And the adversary says give in
Just hold on, our Lord will show up
And He will take you through the fire again

I know within myself that I would surely perish
But if I trust the hand of God, He'll shield the flames again.
You know in our world today, there are plenty of preachers misleading new babes in Christ by convincing them that if they will give their life to Christ all their problems will instantly and magically go away. If they praise hard enough, if they have enough faith, they can live life on easy street and have no worries, no problems ever again. Well - I'm all for faith and I love to praise Jesus, but the truth is that when we propagate that type of message we give people false hope and we set them up to believe that somehow they aren't living for God correctly because "life" happens to them. As this song says, and anyone whose lived the Christian life knows, Jesus never promised that the cross would not get heavy OR that the hill would not be hard to climb. He never offered our victories without fighting . . . He simply promised that he'd never leave us nor forsake us. In the midst of our trials, He gave us a comfort in knowing that whatever we face, He will be by our side.
The title of the song is "Through The Fire". There's something powerful about the word "THROUGH". That word gives me an assurance. Jesus doesn't bring us to the fire. He doesn't leave us in the fire. He doesn't show up after we make it out of the fire. He promises to bring us THROUGH the fire. Think about a great story from the book of Daniel. There are 3 Jewish boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (or Rack, Shack, & Benny if you are a fan of Veggietales), who received as a punishment, for their unwillingness to bow to a large statue, a trip into a large furnace of fire. God shows Himself strong in the midst of the fire and brings these three fellows THROUGH the fire.
David wrote in the 23rd Psalm, "Yeah though I walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. . ." He doesn't take us into the place of our greatest trials, our worst fears and sometimes our biggest failures and leave us. Nope - that's not my God. No - instead He reassures us that in those times when life has taken us and shown us its worst that He is an ever present help in our times of trouble. He is there to take us THROUGH.
Andre Crouch sang a song called "Through it All". Maybe you've heard it - "Through it all - Through it all - I've learned to trust in Jesus - I've learned to trust in God - Through it all - Through it all - I've learned to depend upon His word." We all will face struggles and we will all go through "life" but the fire that we have to go through has a purpose. It cleanses us, it refines us, it purifies us, it teaches us to trust in Jesus. Through it all - through the fire - through the valley of the shadow of death - Jesus is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.
I pray today that you, no matter how hot the fire may seem right now, that you would realize and discover the ever-abiding presence of our wonderful Savior - who's with you in the fire, not to show that He's fireproof but rather to prove to you that His love will not allow Him to ever leave you - even in those moments when the fire is the hottest. You can depend on Him to carry you THROUGH.
Love you all - until next time, realize that together, with Jesus - we will make it THROUGH! -- RP