When I was a kid we had a horse named Dusty. It was a Shetland pony that Grandpa Chester bought us grandkids. As I look back, I’m thinking grandpa bought that horse to teach all of us grandkids how to swear, properly. He probably figured out that if he taught us personally all hell would break loose with our mothers. So, he taught us by proxy. He bought us Dusty. If spending an afternoon with Dusty didn’t teach you how to cuss like a North Dakota farmer, well, then you are a better person than I.
The problem with Dusty is that he never broke to the bridle. If you wanted to turn him you had to jerk his head the way you wanted him to go. Sometimes you thought you were going to break his fool neck. And sometimes he returned the favor with a few jerks of his own. Needless to say, grandpa didn’t have any grandchildren who couldn’t swear.
Most days… it’s not hard to imagine life as one continuous afternoon with Dusty. Whether you are a soldier, a mother, a father, grandparent, husband, wife, preacher, chaplain….butcher or baker you deal with a lot of jerks. Some of them even walk on two legs. When life seems like it is jerking me around I go back to the basics. Things that I know, that I know, that I know. Things I didn’t read in books but are written in the Gospel of TheOnlineChaplain. These things have been written on my heart over the years by a caring and gracious author.
Survival Skills
The skill of "godly reflection" for me starts with Psalm 1. This Psalm gives us insight on how you can survive when it seems life is jerking you around. The psalm goes like this. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers,. But, his delight is in the law of the Lord and on this law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of living water. In all that he does he prospers."
This is an interesting psalm because there are two things hidden in this psalm that you don’t get at first glance. The first is this, "his delight is in the law of the Lord." The word law here is the same word in the Hebrew for "teaching". So, we are to meditate on the teachings of the Lord. That has a different ring to it. What has God taught you? And, are you meditating upon these things. If you are like me, you probably forget most of the things you have learned and need to go back for refresher courses.
Let me tell you about hidden item number two. The word mediate is a Hebrew word that is not used very often in the OT. One of the few times it occurs is in Isaiah where it says, "as a young lion growls over its prey." The word growls and meditates is the exact same word. We are to growl over the teachings of the Lord like a young lion growls over his prey. Hey, remember Grandpa Chester? He not only taught us all how to swear, he also made us watch Animal Kingdom. Thanks to him I know how a young lion growls over his kill. The things you can learn from a grandpa! Let me share with you three things that have helped me survive be jerked around by life. They are three things I growl upon when things get tough. Three things I have been reminding myself of quite a bit lately.
Growl #1 Don’t Go Through Things Alone
There are things in life that you simply should not try to do alone. If you want to deal with life successfully then don’t try to go it alone. We are not designed to do life in isolation. Case in point. One man writes....
I am writing in response to your request concerning clarification of the information I supplied in block number eleven on the insurance form, which asked for the cause of the injury. I answered, "Trying to do the job alone." I trust the following explanation will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the injury, I was working alone, laying brick around the top of a five-story building. When I finished the job, I had about 500lbs. of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to put them into a barrel and lower them by a pulley that was fastened to the top of the building.
I secured the end of the rope at ground level, went back up to the top of the building, loaded the bricks into the barrel, and pushed it over the side. I then went back down to the ground and untied the rope, holding it securely to insure the slow descent of the barrel. As you will note in block number six of the insurance form, I weigh 180 lbs. At the shock of being jerked off the ground so swiftly by the 500lbs of bricks in the barrel, I lost my presence of mind--and forgot to let go of the rope.
Between the 2nd and 3rd floors I met the barrel. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body. Fortunately, I retained enough presence of mind to maintain my tight hold on the rope and proceeded rapidly up the side of the building, not stopping until my right had was three knuckles deep in the pulley. This accounts for my broken thumb (see block four) despite the pain; I continued to hold tightly to the rope. Unfortunately, at approximately the same time the barrel hit the ground, and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighted about 50lbs. I again refer you to block number six, where my weight is listed. I began a rapid descent.
In the vicinity of the 2nd floor I met the barrel coming up. This explains the injury to my legs and lower body. Slowed only slightly, I continued my increasingly rapid descent, landing on the pile of bricks. Fortunately my back was only sprained. I am sorry to report, however, that at this time I lost my head and let go of the rope which explains my two broken legs. I trust this answers your concern. Please note that I am finished trying to do the job alone.
There are things in life no one is prepared to face alone. And you don’t have to be a soldier to experience them. The death of parents, the death of a spouse, the death of a child; romances lost, romance never found; having to do things in the name of war that have the potential to mortgage your chance of surviving in peace time. Transitioning from citizen to soldier, and then again from soldier to citizen. The human soul has not been designed to go solo. Jesus knew this and he comes into every situation with these words, "I will be with you even till the end of the age." You are not alone. Try to go it alone and you are going to get all busted up one the inside.
Growl #2 When you can not find God, God will find you.
When I was in junior high, I was convinced that my mom and dad had moved to hell. If I wasn’t the loneliest person in the world, I was sure that I was close. A neighbor of ours must have seen this because the first summer we were there, she invited me to Bible camp, and it was there at Bible camp that I believe God looked down and said, "I’ve got to save that little guy." Wednesday night I remember going to bed with the words of the missionary on my heart and ringing in my ears, "If God calls you, you’ll go to the ends of the earth for Him." And my last thought was, "Fat chance, God." All I can guess is that some time during the night, God must have sent His Holy Spirit to minister to me because when I woke up that morning, I realized that something had changed in my life. I made a b-line for that missionary, and I said, "Whatever you have in your life, I want." And there, on a warm July morning, I knelt and asked Jesus Christ to be my Lord and my personal Savior. And that indeed is what has happened.
When you can’t see God at all, even when your eyes and your ears can pick up no sense of God, know the truth. God is searching for you. And what God searches for, God finds. The bible tells us that you are like a lost coin, a lost sheep, or a lost son and God is like a father, a shepherd and widow who will not stop looking for what has been lost. When you cannot find God, God will find you..
Growl #3 "As Your Days are Numbered So Shall Your Strength Be." Deut. 33:3
Let me tell you a story. I remember a time when I was going through seminary when things got pretty tough. My wife and I moved to Minneapolis, so that I could attend seminary. By the fall of 1993 however, things had come to a complete stop. I was working two jobs, and trying to go to school. And there just seemed like there was no hope of finishing seminary. In fact, we decided that if something didn’t happen soon I was going to have to give up being a pastor. The stress quite frankly was killing me. We thought surely now God would hear our cry to him and deliver us.
Only he didn’t, and things got worse. In late, January I went in for a little dental work. I had a cavity they filled. This little filling turned into a root canal. The root canal turned into an infected jaw. I spent twenty one days sleeping in a chair because the pain kept me awake. The pain was so bad that tears would involuntarily roll down my cheeks. I had read somewhere about a guy that had taken a shot gun and tried to shoot a tooth out of his mouth, and nearly blew his head off. This guy started looking like a genius to me. Surely now God would hear my cry, and deliver me.
Only he didn’t, and things got worse. During finals, I was subpoenaed to testify in Seattle. I had to be gone a week. Then a major computer system I was supporting crashed, and I spent a month working 80 hour weeks, then my three children got the chicken pox. My old, faithful car finally breathed its last. So, I bought a used car. Twenty-four hours later, it threw a rod, and blew the engine. Only after a near court battle with the dealer did I get my money back. Surely now God would hear my cry, and deliver me.
Only he didn’t, and things got worse. When I finally got my money back for the car I had bought, I had enough with used cars. So, I bought a new 1993 Dodge Shadow. Well I’m sitting at an intersection in St. Louis Park, and I notice the car in front of me has pulled to far out into the intersection. So she does what we usually do in this circumstance. She puts the car in reverse and gently backs up. Well, I noticed that she didn’t take the car out of reverse. So I figure hey this is easy to take care of so I honk my horn at her and go like this (gesture). She thinks I’m making an obscene gestured to her and makes one back. You can see her mind work at this point. She figures I’m going to show him. When the light turns green I’m going to floor it, and rip out of here. You guessed it, $2300 dollars worth of damage on my new car.
Some time after that, I remember lifting my fist toward heaven in anger saying, "God, here I am faithfully doing what you have called me to do. Where in the world are you?" And I stayed angry and mad at God for quite a few days. In fact, the days turned into months. It didn’t get better until finally one day I told this story to a pastor friend of mine. And he asked if he could pray for me. And he prayed and as he stood up and put his hands on my head and said, "Child of God, by the grace and mercy of Almighty God, I pronounce your sins forgiven." I give you this promise, Christ who has been raised from the dead in power and in glory will never leave you nor forsake you and he will return to you’re your strength. Christ who has been raised from the dead in power and in glory will never leave you nor forsake you. I guess I believe that. I didn’t for a few months. But, I do again.
Eventually, strength returned. And interestingly enough, my wife says, "that it was during those dark months that God turned this speaker into a preacher." No - God did not come and help us in the way that we thought He would, but be provided me with the strength to get through. He always does.
Conclusion
Three Great Truths to GROWL over. Three great truths to meditate upon. Three great truths that will get you through difficult times.
Don’t go through things alone.
When you cannot find God, God will find you.
As your days are numbered so shall your strength be.
