camel eye

All God’s chil’n got problems. He tells us to expect them. It would be nice if God came with “Insurance”: the promise of reimbursement in case of loss, pain, disability, and suffering. What He gives is “Assurance”: freedom from death and doubt. We still have to deal with what is dealt us on Earth.

Problems in our business and personal lives are of two basic types. Most of the day-to-day distress is the result of our own free will and our own poor choices. But what about innocent suffering? Things we have no control over? Why does God allow it?

First, it allows us to build our faith and strength: to re-focus on Him. It steadies you. One of the most distressing events in business is processing a payroll when a dozen families depend upon a check and there is not enough money in the bank to cover them. You go through a time like that and you’re all panicky; then the Lord stills the storm and you think, “Thank God that’s all over. I’ll never have to go through that again! I’ve learned my lesson!” And two weeks later, there is another storm. But this time you’ve been through it once, so you steady up a bit. You don’t get so panicky. You learn something. You learn about the strength of God and are reminded that He will meets our needs in the hour of need. And sometimes, it is literally the last hour! Through faith, you turn to God for strength. You learn to receive.

Second, our suffering and distress matures us. God is building you up so he can hold you up and say, “He’s approved, he’s tested.” God is in the process of making veterans. A veteran has been through something and has been tested and proven.

Second Corinthians 1:8-10:

I think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard time that we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead. And he did help us, and he saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect him to do it again and again. {2 Cor 1:8-10 Living Bible}

Now, that’s a veteran speaking. He’s been through some tough things, but he knows that God can take him through them, and he will. He isn’t saying, “It’s all over.” No, he is saying, “There’s more coming, but God will take us through.” That’s a veteran.

Third, it’s a way for God show his grace. You learn something about the Lord: you learn how gracious he is. You learn that he can handle events in ways that you couldn’t dream of or anticipate. You see him work things out in ways that you could never have guessed. So the third and fourth times a trial comes up, you are steadier. You don’t panic, you don’t bail out. You stay under and let it work itself out.

In times of great grace, it’s easy to forget that distress is to be expected. It’s not strange, it’s normal. It’s not a surprise, it’s promised to happen.

First Peter 4:12

“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is coming upon you to test you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”

James 1:

“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various tribulation.”

Heb. 12:11:

“No discipline for the present is pleasant. But afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it,”.

Right at the moment of hurt, we are not going to feel like rejoicing, but it should soon follow that we rejoice in our suffering. And that is what Paul plainly says: “We also rejoice in suffering.”

What is rejoicing? It’s not simply stoicism. It is not simply a ‘grin and bear it’ attitude, or ‘tough it out’ and see how much you can take, or ‘just hang in there until it’s over’, or ‘don’t let anything get you down,’ or ‘keep a stiff upper lip.’ It’s not endurance or acceptance or resignation.

When I’m having a really trying day, I say to myself, “at least I’m not pregnant.” It reminds me that things could be worse and whatever is happening is not as bad as I might make it out to be. But, pregnancy is an excellent example of rejoicing in suffering. Several months of pain leading to the extreme pain of labor and delivery. Many a brave man has face-planted the floor from the mere sight of it! And yet, there is joy in it because she knows that childbirth produces children. It is the child that makes it all worthwhile. Women will gladly go through it again because they want a child. Suffering produces something worthwhile. That is rejoicing in suffering.

Romans 5:1-5: 1

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

The right attitude is critical if you want to ultimately benefit from the problems you face. You can let your problems destroy you, or you can use them to become a stronger and better person. Every day, the alarm goes off, you get out of bed, and you decide how you will handle your problems.

We rejoice in suffering, because there are certain benefits that we can claim whenever we are faced with it.

Suffering helps us handle pressure. It gives us character. When we weather storms, we have a chance to prove to the world what we’re made of, and prove to the world what God is made of and how He is faithful to protect us through trials.

Suffering produces an attitude of confident optimism, because once you have suffered you realize that problems aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. I taught myself to water ski on hydrofoils. I tore my elbows, wrenched my back, and broke my left foot. I couldn’t wait to heal to do it again. I wasn’t afraid of the pain I had already faced. When you stay with it, you become stronger and your problem becomes weaker.

Still, some days I loose focus so there is a reminder taped on my monitor, Psalms 118:24: this is the day the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it. God never promised it would be easy. Suffering and distress are attitudes. We look in the mirror and see “O poor me.” Be the mirror; not the image. People look at us and see God in the way we respond to suffering. It’s an opportunity to glorify God and that is a gift.

I’m not rich.  I’m Mr. Middle class income.   Being self employed, there can be some really good years.  There can also be some with negative income for the whole year!  Rich guys have jets and island getaways.  Not me.  I ought to slide right through the eye of that needle.  Maybe how rich we are depends on our threshold of what we consider “rich”.  Consider, if we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, there would be:

57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from North and South America, 8 Africans

52 would be female, 48 would be male

70 would be non Christian, 30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual, 11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 60% of the entire wealth and all 6 would be from the U.S.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth

1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education

We are too too blessed to be stressed.  I’m so rich I don’t even know it.  The poorest person in America is incredibly rich!

I woke up this morning with more health than illness.  I’m already richer in health than the 1 million who will not survive this week.

I’ve never experienced  imprisonment, torture, or starvation.  I’m already richer than 500 million people in the world.

I can attend church without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death.  I’m richer than three billion people in the world.

I have food in the refrigerator, clothes on my back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep.  I’m richer than 75% of this world.

I only have a couple of bucks in the bank, $27 in my wallet, and spare change in my glove box.  I’m among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

I can read a Bible verse.  I’m richer than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

We are too blesssed to be stressed.  Keep it in perspective.  When Jesus talks of the difficulty for a rich man entering Heaven,  He’s talking to me.
Check out www.nationmaster.com for some more eye openers.

A professor taught the required survey course in Christianity at a college. Every student was required to take this course their freshman year.   Many students looked upon the course as required drudgery.

One year prof had an athlete named Steve.  He met with Steve and found Steve did 200 pushups every night.  The prof asked Steve if he could he do 300?  In sets of 10.  Steve had never tried that but figured he might be able to, in sets of 10.  They agreed on a special class project - a party on friday.

Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts:  extra fancy big ones with cream centers and frosting swirls.  Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in class.   The prof went to the first girl in the first row and asked, ‘Cindy, do you want to have one of these donuts?’  Cindy said, ‘Yes.’

Prof turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cindy can have a donut?”   “Sure.”   Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk and the prof put a donut on Cindy’s desk.

Prof then went to the next person, and asked, “Joe, do you want a donut?”  Joe said, “Yes.”  Prof asked, “Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?” Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut.

Walking down the second aisle, he came to Scott.  When the professor asked, “Scott do you want a donut?”  Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own pushups?”  The prof said, “No, Steve has to do them.”   Scott said, ‘Well, then I don’t want one.”  The Prof shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?” Steve did ten pushups. The prof put a donut on scott’s desk.  Scott said, “Hey, I said I didn’t want one.”  The prof  said, “this is my classroom, my donuts, and my rules.  Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.”by this time, Steve had begun to slow down. He just stayed on the floor between sets. You could start to see a little perspiration on his face.

The prof started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little antsy.  The prof asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a donut?”  Jenny said, “No.” Then prof asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten more pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten….Jenny got a donut.

By now, it’s a pretty uneasy room. All the students were saying “No” and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get those pushups done for each donut. There’s pool of sweat on the floor, his arms are shaking, he’s all red.

The prof started down the fourth row. During the class, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps to see what was going on.   There were now 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

The prof  went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, “NO, don’t come in Stay out!” Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, “No, let him come.” The prof said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?” Steve said, “Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut.”

The prof said, “Jason, do you want a donut?” Jason, new to the room, didn’t know  what was going on. “Yes,” he said, “give me a donut.”  “Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?” Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

The prof finished the fourth row, and then started on the visitors. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself.   Sweat was shooting off of him.  There was no sound except his gasping for breathe.

The very last two students in the room were two young women. Prof went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a doughnut?”  Linda sadly said, “No, thank you.”  The prof quietly asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?”  Steve did ten very slow and painful pushups for Linda.

Prof turned to the last girl, Susan. “Susan, do you want a donut?” Susan was crying.  “Prof, why can’t I help him?”  The prof said, “No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked my grade book. Steve is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He made a deal for your sakes.’

“Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?” As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, he collapsed to the floor.

And so it was, that our Savior on the cross, plead to his Father, ‘into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life.

Many of us leave our gift on the desk; uneaten.  Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.