This weekend was what I will call, a broad experience. It started with a study of Isaiah 15 and 16. A discussion on God’s faithfulness and our ability to ignore His blessings and ignore His messages. I will say, very esy to talk about. You just claim that you were a hypocrite and a sinner, everyone agrees and says So was I, and we all go home feeling like the loud protestations and exclamations meant that we were somehow changed.
I went from there to a polo match where I watched people strut around in their finery, pretending for a day that they were nobility out for a day at the fields. It was quite fun actually, although I had been there in the prior days helping set up. So I was technically the ‘help’ moonlighting as nouveau nobility. As I drove home I was pleased with the day. So much so that I stopped for ice cream with my wife.
As we sat listening to music from a live band performing near the ice cream shop, I saw a young child walk by. I said to my wife, that child looks lost. I was sure of it. But I did not get up and pursue or do anything, other than ignore the nagging in the back of my brain. When we were done, we started walking back to our car, and I suggested we go the long way around. Why? Because I knew that I was supposed to check on the child. Sure enough at the corner, looking down the road, there was the child looking around clutching a knapsack they had with them. My wife and I retrieved the child, found out that the child’s father was playing in the band and they were being watched by an older sibling, who had wandered into an arcade and hadn’t yet noticed his charge was missing. Once we reunited the the family I thanked God for the opportunity to help and that we were in the right place. A good day, a blessed day. And now off to….
The phone buzzed. My wife’s friend is in trouble. The day was not over. For the next three hours I became the scullery maid, cooking dinner, changing diapers, helping put pajamas on, building a campfire to entertain some young boys. Telling stories, washing dishes. Now in the past, when God rang, I would have let it go to the answering machine. It was always easier to explain to someone what I would have done, that to actually do. To criticize myself during the monday morning session. This is what the Pharisees were accused of. Studying but not doing.
Christianity is not something we need to study as much as we to DO. It is something we need to be known for. God gave us an imperfect world, because in a perfect world we wouldn’t have a chance to imitate God. There would be no reason to take care of the sick, there would be no poverty, there would be no requirement to be patient, compassionate, or forgiving. A preacher friend of mine told me that he was in a crowd of people and told someone he was a christian, the response was What kind? That struck him as a sad commentary on christianity. I look at myself and wonder, How many people know that I am a Christian because of how I act? And how many would be surprised to know I am a Christian by the way I act?
Talking about Christ is not imitating Christ. When you have problems… pray. When people ask your problems, say I don’t really have any, I have Jesus. Live your faith. Which is hard. It requires patience and courage. Its not easy when adversity seems so close to trust in God rather than yourself. God wants us to be proactive, but He also wants us to trust in His ways. Even when they are not apparent or clear. I have seen God work miracles, the didn’t always come right away, but when they came they were at the right moment. As I write this I am recalling moments when my words fell on my own deaf ears, where my impatience or my decision to trust myself instead of God produced an immediate result, that wasn’t good for me in the end. Failure has brought me wisdom, failure has taught me to trust and be patient.
My father made me memorize a poem when I was small.
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit – rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst, you must not quit.
Pray, smile, laugh… and pray again
The musings of Peter 