Despite the Circumstances

Life is not a smooth road. There are twists and turns; delay signs; changes of lanes; detours; fender benders, and even worse---injuries or fatalities. The old black and white movies, of long ago, are not really a true representation of what life is all about. It isn’t always true that the main character, dressed in white, will go through hardship (caused by someone in black) but will be vindicated in the end. We're always thrilled in the closing scene when we watch the heroine, and perhaps her hero, live happily ever after.

I saw hundreds of those scenes and I loved watching the resolving of every hurt and every issue. Years later, I came to clearly understand that this perception just is not real life. However, I am not “doing” life all alone. The reason is I came to the point where I needed Jesus. I knew with certainty that I stood in need of Him, not just to go to heaven someday but I was also desperate for His help to live out this life- day by day- moment by moment. I saw and understood that He, as God, had stepped down from heaven to die on the cross for my sins. That momentous decision, based on the Bible, the Word of God, has impacted my life both now and forever.However, prior to that, I trudged along with some preconceived ideas that if you always do the right thing, things will always turn out well and be easy. Consequently, I was really shaken up by a big reality check. I was making the correct choices but things were not working out as I thought they should. This put me in a precarious position. I was between a rock and a hard place. It was hard, as I tried to place each puzzle piece so that it would fit perfectly into the picture of my life, and the last piece still wouldn't go. That did not make sense to me in any way! So, I pushed to make it work, only wearing myself out trying with my own efforts and strength.

Another element is that now, in our current day to day living, we seem to have two goals...we want it NOW (no waiting permitted) and we want it fast. A couple of generations ago, people actually spent time rocking on their porches; talking to their neighbors; and, eventhough they lacked the convivences of electric dishwashers, self propelled vacuums, and even modern washers and dryers, they still hung their laundry to line dry on Monday, ironed on Tuesday, etc. When tough times, like the depression came, they did what they had to do and the best they could. I never heard my mom once complain about her lot in life during those times. When she went to church and knelt at the altar, she simply crossed one foot over the other, to hide the shoe with the hole with the cardboard insert in it. She and my dad even shared a home with another couple. My father brought home a beef bone, with some meat on it, and the other couple contributed the vegetables. These ingredients made a tasty soup that lasted for days. It was hard times to go through, however they resolved to go through it and they did.We, on the other hand, have expectations. We complain because we live with the consequences of our choices. We grumble when we’re blocked in any way. We complain when we must wait. We think life should be fair and when it is not, (and often, it won’t be) we get resentful and angry.

There are, however, people I've seen, in present times, that live and think in a different way. One lives with Parkinsons disease which has ever so slowly diminished what she can and cannot do.Another man ran each day and ate the right foods, only to find he has a rare disease that has taken a toll on his life.One woman had a husband who left one day, with only his suitcase, while her young son cried and begged him to stay. He still closed the door, walked away and never looked back.Then there is the lady whose husband cruelly demanded constant care. He wasn’t easy to deal with because he was ever so needful, even hateful, yet she ran the race and stayed the course with him until his dying day.Another woman lives with seizures and is no longer able to perform the medical care she loves and is trained for.One man must deal with an unreasonable former wife as he watches his two kids shift from home to home. He is trying to establish stability and security but it's not easy.There's also a man who lives with an aneurism in his aorta. He knows, that as it expands he could face death or a major surgical repair at any moment. He and his wife treasure each day together!One lady has tried to reach out to her family repeatedly, however they don't have time to respond to a simple text or voicemail. The excuse they give is that they are too busy. Although this is hurtful, she forgives them and moves forward.Lastly, there is the one who lives with almost constant pain. When the pain keeps her from sleeping, she prays for others. She is a prayer warrior and heaven holds a reward for her faithfulness. These are but a few of the people God has mercifully brought into my life.

These people I have introduced to you are not superheroes. They are modern day men and women who live their daily lives with hard situations that impact every second of their daily lives. They could not have imagined the lots in life that have come to them. However, when they did, they have stepped up to the plate of life, stayed in the game and are running well around the bases. It’s not that they are great in and our themselves. Rather, they are surrendered to Jesus. They share factually that this or that is hard, but they aren’t whining. They want something or someone to be restored, but they realize that is outside of their scope of control. MOST IMPORTANTLY, they are relying on the Lord Jesus to give them strength, forgiveness, and hope. It's not that they haven’t shed their tears, it's just they have relied on the Lord Jesus to give them strength, forgiveness, and hope for the future. It's not that they haven’t prayed for a different lot in life, it's just they have also relied on the faithfulness of God. They have chosen well, and it was a choice.

When life falls apart, hurts come that are beyond words, goes straight down hill, it is not a time, excuse, or reason to choose poorly. We're still responsible for the decisions we make. Hard stuff doesn’t give us a license to come up with unholy, unwise, unhealthy and/or ill-advised resolutions. It is a determination to set our minds (and focus) on what we have, not on what we don't have or have lost. It is a determination that, I am not the only one going through this or that, and I’m not alone, because Jesus is with me, and He is with you too. He will never leave us. He is the difference to how we go through life.

What is your circumstance in life? Do you live with an unreasonable spouse? Do you have a husband, wife, or child in need of constant care? Did you get some life-threatening news from your doctor? Maybe your blood work isn’t normal; scans are revealing an abnormal mass; or an MRI scan shows a small blood vessel leakage in your brain and you've been having mini strokes. Have you been deserted by a trusted friend? That friend you considered to be family, but they have faded into the sunset for a reason known only to them. You certainly didn’t see that coming and yet it came. Or maybe your place of employment has suddenly let you go. Had they forgotten about the times you came in when others called in? Did they forget about the two feet of snow you shoveled just to make it to work? Few others braved driving in a snowstorm for work, but you did. So, what did that profit you now?The possibilities are endless. The question is not if the tough times will happen, they will, but will these disappointments, unexpected events, hurts, etc. lead us to despair, OR will we choose to continue? It really comes down to a choice that we alone can make. We have to be focused on the long road ahead. We must ignore the noise of this world because those messages are often not based on truth. We need to continue to move toward the mark of the highest calling...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

It often occurs to me that there may be one person, or many, who have never come to the place of putting their trust in Jesus Christ alone to go to heaven. Or perhaps you've never heard the message of the truth that Jesus is truly God who took on human flesh so that He could die on the cross for our sins. Sin separates us from a holy God. However, Jesus paid the ultimate price by suffering for our sins so that we might be made righteous. We know this is true because we are told in the Bible in John 3:16 that this was God's plan to redeem us from our sins. Jesus paid our debts, but it cost Him the greatest suffering of all...the pain that we deserved. And it was all out of selfless love.

As with each issue of "One by Faith", I want to express my sincere thankfulness that you've read it! If it's blessed your heart, please pass it on!

May you be blessed!