In an age of lawlessness, feelings can conceive acts of violence. Whether its road rage, disputes between neighbors or workplace tensions, feelings provide individuals with an excuse for their behavior. Perhaps, this may explain Jesus’ harsh words in Matthew 5:21-26, comparing hatred with murder. Thus, if you sense anger beginning to consume your soul, think twice before giving into these desires.
King David provides a guideline for anyone who reaches a tipping point, as their feelings boil over. Psalm 35:13-14 displays the right way to respond to mistreatment from others. Despite how you really feel, there is a proper way to react to those in need, whether you like them or not. Essentially, David is illustrating a blue print of loving your neighbor as yourself, Matthew 22:39.
A generation ago, most American parents held a common value, relayed to their children weekly, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it!” Adults in the neighborhood weren’t afraid to discipline other kids on the block, correcting anyone who crossed the line of morality. Today, lawsuits, moral decay and a rejection of God has led many to follow their feelings. Yet, if you want to do what is right, remember the words of Micah 6:8, “act justly, love mercy and humbly walk with God.”
Whether you want to admit it or not, everyone has 3 things in common with Humpty Dumpty. First, at some point in time, you’ll find yourself living on the edge, trying to hang on or stay in control. Second, you will experience a great fall, either physically, spiritually or both. Finally, you’ll discover what it means to be helpless, needing someone else to put you back together.
In Psalm 31:12, King David compares himself to a piece of broken pottery, shattered into pieces. The apostle Paul found himself in a similar predicament, using a jar of clay to illustrate the emotions he endured, 2 Corinthians 4:7-9. C.S. Lewis referred to life as a car in Mere Christianity, trying to run on something other than petroleum, eventually breaking down since individuals didn’t follow the directions left behind by God. Before you get well, you must acknowledge that you can’t do it on your own, in need of a Savior to stitch you back together, John 3:16-17.
Behind childhood fairy tales like Humpty Dumpty lie painful truths. Solomon highlights this in Ecclesiastes 4:10 as friends are designed to pick us up when we fall. Without somebody to turn to, pity reigns on these poor souls. Therefore, if you’re hanging by a thread, lying in pain and waiting to be helped up, cry out to Jesus and He will put you back together, Luke 23:42-43.
Earlier today, I began to feel like Job, pondering when my recent streak of trials will end. While attending a friend’s concert this evening, enjoying the Raymond Lee Band, I sensed an answer coming from the Holy Spirit. If victories out numbered losses, individuals would not learn essential life lessons. Therefore, God allows losses to outweigh victories in life so that humility produces teachable moments.
As I read the book of Psalms, it appears King David does more complaining than celebrating. In the tough times. people are forced into a corner, revealing their true character. Behind the sadness and tears, rough circumstances leads troubled souls to trust in the Lord. Without failure. you don’t truly appreciate the good things in life.
Perhaps, this is the main message of James 1:2-4. After the storms of life fade from the horizon, souls are left to pick up the pieces. Subsequently, wisdom is gained through maturity and perseverance. Winning is nice, but sometimes victory hides flaws and imperfections. Thus, the Lord places losses in life more than victories so that Jesus’ power might be displayed in our weaknesses, 2 Corinthians 12:9.
In the film National Treasure, Nicolas Cage plays Benjamin Gates, a treasure hunter with a tarnished reputation. Despite trying to warn authorities, no one takes his threat serious, that the Declaration of Independence is in danger. In life, there are times when you reach a similar fate, when you’ve done everything you can think of, with nothing else to give.
The apostle Paul refers to these moments in life as periods of humility, 2 Corinthians 12:7-8. When you’re successful most of the time, individuals have a tendency to steal the spotlight from God by saying, “look at me!” Whether you’re watching the Olympics, professional sports and a high school game, the victor receives the spoils. However, behind the cameras, the losers are forced to face the fact they’re got good enough, with nothing left to give except reflecting on what went wrong.
Today, I find myself at the bottom of the barrel, leaning on the words of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. As much as I want to be magically healed and return to work now, I am stuck with an aging imperfect body which need times to be restored. Thus, I have nothing else to give except time. In my weakness, Christ needs to be strong, to carry me through the frustration of being helpless. When you’ve got nothing left to give, lean on God’s power to lift you up each time you fall!
Depending upon the compound or matter, melting points vary reaching 2500 degrees Fahrenheit for steel, 113 for wax and a mere 32 for ice to begin to melt. However, if you referring to the melting point of individual’s, this fluctuates daily as each day provides various fuels to ignite or cool someone off before tempers flare. Essentially, there is only so much a person can take before they snap, as the emotions inside boil over at, into and toward another soul who just happened to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
From a spiritual perspective, the melting point can also refer to depression, when someone has suffered so much heart ache that their desire for caring melts away like a candle without any more wax or wick. Thus, a callous heart is formed, afraid to love or let love in, unwilling to be burned again. King David eludes to this in Psalm 22:14, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax, it has melted away within me.” When you feel that God has forgotten about you or passed you over in favor of someone else, you may reach a similar melting point.
This same factor can also be applied to spiritual fire, mentioned by a teenager pastor in 2 Timothy 1:6, a byproduct of putting into practice the gifts God has given you. Beside anger and depression, applying your talents daily can provide purpose for individuals looking to grasp one of life’s certainties. Despite what goes on around you, when you are in sync with God, the other things that use to bother you seem to fade. Therefore, as long you know your part in the concert of life, Romans 12:6-8, you’ll be able to distinguish what note to play and when to play it according to C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity. Until you discover this balance, you just might reach your melting point.
One of the cliches I heard way too often growing up was, “if the shoe fits wear it.” I’m still not exactly sure where this phrase originated or what it’s intended purpose served, yet I have learned to distinguish my strengths from my weaknesses over time. When it comes to death, dying, injuries and wheelchairs, I’m at a loss, leaving me uncomfortable and unqualified to handle these environments.
Perhaps, this may explain why God forced me to visit the other side of the street last week. When you reach a certain age, suffer a debilitating injury or endure an accident, these individuals all share something in common, they are helpless. As you enter this arena, self sufficiency is no longer an option with souls needing another person to help them up, take their hand and nurture them back to health. Normally a quick healer, this is mostly foreign to me except for a few broken bones here and a surgery there.
In biblical times, there were no nursing homes or retirement centers to spend your final years on earth. Your destiny was determined by your family, their generosity and wealth necessary to provide affordable care. As the modern family dissolves into some type of dysfunctional reality television show, its no wonder that the amount of beggars and homeless continue to increase, showing up at most busy intersections where I live. Abandoned by their families, friends and employers, these desperate people are like prodigal sons and daughters waiting for their father to welcome them back home. Until this day, those living on the other side of the street which need prayers, support and a helping hand to get them back on the road to recovery.
Since Thursday afternoon at 5pm, my life has been a whirlwind of emotions. After a successful second interview at Amazon on Wednesday, I sensed a promotion in the near future, trying to stayed reserved until I hear the news. A little more than 24 hours later, my focus switched toward a battle to live, unable to stand or breath on my own. One second I felt like I was having a heart attack, the next a CAT Scan revealed a pocket of blood around my lungs and liver.
For the past 3 days, I have had a tube sucking the blood out of these 2 areas trying to prevent infection. Until this improves, I am in limbo, getting stronger, but still waiting on my internal bleeding to stop. Unfortunately, my body is not healing as quick as it use to in the days of my youth. Thus, life has been put on hold temporarily, in God’s hand and in His time as I wrestle with the Fraility of the human heart.
God has taught me a subtle lesson these past few days, He’s in control no matter what I try to do. Though I usually try to speculate about the future, I am helpless, trusting in God’s grace to get me through this ordeal. Sooner or later, my odds of improvement increase, yet the Lord knows the next steps that I will take. As for now, time is the enemy, placing me behind where I want to be as the reality of life’s fraility has come crashing through the front door of my heart.
As the 2014 Winter Olympics begin Friday, February 7th in Sochi, Russia, I am reminded of the drama previous events have delivered. Whether it’s a human interest story, someone rising to the challenge of stiff competition or the 1980 United States Hockey Team who came out of no where to defeat the U.S.S.R. and earn a gold medal one game later. Thus, as viewers tune in from all over the world to watch next weekend, who will be the next star, who shocks their fellow competitors with one shining moment of gold.
Looking back on my not so allustrious athletic career, most of the sports I played in high school were held off sight in a relatively obscure locations like local golf courses and State Parks. The only sport I participated in with bleachers was swimming, my weakest talent by far. Yes, my 200 Individual Medal Relay did earn a bronze medal at the 1986 State Meet held at the University of Delaware’s pool, but my lack of speed cost us the gold. Yet, in one of my last high school races as a senior, God moved me to swim faster than I ever had before. Despite dabbling in butterfly, back and free style, the 100 yard breast was my strongest stroke and race.
Leading our arch rival Brandywine by a point heading into the final 2 events, I was facing a cross town swimmer who was 1 second faster on average throughout the season. Typically, the number 1 swimmer swam the inside lanes, a little faster than the 2 outside lanes due to the wake splashing back into swimmers. However, just before stepping on the starting block, their top breast stroker switched lanes to shadow me in lane 1. After 25 yards I was slightly behind, pulling even by the halfway mark. Since the bleachers were right on top of lane 1, I began to hear a roar from lane 2 as I approached the final turn. The noise of the crowd, filled me adrenaline, causing me to go faster and faster as I touched the final wall, finish line. As I looked up, the noise was deafening as members of the final relay applauded my victory by 4 seconds, shattering my PR by 3 seconds. In addition, our other swimmer passed both of Brandywine’s breast strokers in the final 5 yards to earn second and mathematically clinch the win.
As great as this experience felt, there is only one other shining moment that compares. While in college I was asked to help out at a lock-in by my high school swim coach who had become a youth pastor. During the festivities, I was drawn to a kid who was called Satan by his peers. Yeah, he had a mean streak inside of him that was pure evil, but the Holy Spirit moved me to minister to him. Layer by layer, like peeling an onion, God began to show me the defense mechanism that he had created to prevent his heart from being broken again. During an altar call late in the night, I led this young man to invite Jesus into his heart, Romans 10:9-10. Able to fulfill the words of James 5:19-20, I sensed another round of applause, this time from heaven. “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who do not repent,” Luke 15:7. May you experience multiple spiritual shining moments in not just during the Olympics, but throughout life.
Before the day’s of cell phones, internet and twitter, one of the most popular means of communication was CB radio. The 1977 classic Smokey and the Bandit starring Bert Reynolds glorified this coded form of conversation. In this film, Smokey referred to highway patrolmen, especially those setting speed traps for truckers. Snowman was Cledus’ handle, played by Jerry Reed, who drove an 18 wheeler full of 400 cases of Coors Beer and Bandit was Reynold’s nickname, who teamed up with fellow drivers to escape the police and fulfill their dare with Big and Little Enos, driving 2 vehicles from Georgia to Texas just in time for a big celebration.
In the 2003 Pilot episode, Amber Tamblyn plays Joan Girardi, a high school junior trying to comprehend God’s handle on life during Season 1 of Joan of Arcadia. Through a series of strange events, Joan’s not sure if she’s crazy, delirious or actually able to hear God speak. Afraid to tell others she is communicating with God, Joan starts to subtly ask others their opinions about the Lord’s existence, trying to make sense of her bizarre encounters. Finally, after obeying God’s first assignment slowly, she lays down to sleep, removing her headphones, hoping to discern God’s voice, waiting in silence, like an old CB radio with static.
The most difficult part of adjusting to God’s Handle, the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, 1 Kings 19:12, as your volume is not always tuned up. However, when you do make a conscience effort to hear God, sometimes you may want to turn the dial to another channel because you’re not happy with what you hear. This is where Free will enters the equation. If you are able to watch the first season of Joan of Arcadia, CBS and the writers of the show do a valiant job of illustrating moments of obedience and disobedience. Although the nature of God is flawed by Joan Osborne’s song “What if God was one of us,” the premise challenges the audience to ponder, “what’s God’s handle?”
Behind the facade, mirage and show played out in real life, lies imperfections tainted by sin. In the emergency room on Monday night, I was confronted by images of reality television. In fact, I haven’t scene this much diversity since I went to traffic court in Ohio following a head on collision in college. To my surprise, 3 Amish teenagers were arrested for driving their buggy’s while intoxicated after crashing into a neighbors yard. All you have to do is spend 1 day in the court and emergency rooms to see faults that were once hidden now out in the open for all to see.
I guess you can say I am not the most patient person in the world as demonstrated by my lead foot driving. However, my patience was put to the test last night as I felt like a cast member on the Jerry Springer show. I was surrounded by a woman involved in a domestic violence dispute and a boy who crashed his brother’s car driving without a license or insurance. Between complaining, distress and periodical groans, I felt like saying, “shut up and suck it up!” Common sense kept me from speaking my mind, but my heart was convicted by my inability to handle this trial with maturity.
Instead of using my accident to be a loving example of Christ, I turned into Oscar the Grouch. Perhaps, I should have ate a Snickers Bar. When push comes to shove, character rises to the surface and for me, I still have a long way to go. This crisis opened a fresh can of worms, exposing my hidden faults of impatience and selfishness. In the future, I must live out Psalm 19:13, so that I will flee from willful sins that can separate you from God. May the promise of James 5:16 set me free from my once hidden faults.
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