Daniel

 These past two weeks, our church has been having our auditorium pews re-upholstered.  The old upholstery is original, as I understand it…50 years old.  I know many churches are going with chairs in their auditoriums.  We also had the choice to do the re-upholstery or go with chairs.  We chose the upgrading of the existing pews.  The entire project is expected to be finished by tomorrow evening.

We hired a company who manufactures, repairs, and re-upholsters pews to do the job for us.  They have, as I understand it, three teams who do nothing but re-upholster and repair church pews, sending those teams out to churches all over the country for however long it takes to get the job done.  Our team has rented an Air BnB for the two weeks they are here, and have put in long hours getting the job done.

Of course, no job of any size will always go the way it is supposed to go.  There will always be things that crop up which were unforeseen…things that get in the way of efficient and timely completion of a job.  And those unforeseen things have been present in this job as well.

But the thing that I noticed when these things came up was the demeanor of the foreman of the crew.  Daniel has taken everything in stride.  He doesn’t get upset, at least outwardly.  He remains calm.  He has ideas and apparently the ability to fix the unforeseen.  He seems to be the epitome of calm in the storm of deadlines in danger of being missed and many plans disrupted by failing to complete the project on time.

Now, I don’t know Daniel, other than our interaction on this project.  But I enjoy working with him and know he will be a calm presence, and a resource for ideas that are practical and well thought-out.  His crew seems to respond well to him, and they continue to make progress even as the deadline for completion looms ever nearer.

I’m sure you’ve known of people who, when faced with the unforeseen, whether in work or in life, seem to come apart at the seams.  They fret and stew.  They moan and groan.  They make sure everyone knows about the difficulties they are facing at the time.  And, it seems, they have trouble coming up with a solution that will manage or remove the issue at hand.  Worry and drama seem to be their modus operandi.  They attempt to stir up everyone else into the same worry and drama as they themselves are in, and seem to want to live in that kind of environment.

And then there are the others…those like Daniel.  Those who, in a calm and collected manner, approach the unforeseen with what to me is no less than grace combined with resolve.  They quietly analyze, plan, and execute what they believe will be a solution to the problem.  The atmosphere they create is one of quiet competence and optimism.  They are a pleasure to work with and to be around.

I am reminded of many places in the Bible where worry is addressed.  Proverbs 3 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Psalms 46 reads this way: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”  In Psalm 94, David says this:  “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”  And last, but certainly not least, in Luke, Jesus says this about worry:  “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” 

I know everyone is wired differently.  I know some of us are more demonstrative of our emotions than others.  I know we all have different ways of coping with the unexpected…the unforeseen…the roadblocks, if you will, that come our way.  But when those things come into our lives, it might be good for us to look at the bigger picture…to see beyond the here & now and lean on our God for guidance and help in these times of trouble.  It seems to me that would be a much better plan than expending energy on worry and drama, getting everyone else worked up and worrying, and generally causing commotions rather than solving problems.

Daniel is someone we could and should emulate when it comes to worry and dealing with the unforeseen.  And Jesus is the one we need to hear when he tells us that we can’t add a single hour to our lives by worrying, so why are we worrying about all the other things in life.

 May you be blessed this day with peace and contentment.