Stress

 Good afternoon.

 Sometimes, regardless of your place in life…whether younger or older, working or retired, raising kids or done with that part of life, married or single…regardless of your place in life, there are times when the stresses of everyday modern life seem to pile up.  Those stresses could be in the form of family relationships, financial issues, work-related issues, or health concerns.  Or they could be some of any number of other issues and concerns.  They could be of your own making, or they could be entirely outside of your control.

 The stress and strain you are feeling could be relatively mild, or it could be pretty much overwhelming.  However, when things seem to begin piling up in life, even the mild stresses can seem to be insurmountable.  The human body can handle only so much of that kind of thing before it begins to rebel.  If allowed to go too far, the body can literally shut down in many key areas, rendering someone pretty much non-functional.

 Dealing with the stresses of life are part of life and living.  It really doesn’t matter if you’re in a Western culture like ours, or if you’re living in a third world area.  The cause of the stress may be different, but it’s there nevertheless.  How one deals with stress is vital to the well-being of the human that is being stressed.

 So, how do you handle stress?  Some work out physically in some way…jogging, the “Y,” sports, or other forms of physical exertion.  Others act in a more subdued manner…reading a book, listening to music, being in nature, going on a drive, or visiting a friend.  Some will find other outlets…shopping, playing games, eating, going to a movie, or something comparable.

 I like to sit out in my back yard and just watch and listen.  Even in cooler or warmer weather, I like to take in the nature that is there and in the park just behind our rear fence.  I also like to go for a drive at times, mostly in rural areas.  Music is an escape for me as well.  Sometimes songs of faith and praise…sometimes the classics…sometimes easy listening.

 Whatever your way of dealing with the stress of the day, doing so is vital to your well-being and overall health.  Don’t cut short your stress-relieving activities.  Don’t continue to pile stress on top of stress without relief.  Your body can take so much…then it will say, “No, I’m not going any farther.  You’ll just have to do without me.”  Then you are forced to deal with it whether you want to or not.

 One thing I haven’t yet mentioned as a stress reliever is something that works surprisingly well.  Many people read.  Some read history; some fiction; some biographies.  A surprising number of people open their Bibles and read chapters and even entire books from the Bible.  It can be an extremely good way to turn down the stress level and find some answers to what is the bother.

 My goal with this thought was to help you as you navigate the stresses and strains of life.  May God bless you in the days ahead.

The Last Move

 We have been friends with our neighbor immediately to our south ever since we’ve lived where we do now…going on 18 years.  Sharon and Rick have been good neighbors for us, and we hope they feel the same about us.

Rick and Sharon were the developers and contractors that built all of Shelly’s Orchard Addition where we live.  There are three or four basic home designs in the area.  The houses are well-built, sturdy, roomy, and the neighborhood is quiet and peaceful.  There is an HOA, but Rick is the only officer, and he has chosen over the years to not be picky.  We pretty much police ourselves in the neighborhood, and get along pretty well, overall.  We’ve learned that eccentricity usually is not something that should be concerning to us, that other cultures can and do enhance the “flavor” of the neighborhood, and that we indeed are our neighbor’s keeper at times.

Rick has had ongoing, chronic medical issues over the years, and is now in a care facility.  Sharon is in good health and continues to live at the house next door.

Yesterday Sharon was having a garage sale, getting rid of some items no longer needed.  I wandered over there before coming to work, and we visited a bit.  During the conversation, she told me that she would be moving and selling the house in a year or so.  We visited a bit more, then we excused ourselves and I came in to work.

On the way in, I thought about Sharon and Rick no longer being next door to us.  Then I thought of all of the other changes in home ownership in the neighborhood.  Only a few of the homes within a couple of blocks of us are occupied by the same people who were there when we moved in.  When those others moved away, I didn’t think a lot about it other than we were going to miss them, their kids, or some other aspect of their having been in the neighborhood.

But when Sharon said she was moving, it hit me a lot harder.  Rick and Sharon have, at least to me, been the anchors of the neighborhood.  They have always been friendly, helpful, and pleasant.  The creators of the whole addition, Rick and Sharon have provided dozens of families houses that have become homes.  They have provided new neighborhood friendships.  They have expanded our world views.  They have enabled Pat and me to minister to several in the neighborhood, including them, when some kind of need came up.  Whether they realize it or not, they have made the world a better place for many of us, and have given us in these past 18 or so years the home we really needed at this stage in life.  The entire neighborhood owes a debt of gratitude to them.

I also thought about the fact that in life, whether we like it or not, things never stay the same.  They always are in a state of change.  Oh, one may not see any changes over a 24 hour period, or over a week, or even a month.  But change is there, slowly and surely doing its work.  Life may appear to be rocking along in some kind of constant mode, much like many of the comic strips in the newspaper era did…no one aged…no one died…no one moved.  For those who remember, think Beetle Bailey.  Think Blondie.  Think Dick Tracy.  Think Peanuts.  But real life isn’t like that.  We may appear to be like we were years ago, but then suddenly, we see the change taking place right out in the open.  We see the moving van backed up to the garage door.  We see the neighbors drive away for the last time.  And we know that change has been constantly working over the years, bringing life to this point in time.

And those thoughts brought me to this:  One of these days, Pat and I will leave our home on Lydia for the last time.  We’ll either leave in a car, an ambulance, or a hearse.  We’ll move to a patio home, a nursing home, or some other place that we’ll do our best to make our home.  Or maybe just one of us will leave to create a new home.  The other will have passed on to eternity.  And a new family will move into the house we’ve enjoyed for these years, and they will then enjoy the fish pond, the park, the neighbors, the fire pit, and all the rest.

I know this Thought has not been all that upbeat.  But that’s what I’m thinking and feeling today.  Life goes on.  Things change. 

And, on a related thought, I thought about how things naturally move, over time…sometimes a long time, into a state of disorder.  That’s called entropy, and there’s a physical law which describes it.  It’s called, the Second Law of Thermodynamics. 

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington is quoted as saying this about entropy, “The law that entropy always increases, holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of nature.”  Unquote.

 But hen we bring God into the equation, things suddenly change and entropy doesn’t get the last move.  Farmer Girl, a young woman I follow on social media, said this recently when writing about change, disorder, and the second law.  I really like her take on change and chaos and how God views it.  She writes this piece that I will quote.  In the quote, she references the card game UNO.

   Yes, the world right now may feel like a game where someone keeps stacking wild cards and you are questioning all of your life choices while holding a hand that makes no sense.  Everything around you may currently be trending toward chaos because that is literally how this broken world operates, and there is no denying that reality.  But entropy only gets a say in the process and it does not get the last move.

 God does.

 So, friend, as you contemplate the change in your life and the lives of those you know and love, also know that God always gets the last word.  God always gets the last move.  God always wins.

 Blessings,

God's Pathway

 We've lived at our current home for 18 years, which, in case you don't know yet, backs up to the west side of Pawnee Prairie Park in west Wichita.  The park is over a mile and a half long and a mile wide.  Kellogg is the north edge.  The south edge is well beyond Pawnee, which does NOT cut into the park.  East is Tyler Road and the airport, and to the West the park goes to just East of Maize Road.  The Cowskin creek runs through the middle of the park.  There are several walking/riding paths in the park...some of which are paved and really easy to find and enjoy.  Others are more inside the park...in the woods...sometimes in the thick of the woods.  The paths inside the woods are many and varied, with most of them connecting or crossing in some way with one or more other paths.

I've walked most all of the paths of the park.  I know where they commence and where they end or connect with another path.  I can take you on these paths to areas of the park where you think you're miles from any civilization.  No signs.  No paved paths.  No visual clues as to where you are or what direction you're facing.  No homes, vehicles, or other people are visible or heard.

I’ve taken my grand kids into the park on those inside pathways on numerous occasions.  They enjoy exploring them, and will stop at each intersection of pathways to ask me which way to go.  Sometimes, I tell them directly.  Other times, I let them choose, because I know where each path goes, and know we will eventually arrive at the place where I want to end up.

We can walk for 20, 25, or 30 minutes and will, because I know where the pathways go, eventually arrive at a place inside the park where some paths cross that are seemingly very far from any sign of civilization.  That place is a favorite of mine…one that I know well.  At that spot, you would never know, unless you could see the sun, hear an aircraft take off from the airport, or hear Kellogg traffic, which is rare, where you were or which path to take if you wanted to exit the park.  I do know.  And I also know that at that place in the park that seems so far from any sign of civilization, that we are only about three minutes from our back yard.

The path to our back yard is one that is strewn with fallen tree limbs and dead branches.  It's one of the more difficult paths in the park because of all of the debris along the way.  Yet, and this is important, the place where we're standing at that path crossing, deciding which path to take…that place is only 2 ½ minutes away from our back yard IF we take the right path.  That right path, strewn with obstacles, will get us to the house and to civilization within a very few short minutes.

So, why do I tell you this?  Well, let's look at a life lesson or two.  We may be in the middle of what we think is a no-win situation...no way out...no compass to guide us...no help to get us to a better place.  We may look around us and see nothing but darkness and obstacles.  We don’t know which direction to go when presented with several possible paths.  We can't (figuratively speaking) see the sun to get our bearings or hear the aircraft take off from the nearby airport to have some idea where we are.  We are lost.

However, in reality, we may well be only a couple of minutes away from that better place.  The path there may have downed tree trunks and branches galore, so to speak, but if we trust someone we know who knows the way and take that path they suggest, we may well break out into the sunshine very shortly.

Now, if you get the drift of my words, please don't think that I am equating myself with God here as someone who can lead you out of your predicament.  I just happen to be one in my story who knows where the paths go and where we are in the park.  I know that I myself have called on God more than once while in the park when dusk has fallen more quickly than I expected, and I wasn't sure I could see the landmarks that I needed in order to maintain my bearings.  I've never been lost, but have had some, shall we say stressful minutes as I made my way out with, I believe His guidance.

And, I certainly have called on Him in life’s trials, not knowing where to take that next step…not knowing what decision to make…not knowing how it will turn out…unable to see the landmarks that tell me where to go.  And much of the time as I look back in life, I see things didn’t turn out as I thought they would or should…we usually ended up in a better place than what I would have found had I not listened to the One who sees the beginning and the end.  God’s pathway out was sometimes a difficult one…but was the right one.

I don't know what you're going through right now.  It could be financial difficulty.  It could be medical, relational, vocational, school-related, or one of any number of difficult situations.  But often, if we will just, as the old saying goes, “Let go and let God,” we may find that obstacle-strewn path to be the one that will bring us to a better place and a better time.  It's the “letting go,” that is difficult.  It is giving up control, giving up trying to finagle, a word I like to use, things so they will turn out as we think they ought.

Our God is willing and able to give you a pathway out.  His path out may be his telling you, “My grace is sufficient for you,” and allowing the difficulty to refine and purify you for a time.  Or it may be some kind of direct intervention to relieve you of your difficult situation.  I've had both of those answers in my days on earth.

But, God is always, always faithful.  Even in the middle of great trial, God is faithful.  God is good.  Look for His path out, even if it appears to be a path to nowhere strewn with all kinds of obstacles, instead of trying to find your own, obstacle free pathway.  Because God sees it all.  He knows the best way forward.

 

Blessings,

Promises Kept

Sometimes when I’m in the pickup, I’ll turn the radio to the BBN (Bible Broadcast Network) radio station in this area.  They often have a period of hymns or spiritual songs which I enjoy.  They also play recordings of various ministers, generally of the more conservative persuasion.  Some I enjoy listening to…others, not so much.

One of the more enjoyable ministers who is on the station regularly is Adrian Rogers.  Rogers was a minister for one of the largest mega-churches in the nation in the late 20^th century.  He passed away in 2005, but his sermons have been preserved, and are played regularly on the station.

One particular sermon I recently heard was on how God answers prayer.  I believe Rogers said there were three main ways God answers.  One is he grants the prayer request.  A second way is he says to wait…that it’s not the right time for an answer.  And third, God says “No.”

When Rogers talked about the third answer…the “No,” answer, he used a passage in the New Testament where Paul the apostle asked God several times to remove what the Bible calls a “thorn in the flesh.”  God tells Paul that he won’t do that…he won’t remove the thorn…and says to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

I’ve known of that part of scripture where Paul and God have a conversation about Paul’s disability, for a long, long time.  I’ve always concentrated my thoughts on what that “thorn in the flesh” might have been.  Most commentaries and scholars believe Paul had some kind of physical infirmity that he wanted God to heal.  I agree.  That seems to be the obvious thing.

But this time, when I heard Rogers speak about this story, something else came to mind.  I too have a “thorn in the flesh.”  It’s called arthritis.  It’s with me every waking hour of the day.  I take medication for it, exercise, and see a medical provider when necessary.  Some days, it’s hardly noticeable.  Other days, I am acutely aware of it.

God’s response to Paul may just be God’s response to me as I deal with not only the arthritis, but some of the other issues of aging.  “My grace is sufficient for you.”  Not only do I need to know that intellectually, but I also need to take that statement into a more heartfelt way.

And may I say I also need to take that statement into myself in a practical way as well.  God has graciously (that’s His grace working in me [”My grace is sufficient for you.”]) is providing medicines, therapies, and other ways to help mitigate the effects of the arthritis and other effects of aging.  God is not abandoning me.  He is not saying, “No, just endure it without relief.”  He is not healing me, but he is providing mitigating factors that I can take advantage of.

One other thing.  I have to wonder if God sometimes intends to allow life in the here and now to be less than comfortable.  I wonder if he does this so we will not be so enamored with this world that we long for it rather than longing for the new heavens and new earth that He has promised for those who have submitted their lives to Jesus Christ.  Because there are some days when it hurts that I think about a day when I’ll no longer feel that hurt, but will be able to truly enjoy life in a way I have never done before.

“My grace is sufficient for you.”  Not an empty sentence at all.  But God letting Paul know, and by extension all the rest of us, that He knows, He hears, He cares, and He asks us to long for the not yet…not so much the here and now.

That’s a hard pill to swallow.  The here and now is, well, so here and now.  It’s what we are experiencing at the moment.  The future seems so far off at times.  We are at our basic nature, creatures of the moment.  And God’s promises of relief and future happiness are sometimes lumped in with all of the other promises we’ve been given over the years by people…promises that are sometimes kept, and sometimes totally ignored.  We know that our track record with promises made to us is sometimes not very good.  Many are kept.  Some are not.  So why would we want to go all-in on God’s promises to us?

I have no magic answer to that.  What I do have is a record of His promises made to others…and in that same record the account of God keeping those promises...each and every one.

Joshua, in his final words to the nation of Israel following their taking of the promised land recounted God’s promises to the nation and then said this:  “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”  There are dozens of places in the Bible which say essentially the same thing regarding God keeping his promises.  It is that kind of example that keeps me in hope that some day my shoulder will no longer ache, my back will no longer hurt, and my hands will work as intended.

God’s grace in all of this is in part, I believe, His promise of a better future.  His grace enables us to look at the big picture, and as Paul the apostle says, persevere through these, “Light momentary afflictions, which are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”  Paul was secure in hope.  May I be even half as secure in hope as the great apostle.

And, may God shed his grace upon you today.  Blessings.