No Trifling Hardship in His Eyes

When my old friend from the Nursing home answered the phone, his speech was slurred and he sounded awful.
"Comer! How are you?"
"Awful!"
"You don't sound so good!"
"No, it is the flu. The whole building is quarantined."
"So I guess our lunch outing is off this week? I am so sorry! Next week you will be better and we will go then."
"That would be good," he said, "I really need a milkshake with all the weight I have lost."
"Well I will call you at the end of the week and see how you are doing."
I got off the phone and hurried to get Asherel to her volunteer work at the horse farm. Driving home, I thought how happy it would make Comer for me to bring him and his dear wife Evelyn a milkshake. That is the favorite part of their outings with me. They suck down milkshakes as though cows were about to be extinct.

I pulled into the Chickfila that was on my way towards Comer's home. Giant news trucks were on every corner. Reporters were being filmed shivering in the cold, with a cordoned off  Chickfila behind them. Police vans and cars littered the parking lot, along with an ambulance. Crime scene tape completely encircled the building and adjoining lots.
"Hmmm," I thought, "Chickfila does not look open for business."
I rounded the corner to Wendys, bought the milkshakes, and asked, "What's going on at Chickfila?"
The two young men at the register exchanged glances, "It's closed for renovation."
Now I may be naive, but I know renovations do not require crime scene tape, policemen, ambulances. Nor do they merit on the spot news reporting.
"What else is going on at Chickfila?" I asked.
They laughed, "Well, we heard they found a dead body in the parking lot."
"Oh! Well that is not the wisest renovation strategy," I said.

I drove on with my milkshakes to Comer's nursing home. A huge sign was plastered on the door:
"Quarantined by order of Mecklenburg Health Administration. If you enter, please report to receptionist for decontamination information."
I gathered the milkshakes, and took a deep breath of fresh air. Then I barreled to the receptionist.
"These are for Comer and Evelyn," I said, trying not to breathe. Then I scurried out.

Death and disease. What a day, I thought. Good thing my Bible reading is in such an optimistic book. I had highlighted and read Chapter 9 of Nehemiah twice. In that wonderful chapter, Nehemiah is recounting all that God has done, and how His people mess up time after time after time. And yet, the wonder and joy of God is that He is a God of mercy, and time after time after time, He forgives. Even more remarkably, He restores.

"Did I wash my hands after leaving the Nursing home?" I thought. EEEEk! I raced to the faucet and scrubbed for 10 minutes. God will restore, but it is always best to do our part too....

Nehemiah 9: 29-33

 ²⁹ “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. ³⁰ For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³¹ But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
 ³² “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. ³³ In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.

The Sitting Contest

Every time we pass dogs when we are out walking, my own dogs go ballistic. I have learned that the only way I can keep my arm attached to my body, which is definitely to be preferred, is whenever I see dogs in the distance, I make my dogs sit and "wait".  The other dogs would then pass by, often lunging and barking themselves, but my dogs would  be still and on the surface appear to be well-behaved good canine citizens. Should I become smug and prideful and attempt to pass the other dogs without using this strategy, my very opportunistic pets would immediately revert into wild and uncontrollable beasts, lunging and barking and making me look like I did not deserve to be a dog owner, which is indeed the closely guarded but true secret.

Unfortunately, other dog owners began to catch on. They also did not like having their arms wrenched out of the acetabulum, which is the mobile but unstable shoulder socket. So other dog owners, when they saw us in the distance, would make their dogs sit. Now we had a stalemate. Neither of us dared move, knowing how expensive shoulder surgery could be.  So we would edge closer, then make the dogs sit again. Dogs all over the neighborhood were beginning to learn to be calm when other dogs passed, as long as they were sitting. The problem was that we were all out for "walks", not "sits".  On the other hand, the nice benefit was while we were all sitting, waiting for the other owner to make the next move, we began to chat. I was slowly growing to know people in my community. Bad dogs could lead to good things, I learned.

And this is often the case. What looks like wretched and painful trials can result in wonderful things if we persevere. If we can manage to hang in there, and look beyond the naughty dog on the end of the taut leash, we sometimes see a sweet and kind neighbor we might otherwise have missed entirely.  Perhaps that is part of why James admonishes us in the book that bears his name to "count it all joy when you encounter many trials." Joy? Joy when we are struggling beyond what we are certain we can bear? In all things? I don't think so, James......And yet, time and time again, when I do manage to hang in there beyond the trial and look back, I do see that what I gained usually exceeds what I lost. 

I suspect this is key to living life with joy no matter what. Trusting that the trials are leading to something far greater and often beyond what we can see. Hang in there, whispers God, and make your dog sit. Then, when the barking is stilled, listen in the silence for Me.

James 1: 2-12
² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.  ⁹ Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ¹⁰ But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
 ¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.