Conqueror

How would you like to find yourself out in the ocean in the middle of high seas and 30-40mph winds?  Or caught in the surf in massive 20' bone-crushing waves?  Falling from an airplane, plunging toward the ground at 120mph?  Being driven into a concrete barricade while driving at high speed in bumper to bumper traffic?  Falling off a bridge, hurtling toward the rocks below?  Alone in the woods, with no cell phone, roads or markers to guide you?  Inside a sunken ship, more than 100' under water?

For many people, these images conjure up feelings of great fear or even terror.  The thought of being overpowered by circumstances beyond our control is unsettling at best for most of us.  And if these descriptions were all there was, there would be ample reason for fear and worry.  But others can look at the same scenarios and see something totally different.  Respectively, some would see great weather for windsurfing, or big wave surfing, or skydiving, or auto racing, bungee jumping, hiking or SCUBA diving.  In their most extremes, these activities can indeed scare the participant, but upon a successful completion, fill him or her with extreme enthusiasm and excitement.  Having done some of these activities (windsurfing, skydiving and SCUBA diving), I can personally relate.  Some of my best windsurfing rides were when the wind and seas picked up in intensity while I was out on my board and initially over-powered me.  But once I adjusted and collected myself, they became some of the most exciting and thrilling rides.  If you are properly prepared and trained, any of these situations can be a positive, even thrilling (albeit in retrospect) experience.

The point is this - we are all children of God, and "in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Rom 8:37)  Nothing can separate us from the love of God.  And nothing can separate us from the shelter of His hand.  With a proper relationship with Him, knowledge of His Word, and faith (like the faith of the tandem skydiver who is dependent upon others to pack his parachute and safely fly him through the freefall and a canopy landing) even the worst of circumstances can be something in which we can find joy.  Even the worst can be conquered.

Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest, says this: "These very things - tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super-joy; they are not things to fight.  We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them.  The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it - 'I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation,' says Paul."

In Genesis 50:20, Joseph tells his captors that "you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...."  Paul states in Romans 8:28 that "all in all things God works for the good of those who love Him...."  And perhaps one of my favorite verses is when Moses tells Joshua, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deut 31:6)

Our Lord has made available to us that which we need to persevere through our trials.  The only question is will we take advantage of it?  Will we flounder in the seas, or sail atop them?  Will we ride the wave, or be crushed by it?  I think - and I hope - you get the point.  And I'll tell you this from experience - few things match that white-knuckled ride into shore being driven forward by the same wind and waves that once drove you downward and the knowledge that the challenge with which you were presented was conquered.

Double Standards

I often ask my children (6 & 8 years old) when they're pitching a fit, complaining or crying about something, if they're doing it the hard way or the easy way.  My point being we often wind up doing things the hard way simply because it's our way.  Unfortunately, I think I see that in myself all too often.  I question God often, and I don't think it's a bad thing, because I try to listen for an answer and not just vent. 

Today, I was bemoaning the lousy day I felt I had and asking God why my day was so bad.  Reflecting back on some particular lapses in judgment (sins) recently, I thought "I guess that this is your justice."  Then, for some reason, I realized that while I pray for justice for others, like my ex-wife, I don't pray for justice for myself.  And, conversely, while I pray for mercy for myself, I don't pray for mercy for select others.

I reluctantly came to the conclusion that if I'm going to pray for mercy for myself, that I ought to pray for mercy for others - no matter who or why or how hard I think it is.  To be honest, I didn't really like that realization.  I still don't like it.  But I believe that this is what God told me to do.  And, I realized as well, that I've been doing things the hard way by trying to do things my way.

Biblically, there is a good foundation for this reasoning, and a very simple one as well - and most of us are aware of it since it comes from the Lord's Prayer.  "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us." (Luke 11:4)  That's a tall order.  Basically, I am to ask God for His forgiveness, only to the degree to which I forgive others.  I don't like that.  I'd rather there be a relative scale, but there isn't.  It's very cut and dry - forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Another applicable reference is found in Matthew 18, with the parable of the unmerciful servant.  In short, the parable is about a ruler who forgave the massive debts of one of his subjects.  That subject, however, also had someone indebted to him.  When the one who owed the subject the debt asked for mercy for what was a mere fraction of what the subject owed the ruler (and that the ruler had just forgiven), the subject refused and had him thrown in jail.  When the ruler learned of this he had his subject called in, berated him, and had him thrown in jail and tortured (more than the subject had done to his debtor, which was only jail - the ruler had his subject jailed AND tortured) - because he didn't respond with the mercy that he had been shown.  I've heard that story dozens of times, but not until tonight did I really realize the gravity of it and how common such double standards are - even, unfortunately, in my own life.  The last sentence of that story is this - "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."  (Matt 18:35)  Dang.  I really didn't want to hear that.

So, my new goal, instead of just praying for my ex-wife or others against whom I harbor some grudge - justified or not - is to pray for them in the same way I pray for myself.  It's not what I want to do, honestly.  But it's what I believe I ought to do.  And I believe that as I do it it will come more easily and I will be able to truly forgive as Christ has forgiven us.  It's a tall order, but He won't ask us to do something He won't enable us to do.

My challenge to you, then, is the same and to come to the same realization of what the Lord calls us to do.  It's not easy.  But it's a lot easier than doing it the hard way!