Good evening! My blog tonight is by my college friend, Frank Myer! Frank, a prolific writer, pens a weekly devotional that is excellent! Keep me in your prayers as, Lord willing, I should be in Vietnam!
Good morning, dear friends,
Wouldn’t it be nice if the learning curve was as easy as a sliding board? Sad to say, it’s not.
Mr. K, a friend of my parent’s generation once told me, “There is no true learning unless there is pain. Usually, the harder the lesson the greater the pain.”
At the time I was hoping he was wrong. He wasn’t.
In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion if you learned a lesson without pain, you probably missed the point.
We’re talking the “big lessons.” We’re talking about the lessons my friend, Ron the Rabbi talked about when he asked me – “Why does it take us so long to find the answers to the important questions?”
What’s worse than not finding the answers is to chase after false answers. It hurts me to see people I love follow a path I know will end in destruction. I remember several years ago sharing a meal with a friend who just had been diagnosed as diabetic.
He was angry. He was doubting what the doctors said. He even made a few comments about how it wasn’t fair. The whole time he was wolfing down food like he had just wandered in off the desert.
Over the years I’ve watched people sabotage a relationship or two with the actions they claim, others will understand. Even better, “Don’t worry. They will never know.”
Life is tricky. It’s hard to know what to do. Many methods are bantered about as they pretend to be the answer to the challenges of life. A common theme seems to be – there is an easy answer.
If you can spend just a couple of minutes a day you will be amazing.
Do you want to know what’s going to happen to you? Go see Madam LaRue. (Insert the name of your favorite psychic)
Or as the Temptations sang in 1970 in Ball of Confusion, Vote for me and I’ll set you free.
Another good one: All you need are these 7 Habits to be a success. I often think when I see the title or hear a reference to the book, God needed 10 commandments. This guy thinks 7 habits will do it.
My favorite is – and I heard it a couple of days ago --- just drink QLR – Product – (Made up name) and you won’t have to exercise. You won’t have to diet. You can eat anything you want – and you will still lose weight.
As far as I can tell it just doesn’t work that way. For some reason I’m hungry now.
What I really wonder about is why people give up on their walk of faith.
Maybe it’s from the teaching, or the way people who fail are treated at church.
When someone struggles, the game plan, with at least some churches, is “Shoot the wounded.” Even being generous and giving the shooters the benefit of the doubt – which is tough to do, the fact is the wounded often leave.
Perhaps we, as in editorial we, are afraid if we’re not tough on sin, or failure or whatever then everyone will join in.
Far as I can tell, everyone has failed, or hurts beyond measure, but some are better at covering it up than others.
Maybe the concern is if we show too much grace the crowd will go wild and sin so grace may abound. It’s happened before.
The fact is the walk of faith is tough. How do I know?
This isn’t me, of course, but I have a friend and I’ve noticed he really has a hard time. If your sarcasm meter isn’t working, the previous statement was not even close to revealing the truth. We all have a hard time.
The good news is we’re not alone.
Matthew 16 recounts the story of Jesus asking his apostles, “Who am I?” That’s a very important question. I’m pretty sure Jesus really knew the answer. He was checking if the other guys did.
Reading what they said, I’m guessing maybe they weren’t so sure. In essence they said, “I have a friend who says you’re Elijah.”
Peter got it right but that’s one out of twelve.
Now you may be thinking, “Once they made it through that lesson, they grasped what Jesus was telling them.”
Not so much.
Four chapter later, which for those who struggle with math, in Chapter 20 a couple of the twelve are negotiating for a better position in the throne room. That may not have been the point of what Jesus was trying to teach them.
Remember Matthew only has 28 chapters and in 20 they are still a bit off base.
What’s the point?
Walking the faith journey is hard.
If the 11, we’re not counting Judas because he certainly had his own agenda, wrestled to know the truth and they spent three years walking directly with Jesus, we are going to have a tough time as well.
What hinders our walk?
There are lots of possibilities. Here are a few.
We may not want to do the work – easier to go along with our habits
Our culture shades our perception – prime example – White, blue-eyed Jesus
We let our own agenda get in the way –
We let the actions of others dissuade us from our faith
We think we know the answers, so we give up searching
What can we do to strengthen our faith?
Read the Bible – commentaries help – but get to the source
Pray and ask for help. If it’s good enough for the folks in the Bible, it should work for you.
Spend time with others who are on the faith walk – and look for help
Go to church – or a study session – You will fail on your own. I’ve watched too many people try it. They just don’t last.
Finally, be kind to yourself when you fail. Be kind to others as well.
Hebrews 3:13 – as long as it’s called today encourage one another.
May your walk be a gentle incline, but on the days when it’s a rocky cliff, or a dirt road filled with mud puddles and snakes – keep walking. Do the best you can.
Look for someone to help. Oddly enough this is better for you than them.
Enjoy the ride,
Frank Myer
P.S. – Are family problems causing you to stumble on the walk of faith? You’re not the only one with family issues. Read Mark 3:20,21 – the first time I read it I thought it was a typo. It wasn’t.
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
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