Poignant Statement: When time is tough then it a tremendous time for tough people.
Subject: Hey, it could be worse than this
Scripture: Psalm 6
From 19 January to 2 February 2009 I traveled to Nepal, Siliguri, Banglore and back to Dehradun where I live. After over 36 years of travel by planes and all sorts of transportation I have gone through a lot of interesting and not at all interesting time. But this time it was the worst of all the years. Due to fog in various cities the planes were cancelled at the last minute and my neatly laid out plan went haywire. There were frantic calls from colleagues and family as the confusion simply refused to go. We were landing in Delhi when we heard of the crisis at Delhi airport with possible hijack of an airplane and panic everywhere. At Delhi airport at around 10.30 pm I was still trying to figure out what to do and the airline staff was trying to help me and put me up in a hotel for the night. By this time I already have had three cancellations and no firm flight the next morning. Despite all this I was taking all things pretty well because when I was about to whine the Lord clearly told me “ Be quiet, it could have been worse than this “ While I was waiting a young eye surgeon from Mumbai came along with a little child and she was absolutely hysterical. Then another young woman came and she literally began to scream to draw attention of the staff there. Well, I quietly and gently told both the ladies to calm down and said “My dear ladies, calm down because worse could have happened to us” They looked at me and visibly began to calm down and thanked me for those assuring words. Perhaps they saw in me my age and my calm heart and settled down in peace.
Yea, I know life is tough and things always don’t go the way we want and desire but we need to know that life is a box of mixed fortunes and sooner we realize the better equip we will be deal with life’s rumble tumble. I used to also be a frantic man but am slowly learning to be calm and this has really helped me to be happy and take decisions wisely.
The Word of God teaches us to be calm. When the disciples faced death amidst the raging storm they rightly cried to the Lord but the Bible says the Lord was sound asleep. He got up, rebuked the storm and there was calm. My Lord controls every thing in this world and I need to learn this truth so well that when storm come our way we will be shaken but not drowned.
How do we face storm of life? Let me give you some things to ponder and hope these words will help you to go on in life.
Read the Word of God. In the pages of the Word you will find stories, incident and the sayings which teache us many precious lessons on life. It teaches that we will go through all sorts of situation but the Lord God is in control and we surrender our lives to Him and let Him be our deliverer.
Meditation on God and His Word is very crucial. While reading gives us a bird eye view, meditation gives us deeper understanding of God and His Word. We do not meditate with a void mind but with mind which is filled with God of the Bible. Psalmist talks a lot about learning, meditating and hiding the Word of God in His heart which gave him plenty of calmness. Most of the Psalms were written by David and he went through great upheavals in his life but he continued to believe in God.
We must learn to talk to God with open honestly. Many times in the Psalms and the Book of Job we find the saints of old simply being open to the Lord. Read the Psalm mentioned above which gives a sample of what I am saying. They got angry, frustrated and even questioned God. For them God was not someone who was far away uninterested in their plight but someone who was close to them. Generally, I have found Christians are very formal with God and find it hard to cry before and pour their frustrations and question God. But as we come to God we can just open our heart and empty out all we feel because he understands. Remember the old songs of the black slaves in the USA “No body knows the trouble I have seen nobody knows but Jesus” In order to be bare honest with God we need to develop increasing deeper relationship with God and only then we can be free with God. This depth can come as we come to God and seek His face moment by moment. It is a lifetime exercise.
We can face the brunt of life as we associate with God’s people. Many people drag their feet to the church but I believe by being with God’s people we are invigorated and we learn to face the ups and down of life more easily.
We can develop calmer life by being a help to those who need our help. Until my son in law died I did not know what bereavement was all about. I have consoled many people in my pastoral life for over three decades but after this incident I am able to help in a much effective way because I have gone through hard times. So instead of pushing panic button when things go wrong, it will be wise; if you look out there and help someone. Then your pain and hurt will be easy to bear.
We cannot control what happens around us but we can control our attitude towards the situation. Victor Frankl was a survivor of the concentration camp and this is what he had to say “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.”
Finally we need to look beyond this world and the world to come. We are children of God and children of eternity. Our life here on earth is like less than a drop in the ocean. My Christian life has no meaning and completion unless we genuinely believe that soon this life will be over and we enter life which has no crying, tears, frustrations and anything that will mar our joy and peace in God. Always remember we are children of the promise of God and He has said that “in this world you will have tribulation but be cheerful I have overcome the world”
Poignant Statement: When time is tough then it a tremendous time for tough people.”
Prayer: Lord, I ask not that you remove storms in my life but I pray that in the midst of storm help me to deepen my root in you. I will be shaken but not moved by any adverse situation.
Republished in new layout on 8/19/2013
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