From Pastor Ben
Trivia:
Well, if you chose the letter E as the letter that appears In 11 percent of all English words over A or T or O, you were right. The letter E is the most commonly used letter in the English language! It's no surprise that this little vowel finds its way into words of all shapes and sizes, from the simplest to the most complex words.
Challenge:
Ecclesiastes 7:4
"A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time."
This section of scripture (7:1-6) compares two outlooks:
- The person who has a serious/somber approach to life
- The person who lives for parties/frivolity
The writer points out the value of having a sympathetic understanding of sorrow and death and how it gives that person a proper appreciation of life as well as its brevity and the need for wise living. At the same time, it brings into focus of how living only for the good times in life causes our life to be limited in its impact on others.
This poem lays out this very thought:
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And not a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me!
—Robert Browning Hamilton
This verse lays out the benefit of experiences of sadness to the heart and how this experience brings qualities to our life experiences that can make our daily life improved, richer, better.
It is one of the paradoxes of our life that joy can coexist with sorrow. Even unbelieving philosophers have attributed a therapeutic value to suffering and sadness. But what is only mildly true for the unbeliever is more gloriously true for the child of God.
Sorrows and sufferings are the means by which we are able to develop graces in our life. They give us a new appreciation of the sufferings of Christ. They enable us to comfort others who are experiencing similar trials that we have gone through.
Paul spoke of this pledge of future glory as we maneuver through our hardships. Romans 8:17 says, "And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering."
I mentioned my Uncle Ray and his impact on my life yesterday. In all actuality, he brought fun, joy, as well as enrichment into my life in so many ways. I believe that much of that came from his experience with his facing illness and struggles and pushing through those experiences with a smile on his face. He was the single person in my life who pushed through teaching me to tie my shoes. Everyone else either ignored my struggle to learn this skill, or became exasperated at my continually forgetting how, or just tied my shoes for me. Fortunately for me, my Uncle Ray patiently worked through helping me learn this and relearning over and over till I permanently mastered this skill. My Uncle Ray, through his success of moving through his own life's struggles, had learned the value of struggles bring coupledwith laughter and learning. Each time I forgot the skill of tying my shoes, he laughed with me and then we together relearned it.
During our once a month weekends of enlightenment, he saved duties for us to do together that he was unable to do alone. We would work on sorting boxes of bolts, washers, nuts, wood screws, sheet metal screws, etc. and put them in empty tin cans. We even would place them in smaller cans and then when it was full move them to bigger cans. Then when he would sell them to customers, he would keep track of the sells and give me part of his sells. While we were sorting, we would also pass the time by sorting out life's issues, sometimes through Bible stories, or life experiences, or sometimes through others' struggles. On rainy days when we didn't have customers, we would sit in the shed and sort parts by the hours, but it seemed like time raced by. It was soon evening time and dad was there to pick me up. By talking through these struggles in my life, which when looking back, probably seemed silly to him. But by sharing and working through them with Uncle Ray made them become manageable for me. When he seriously helped me work through my simple, probably even to an adult seemingly foolish concerns, he brought light to them through his wise counsel from his knowledge
of God and the Scriptures. I know now that these times together with him were very intentional on his part and I am forever grateful.
SO GO WITH GOD, for He can walk through life's difficulties with us, and even sometimes cause us to laugh at them. He has the ability to put them into proper perspective. Though my Uncle Ray is gone, his calming words, his laughter, and his assurance that our Father cares for us still rings in my ears. Rest in Him, my dear ones, for He cares for you and the cares of your life.