Scripture

 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

~Job 2:10, NLT

Quote

“We can ignore pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

~C.S. Lewis

For me, watching a movie on TV is an attempt to escape unpleasant reality. This means I like happy endings. Sad movies don’t lift my spirit. Of course we know that TV and Hollywood do not always present reality and when they do, which is not very often, we don’t like it. I watched an old WW2 movie a couple of weeks back and then after watching the entire thing, I felt rather stupid for watching. It starred Cliff Robertson which none of the young folks will know, but he was a very good actor in the day. He played a Navy Leutintent who was stationed in the pacific. He was on a peaceful island enjoying the sun and the beach but he got orders to be flown to the New Hebrines where the Japanese were in control of most to the island. The Leutintent’s expertise was the Japanese language which he could speak fluently. The Leutintent was you classic narcissist and coward. He never bought into his mission which was to intercept Japanese transmissions and inform the US Navy as to what the Japanese were planning. I kept waiting for him to change but throughout the movie, he remains a coward and a narcissist. He Never embraced his mission. He had no regard for the lives of others; his only interest was preserving his own life. He was not a character you could admire.

Went I went to bed, I was kicking myself mentally for watching such a disappointing movie but then I realized that our life experiences don’t always produce a happy ending. Oh yes, we do have some joyful times of celebration and thank God for them, but we also have those disappointing heartbreaking moments when we feel that we are on the edge of despair. David had those low moments and so did Job. I would never compare myself to either man; especially Job but I do understand a bit of the sorrow and disappointment they endured. As insane as it sounds I can tell you that sorrow speaks volumes. We learn much more from sorrow than we do pleasure. It is our sorrow and suffering that causes us to long for heaven, and at the same time, it diminishes our love for this world. Suffering magnifies Christ strength and grace and exposes our weakness. It helps us see the true nature of sin. We learn to hate sin; to despise and abhor it. It intensifies our love for Jesus and helps us to appreciate His suffering in our behalf. Suffering shrinks the self life: it mortifies the flesh. No one in their right mind wants to suffer but the people I admire most are many times those who have suffered most. I believe I am safe in saying, “I’ve never known a deeply grateful person that has not suffered.”

Understand that suffering can either make us bitter or better. It depends on our response. I prefer to be like Job, not his sweet wife. As one of my old girlfriends used to say, “Job’s wife was a witch with a bee.” You do the math.

Extra

According to Big Mama, Spring began yesterday and it wasn’t too bad. I wore a hoody to the soccer game and I never got cold. I think it is supposed to warm back up today. I hope you have a good Wednesday and thanks for reading the blog.

P.S. Grace Point family: 49ers meet this Friday for Deli treats {soups, sandwiches, salads} and church wide fish fry Sunday at 5:30. Outside if possible. I just found out last night that Joyce Dotson’s sister is our neighbor here in Rocky Ford. It is a small world.