When Nothing Goes Right

Have you ever experienced a period of time where nothing goes right for you?  We all probably have at some point, or will.  I seem to have had a rash of bad circumstances lately.  Some of them are life altering.

My car breaks down and it is not a minor fix.  Then my computer crashes and it is not a minor fix either.  It takes a couple of overhauls to finally get my computer running right.

My car?  Let’s not talk about that.  One of my friends at church joking with me told me that he and his buddies knew what to get me to help me out.  A mountain bike and a note pad!  We both laughed.  We also both know that his day will come when nothing goes right for him too.

Health problems.  Relationship problems at home or work.  Child raising problems.  Broken cars and broken computers.  Did I mention an appliance to fix or repair?

At times like these one would like to limit trouble and hassles to one-a-day.  Unfortunately they usually come to us in bunches.  Sometimes BIG bunches.

When this happens, do you ask, “Why?” I do!  I want to fix it and stop it or get out of the pain as soon as possible.  I want an explanation for why this is happening to me.  I want to find the “cause” that brought the “effect” of all these bad things.  Is it just bad luck?  Bad karma?  Is God mad at me?  Is it just life and life sucks?

The optimist tells me that for every dark cloud there is a rainbow on the other side.  Or, when life hand me lemons that I am supposed to make lemonade.  Wonderful.  But I do not find too much comfort in that sentiment in the midst of my pain and frustration.  On the other hand, the pessimist tells me that life sucks and then we die.  Great.  Will someone put me out of my misery, please!?  Neither philosophical approach to life adequately answers the question “why?” in the midst of suffering.

Unfortunately, there are no simple answers to that simple question.  Sometimes it’s just life.  Life can be harsh.  We live in a world taken over by sin and wickedness.  Both good and bad happen to people all the time whether they themselves are good or bad.  So, it is not a reflection upon me.  It is a reflection upon the environment I live in.  People I don’t know, circumstances I can’t foresee or control can change my life forever.

At other times, I have to honestly look myself in the mirror and say, “It’s your own fault.”  Whether lack of experience, lack of wisdom, lack of knowledge, or just plain stupidity, I sometimes cause my own greatest pain.  I will freely admit it.  There are times when I am my own worst enemy.  However, I can learn from these experiences and go on while I reap the consequences of my own actions.

Or, you may have “Job’s Comforters” to help you dig yourself a hole of guilt and shame.  You’ve sinned and so God is judging you.  That’s why all these bad things are happening to you.  God is mad at you for your imperfections.

You ever hear that?  I’ve heard it.  Sometimes from my closest friends.  Then they stay away from me as if I had the plague and “God’s judgment” was contagious.

I see many people today loaded down with shame and guilt.  Our society seems to thrive on it.  Some people’s relationship with God is based upon a constant sense of shame and guilt.  They are never good enough.  God is always waiting to strike them with lightning if they don’t get it right.

This is a very faulty view of God, yet one that is so predominant in our world.  Thus, we are forced to paganistically try to appease the wrath of God.  Every bad thing that occurs in our life then just reinforces to us that we have not got it right yet.  And so we toil under the weight of shame, guilt, and condemnation trying to make “it” right with God.

Yes, sometimes we do suffer the consequences of our own sinful actions.  But that is not God hammering us.  It is reaping what we sowed.  Just like the laws of physics, there are laws of the human spirit, laws of human relationships, and laws of behavior.  We all violate them at our own risk.  And it doesn’t matter whether you know about the law or not.  It’s just the way life works.  Either you know and understand them, or life will be very difficult.

White Rose, Bush House Gardens, Salem, Oregon, 2009 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)

Many of our insurance policies make allowance for “An Act of God.”  When bad thing fall upon you, are you apt to look to heaven and ask, “What did I do to deserve that?”  You’re in company.  Most people do.  However, when things do not go right in life, it is not always “An Act of God.”  The Bible tells us a different story about God’s actions toward us, even in our rebellious and sinful state.

The Good News that is in Christ Jesus is that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world.  The world is already under judgment and condemned.  He didn’t come to add to it.  He came to remove people out from underneath the guilt, shame, and condemnation.

In other words, God is on your side.  He wants to free you and me from the prison of shame and guilt.  He wants to remove the sense of condemnation that comes every time something bad happens in your life.  He wants to raise you above such circumstances with the assurance of his presence and power that will help you get through and overcome such demoralizing events.  They no long have to have power over you.  They no longer have to shape your life, how you feel about yourself or how you see God – even when it is your own doing.  Like a loving parent, he does not cast you out of his household.  Instead, he comes with reassurance to say, “Come here.  Let’s get you cleaned up so you can keep going.”

So, when trouble strikes, it is not God “out to get you.”  In our own doing, or just because we live in an imperfect world, things happen to us.  When they do happen, even at our own doing, we no longer need to look for guilt and shame from God but for help and power to overcome.  After all, he’s on our side now.

©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)

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Celebrating Freedom

A pastor went for a walk and came upon a group of about a dozen young boys between 10 and 12 years of age.  The group surrounded a dog.  Concerned that the boys were tormenting the dog, he went over and asked, “What are you doing with the dog?”  One of the boys replied, “This dog is just an old stray.  We all want him, but only one of us can take him home.  So, we’ve decided that whichever one of us can tell the biggest lie will get to keep the dog.”

Of course, the Reverend was taken aback.  “You boys shouldn’t be having a contest telling lies!” he exclaimed.  He then launched into a ten-minute sermon against lying ending with, “Why, when I was your age, I never told a lie!”  Well, there was dead silence for about a minute.  Then, just as the pastor was beginning to think he’d gotten through to them, the smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said, “All right, give him the dog.”

Sin is a part of all of us – even the best of us.  No one is immune to its effects.  We cannot escape its history in our past or its threat to our futures.  However, God set in motion a plan to set prisoners to sin free from its entanglements and death sentence.  This is a plan for everyone, no matter the depth or shallowness of sin in which one is caught.  The plan was completed through Christ’s death on the cross and victory over death and the grave in his resurrection.

Jesus came to set the prisoner to sin’s addictions and bondages free.  Freedom starts when we begin to acknowledge the truth and live by it:  “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31, 32, NIV).  The truth he calls us to hold to is God’s plan to rescue humankind from their sin condition through his death and resurrection.  This truth sets us free not only from sin but also from its effects – guilt, condemnation, shame, disgrace, blame, and remorse among many others.

Pink Rose, Bush House Gardens, Salem, Oregon, 2009 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)

There is only one answer for freedom from sin’s hold upon a human being and that is in Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Our world tries to sell us on self-improvement, self-actualization, self-control, and self-realization.  We have been too often duped into thinking that the world and its guru’s have the answer.  But listen to what the psalmist tries to tell us:  “Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing about life, of salvation life.  Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them.  Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in GOD and know real blessing!”  (Psalm 146, The Message)

Everything we need to be victorious in this life is provided for us in what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection.  There is nothing more that we need, and nothing we need to do, but to freely accept it and apply it to our lives by following the way of Jesus everyday.  That is why Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be [completely] free indeed” (John 8:36, NIV).

The true Christian lifestyle celebrates the freedom we have in Christ from our sinful past and sin’s threat to our future.  We can live everyday free from sin’s domination and damnation.  How?  Paul said, “Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus . . . offer yourselves to God . . . as instruments of righteousness” (Ro. 6:11, 13, NIV).  “Now that you have been set free from sin [by Christ’s death upon the cross and resurrection from the grave] and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:22, 23, NIV).

Whatever moral failure is in your past, the devil will keep throwing it in your face.  However, God saw everything you did.  He wants you to know that he loves you in spite of your actions and that he will forgive you if you will only ask him.  There is no sin too great that disqualifies you from this offer.  There is no sin too small that is disqualified from the need of his forgiving and cleansing act through Jesus Christ.

A confessed sin is a forgiven sin.  You can be free from the awful bondage of repeating your past, fearing your future or even death!  Live everyday to celebrate the freedom that Christ bought for you with his own life.  Live a life that worships God and praises him for freedom from sin’s captivity.  Be free.

©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)

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Nothing But Trouble an Act of God

Have you ever experienced a period of time where nothing goes right for you? We all probably have at some point, or will.  I have had a rash of bad circumstances.  My car breaks down and it’s not a minor fix.  Then my computer crashes and it is not a minor fix either.  It takes a couple of overhauls to finally get my computer running right.

My car?  Let’s not talk about that. One of my friends at church told me that he and his buddies knew what to get to help me out.  A mountain bike and a note pad!  Health problems.  Relationship problems.  Child raising problems.  Broken cars and broken computers.  Did I mention an appliance to repair or replace?

When this happens, do you ask, “Why?” I do!  I want to stop it and fix it to get out of the pain as soon as possible.  I want to find the cause for the effects I’m suffering.

Unfortunately, there are no simple answers to that simple question. Sometimes its just life.  Life can be harsh.  People I don’t know, circumstances I cannot foresee or control, can change my life forever.  I can only draw strength from God and others and move on.

At other times, I have to honestly look myself in the mirror and say, “It’s your own fault.” Whether lack of experience, wisdom, or just plain stupidity, I sometimes cause my own greatest pain.  I can only learn from them and go on.

Purple Flowers on Mountain Hike, Full Color, July 2003 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2009)

Frequently, I hear people blaming God for their troubles. They think he is paying them back.   They are left wondering what “sin” it was this time that angered God.  As a result of this faulty faith, many live with an unhealthy fear and loathing of God.

I also see many people today loaded down with shame and guilt. Our society seems to thrive on it.  Some individuals relationship with God are based upon a constant sense of shame and guilt.  They think God is always waiting to strike them if they don’t get it right.  They picture him as the great umpire in heaving waiting to call strikes against us – and ultimately to call us, “Out!”

Yes, sometimes we do suffer the consequences of our own sinful actions. But that is not God hammering us.  It is reaping what we sowed.  Just like the laws of physics, there are laws of the human spirit, laws of human relationships, and laws of behavior.  We all violate them at our own risk.

For a reason beyond my understanding, he mostly chooses to not shield us from the effects of our own sinful behavior or sin-filled effects raging in the world.  Instead, he walks us through them and gives us strength in the midst of our troubles.

I do not know about you, but I would much rather have an escape route. However, life does not work that way.  And God chooses not to accommodate me with an escape.  Instead, he promises his presence and power in the middle of it all.   Frankly, I will take that rather than self-reliance or nothing at all.

Many of our insurance policies make allowances for “An Act of God.” Do you see bad circumstances as an act of God?  When bad things fall upon you are you apt to look to heaven and ask, “What did I do?”  You are in good company.  Most people do.  However, that is not how God works with us.

The good news proclaimed in Jesus the Messiah and Savior is that he did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. The world is already under judgment and condemned.  He did not come to add to it.  He came to remove people out from underneath the heavy load of fear, guilt, and shame.

So, when trouble strikes, it’s not an act of God. In our own doing, or just because we live in an imperfect world, things happen to us.  When they do happen, even at our own doing, we no longer need to look for guilt and shame from God but for help and power to overcome.  After all, he is on our side now.

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