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But Why Can't Things Go Like I Want? / Simple Faithful Servants
But Why Can’t Things Go Like I Want?
(by Gary Ogden)
For some strange reason, parents usually have a vastly different idea about life than their children. There is often conflict when the child wants earnestly to do one thing and the parents want something different. Bedtime is a good example. When Jeff and Jay were young, we felt they needed to be in bed at 8:00 p.m. We needed the rest whether they did or not. "Bed" was a bad word in their vocabulary. They had this thing about going to it, but despite their reluctance they just had to go to bed. Sometimes they cried for a good long time before they finally succumbed to slumber. Trouble is, they were 15 years old at the time. Just kidding; 15 months. Toddlers need their rest and so do mom and dad, so they just can't be allowed to stay up all hours of the night, no matter how much they may protest.
Life is like that most of the time. None of us can have things go the way we want them to all the time. Somebody or some thing will come along and change our schedule or divert our attention or affection from what we would really like to be doing. We have the choice: we can either pitch a royal fit or roll with the flow. Pitching a fit doesn't seem to be the way the Lord would have us deal with situations that are not to our liking. That would be immature behavior, like crying because you have to go to bed!
The Apostle Paul wanted to go to Rome to preach the gospel. I doubt very seriously that he would have chosen the route that eventually got him there. He would go as a ward, not a free man. If he could have gotten there without the ship wrecking, I'm sure he would have preferred it. When he finally made it to Rome, he did not have free run of the city, but was under house arrest. Things just didn't go the way Paul would have liked. What did he do? He preached the gospel anyway. He got on with the business for which Christ had commissioned him & didn't let the inconveniences of life hinder his work. Here's how Luke records it: “And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him" (Acts 28:30,31).
Paul teaches us the importance of learning to handle the situations that are not to our liking. No matter how much we desire it, we cannot always have things our way. You might be able to get a hamburger at the joint "your way, right away" but we can't expect that life will cooperate so easily.
Sin changed the schedule of God. After man sinned, God had to put in place a plan for the redemption of man that would ultimately require that God would have to die for the sins of the world. When we see the Son of God in the garden, we realize that if He could have chosen another way, He would have. Who would want to go through that? But for whatever reason, there was no other way and Christ endured the suffering on the cross as planned. One of these days, everyone reading this will face the prospect of death. Now, if you had your way, you'd just go on living and not give death a second thought, but if you were able to choose, you would want to die in your sleep, quietly. But alas, we can't have our way in such matters. We may be able to eliminate some diseases or distresses of body and mind if we follow a certain lifestyle, but in reality we can't choose the way we're going to die. How we face death will, however, demonstrate our attitude toward the will of God for our lives. Death is as much a part of life as what to buy at the grocery store.
How effective are you at accepting life's realities that don't go as you had planned and hoped? Some don't pitch fits, but they go into a state of depression and despair. They turn into miserable wretches and seem to make it their aim to have everyone around them join in their misery. Such behavior makes others want to stay as far away as they can manage. What if Paul had constantly complained about the raw deal that Life was handing him and went into a perpetual state of emotional distress? How could he have gotten anything done? Now don't think that Paul didn't have his moments of despair and distress, for he mentions those times - "For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears" (2 Corinthians 7:5). But such did not consume him and he managed to pursue his goals in spite of a number of rotten days.
Jesus was sorrowful in the garden as He faced the prospect of crucifixion, but that did not sway His resolve to finish the work the Father had given Him to do. He got up off His knees and offered His hands and body to the torturers.
Friend, you and I are going to face many a day that won't go like we wanted it to. Plans will fall apart, loved ones will depart, jobs will be lost, health will fail, friends will forsake you, society will crumble, government will tax you, nations will fight each other and you may get caught in the cross-fire. As long as you and I remember Who is in charge and Who sits on the Throne, we will be able to make it through. We will sing "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" and mean every word. We won't mope around, at least not for long, and we'll get up and be about our Father's business. Life is too short and eternity is too long to do it any other way.
Father, Your way, right away! “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Simple Faithful Servants
(by Dee Bowman)
“And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews' children.’ Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, ‘Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?’ And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, ‘Go.’ So the maiden went and called the child's mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water’” (Exodus 2:1-10).
Moses’ name is known everywhere. Not so Amram and Jochebed, yet their determination to save their son is one of the exciting stories in the Old Testament.
Pharaoh, fearing the multiplication of the number of the Israelites, ordered that efforts be made to curb their increase in population. The more they afflicted the people, the more they increased. Finally, he ordered that every son born be thrown in the River. Amram and Jochebed defied the order and saved the future leader of the children of Israel.
NOTICE THEIR COURAGE. They must have been afraid to do what the situation demanded, but they did it. We may encounter things that stand in the way of our service to God, things that require the same type of courage.
NOTICE THEIR PLAN. They made a plan to insure Moses’ safety, then followed along to see that it worked. Plans are necessary for progress. What is yours?
NOTICE THEIR FAITH. “By faith” Moses was hidden (Hebrews 11:23). Faith was the motivation for their action. It must form the basis for all we do, too.
Think about these seemingly insignificant people the next time you become discouraged and notice what effect they have had on the world.
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