April 16, 2002
The north side of Maui is a surfer’s paradise. The waves are high, wide and magnificent. However, at certain times of the year the surf reaches thirty to forty feet, and those waves roll in so rapidly that they earn the title “killer waves.” For them, surfers stay on the beach.
The south side of this Hawaiian island is much tamer, so I tried body surfing. My first attempts were exciting but suddenly a wall of water slammed the wind out of me and filled my bathing suit with wet sand. The wave was only thirty to forty inches high, but my husband later told me it had a force of several hundred pounds. No wonder I felt as if I had been attacked by a killer wave.
Like surfing, life’s waves carry a certain degree of relativity. Some people handle challenges easily (like experts on big waves) but in a similar situation the next person (me, a wimpy swimmer) falls apart. Sometimes, even minor things can put some people into a spin.
For instance, these past few weeks I’ve been staring at a painting on my easel. I started it late last year as a gift for my daughter, supposedly for Christmas. Then I got to a point where I could not figure out what to do next. Typical of me, I procrastinated.
Christmas came and went, as did her February birthday. The canvas mocked me. Finally I decided I would work on it but not without praying. “God,” I asked, “What do I do next?”
The Lord uses life to teach me that me being full of confidence is not His way of conquering big challenges. If I think I am unable, I procrastinate or bemoan my helplessness, but if I am sure I am able, I miss the delight of having His guidance and help.
The Apostle Paul had to learn the same lesson (so I’m in good company). He had a problem that he called “a thorn in the flesh.” He does not tell us what it was, so everyone can identify with him for we all have our share of thorns. Paul first pleaded with God to take it away, which is what most of us do. “Calm those killer waves, Lord. Give me a peaceful ocean, or at least the size of waves I can handle.” But God did not answer that request. Instead He said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul learned through this and other tough lessons that weakness is not necessarily a bad thing. It enabled him to rely on the Lord’s help and even to say, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul’s lesson is becoming my lesson, particularly in the major challenges (like killer waves) but also for the smaller challenges lest they slam me onto the beach too.
I’ve learned that God longs to make His power known through His people. As long as I think I can do things myself, I miss out on the goodness and grace He wishes to lavish on me. I may grumble and not enjoy feeling weak and helpless, but I am glad that there is a way out — and He is that way.
After praying about that painting, an old and forgotten technique popped into my mind and I knew this was my next step. I picked up my brushes and conquered my forty-inch wave.
Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Friday, June 1, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
Golf, presidents and persistence ............. Parables 737
November 6, 2001
Despite the insistence from non-fans that the game of golf only “spoils a good walk,” I know why golfers enjoy their game and keep coming back. It’s that occasional perfect shot. I had a dream once in which I played a perfect golf game, finishing with a hole-in-one. I woke up laughing. Even though an occasional good shot gets me back on the course, in my case, perfection takes a lot more than dreaming.
My husband calls golf a “muscle memory” game. I say I have a bad memory. He says practice may not make me perfect but it would certainly help my game. So, I need to practice. Actually, if golf can teach me persistence, then this otherwise “spoiled good walk” has more value to it than I thought.
Persistence is an important commodity. History offers many examples. For instance, a family was forced out of their home when their son was seven. He had to work to help support them. His mother died two years later. At twenty-two, he lost his job. He wanted to go to law school but his education was insufficient so he went into debt to became a partner in a small business. Less than five years later, his business partner died and it took him years to repay the debt.
He courted a girl for four years but she turned down his marriage proposal. After trying three times, he was elected to Congress but failed to be re-elected two years later. Two years after that, his four-year-old son died. Four years later, he ran for the Senate and lost. In two years, he failed as candidate for vice-president, then two years after that failed to make the Senate again. Finally, at fifty-one, he was elected president of the United States. His name? Abraham Lincoln. He persisted and became part of American history.
God tells his people to also persist. When life gets rough, we are not only to keep trying, but the Bible says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1)
Aside from the “be joyful” part, God makes sense. We are not born with persistence. We need trials to learn and develop it. Without steep hills to climb or difficulties to overcome, our lives atrophy.
The Bible continues: “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Gems are polished with friction; we are perfected with trials. Notice that enduring under pressure is the mark of maturity. Obviously, those who endure must be well-grounded in their faith. They can handle whatever comes their way with courage and determination because they know that God is with them and He will help them through the trial.
Compared to the difficulties faced by Abraham Lincoln, being persistent in golf is a small challenge but big or small, whatever looms up before us can be seen as important to our character development and maturity. Rather than letting trials produce whining and retreat, we can let them produce growth in our lives.
So I’m working on the ability to stick to it, no matter what. Facing obstacles is a challenge but I try. As I do, I’m also noticing there is one other obstacle — when I see trouble coming, I’m not quite yet able to be joyful about it!
Despite the insistence from non-fans that the game of golf only “spoils a good walk,” I know why golfers enjoy their game and keep coming back. It’s that occasional perfect shot. I had a dream once in which I played a perfect golf game, finishing with a hole-in-one. I woke up laughing. Even though an occasional good shot gets me back on the course, in my case, perfection takes a lot more than dreaming.
My husband calls golf a “muscle memory” game. I say I have a bad memory. He says practice may not make me perfect but it would certainly help my game. So, I need to practice. Actually, if golf can teach me persistence, then this otherwise “spoiled good walk” has more value to it than I thought.
Persistence is an important commodity. History offers many examples. For instance, a family was forced out of their home when their son was seven. He had to work to help support them. His mother died two years later. At twenty-two, he lost his job. He wanted to go to law school but his education was insufficient so he went into debt to became a partner in a small business. Less than five years later, his business partner died and it took him years to repay the debt.
He courted a girl for four years but she turned down his marriage proposal. After trying three times, he was elected to Congress but failed to be re-elected two years later. Two years after that, his four-year-old son died. Four years later, he ran for the Senate and lost. In two years, he failed as candidate for vice-president, then two years after that failed to make the Senate again. Finally, at fifty-one, he was elected president of the United States. His name? Abraham Lincoln. He persisted and became part of American history.
God tells his people to also persist. When life gets rough, we are not only to keep trying, but the Bible says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1)
Aside from the “be joyful” part, God makes sense. We are not born with persistence. We need trials to learn and develop it. Without steep hills to climb or difficulties to overcome, our lives atrophy.
The Bible continues: “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Gems are polished with friction; we are perfected with trials. Notice that enduring under pressure is the mark of maturity. Obviously, those who endure must be well-grounded in their faith. They can handle whatever comes their way with courage and determination because they know that God is with them and He will help them through the trial.
Compared to the difficulties faced by Abraham Lincoln, being persistent in golf is a small challenge but big or small, whatever looms up before us can be seen as important to our character development and maturity. Rather than letting trials produce whining and retreat, we can let them produce growth in our lives.
So I’m working on the ability to stick to it, no matter what. Facing obstacles is a challenge but I try. As I do, I’m also noticing there is one other obstacle — when I see trouble coming, I’m not quite yet able to be joyful about it!
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