everyday life with a little trouble

I think, one of the most grueling things we face, one of life’s difficulties that we must overcome, is everyday life with a little trouble. 

If the trouble is to great, others will surround us with love and encouragement, so the trouble I am referring to is not that kind.  It is the kind that must disrupt an easy life, but not with so much force that it warrants attention of help from others.  It is the kind of trouble that requires you to spend your savings, but not borrow.  It is the kind of trouble that uses your vacation time.  It is the kind of trouble that you would rather not have because of the very fact, you must bear it alone.

Some in our day have gotten skilled at having none of this type or trouble.  They usually do this by making sure everyone knows every single little trouble they have.  They are free and giving to share with everyone any little hardship they bear.  No issue of struggle is personal for them, even when we may counsel them that some issues should be worked out in silence, they avoid such counsel.  Usually they turn to facebook or the people with the gift of mercy.

I would call these painful yet controllable troubles, the refiners fire.  The refiners fire is not a fire that burns down and destroys everything.  It does not come in life as flood with devastation.  It is a fire of redemption and refinement.  It is controlled.  It has a purpose, although seldom does it have our purpose in mind, usually the Lord’s.

Somehow when other people were growing up and learning how to “get along”, I was developing as skill set of anger.  I have developed a lot of skill.  I have a whole toolbox, no garage full of tools, that are available for me to use in “being angry”.   If fact I have so many that I have several tools that are all the same type, they assist me with different jobs.  You know what I mean.  I have some skill for anger with son in public.  Another for anger with son at home with family.  Another for anger with son when in the backyard.  I guy needs the right tools to get the job done.

As a Christian I do not believe or practice karma.  Instead I practice, “we reap what we sow”.  This Biblical principle is different because pure karma has no intervening grace, where Christianity is full of intervention.  God intervenes, we  intervene in the lives of one another, even our intercession makes possible intervention.  One way God intervenes is by sending a refiners fire.  He allows me to go through some controlled pain so that I might be purged.  If I can receive it from the Lord rightly, it works in me for my good.  In other words, I get better because of the work of God in me – refined. 

Beware of taking what God is giving you (the fire of refinement) and wasting it.  Don’t be like me and spend years avoiding these mercy-full pains.  Don’t think that they are from the evil one.  Take them for what they are, God redemptive work in your life.  For God’s sake, grow up.  I think that should be my new motto.  Rather than say, “I don’t know what I don’t know”, I should say, “For God’s sake grow up”.  I am sorry that for years I did not know that.

So now the practical bit.  Redeeming fire seems to work best when it works in us and not in the community at large.  Sure God works His redemption in groups and culture.  We need to have a good foundation and experience of God refining us.  Our daily life is the proving ground of holiness and true love.  God sends stuff into that proving ground, not to discourage us, but to build us up.  If we take God’s gift and try to give it to others, try to share what is to be ours; much of the refinement of that gift is lost.  When others solve our problems we might not have taken a single step into maturity, into trusting and obeying God ourselves.  We each need to carry our own load of development.

Sure you can go to far with this idea and end up with isolation and independence.  But Don’t worry about that.  God will have somebody blog about that too. 

So is it all about my development?  NO.  It is all about God’s glory.  You give glory to God when you and I live as He created us to live, trusting Him.  Humility is one of the  ways of the Lord.  When we go through the refiners fire without drawing public attention, we practice a form of humility.  Now you can practice humility in pride, but that too is another blog.  Humility, practiced when going through the refiners fire is producing Christlikeness in us while allowing love to flow through us. (Check out the life and death of Jesus)  It is like having a circle in your life that you fully trust God alone to meet your needs.  As that circle grows you will find that you have less energy and emotion spent on receiving help from others.  Your circle of trust in God expands.  In time you will have more energy and emotion to give away to others.  So your whole life, your daily life whet from “getting your needs met” to “having more than I need to share the love of God with others”.  Don’t worry if you don’t fully understand how this will happen.  Remember that you don’t know what you don’t know.  Or should I say, God is skilled at helping us grow up.