Sportin a tude

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” Deuteronomy 30:19

Isn’t that interesting?  Life and death mirrors blessing and cursing in that verse.  Do you think that means that if we choose a negative attitude – an attitude of cursing – that we also choose death?  That seems awfully harsh.  But a little research told me that in the Bible the word ‘rejoice’ comes up 240 times while ‘grieve ’ only got 47 hits.  I know that’s not an exhaustive study, but it tells me that the writers of the Bible spent more time telling us to be joyful than to be sad.  But doesn’t that seem a little artificial?  I mean, if I walk around acting happy all the time, aren’t folk going to think I’ve got some reality impairment? 

But have you ever noticed a person who walks around acting grumpy all the time?  Nobody thinks there’s anything wrong with him (or her).  That person might even describe himself as a ‘realist’ while I, the person acting happy, am often described as ‘having my head in the clouds’, or not facing the truth, or a nut-job.  Hm, what’s up with that?

So what do we do with verses like James 1:2   

“Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourselves hedged in by various trials.”Weymouth New Testament; “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1Peter 4:13; Romans 12:12, “Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer…Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse”; “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:” 1Peter 1:6; and 2Corinthians 7:4 “Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.”? 

Okay, now that’s just crazy, right?  It’s one thing to choose blessings when things are going well, but being joyful when things are rotten?  How is it possible to “count it all joy” when we really feel like giving up or “bless those who curse” us when our heart is broken?   I think our mental picture of the incurable optimist who walks around smiling and whistling all the time is one of things that makes this seem hard.

But that’s not really an accurate picture is it?  I mean, look at Job.  He had huge things to deal with, not even counting his “friends”.  He didn’t deny any of the bad stuff that was going on or act like everything was okay.  He wept; he agonized; he mourned…but he never let go of God.  I’m pretty sure he didn’t feel like rejoicing or blessing during that time but look what he said: 

“The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:21 

Job chose blessing; Job chose life even though he didn’t understand the whys or the wherefores what was happening to him.  Wow.

In Romans 5:3-5, Paul writes, 

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  

He’s telling us two things.  One, we can “glory in tribulation” because we know that it is bringing us step by step closer to who God wants us to be.  And, two, that the Holy Spirit is right there with us, giving us the grace we need to bless the name of the Lord in even the toughest spots. 

Unfortunately, even though everyone faces trials, not everyone is drawn closer to God by going through them.  It is possible to leave God altogether and become bitter…to choose cursing and death.

My brother sent me a story this week that fits very well right here.

A young woman went to her mother started complaining about her life.  Everything in her life was so hard.  She didn’t know how she was going to make it, and she wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed like whenever she managed to solve one problem, a new one popped up.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water, put each one on a burner and turned it on high.  When the water in the pots came to boil she put carrots in the first pot, eggs in the second, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. (I know, but the story doesn’t work with Postum) Then mom sat down at the kitchen table and let each pot boil. 

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots, the eggs out and placed them in separate bowls. Then she poured the coffee into a cup. 

At that point, she turned to her daughter, she said, “'Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the young woman replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. When she did, she noticed that they were soft. Then her mom asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter tasted the coffee. “But, mom, what’s your point?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. But each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. After twenty minutes in the boiling water, however, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting in the boiling water, its inside became hard. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

”Which are you?” mom asked. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think about it. Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity wilt and lose my strength?  Am I more like an egg that starts with a malleable heart that changed through some trial, until it became hard and stiff? Do I look the same on the outside, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hard heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? Instead of being changed by the boiling water, the bean actually changed it. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you begin to sing and praise God, witness to those around you? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

“The Lord does not desire His people to be sad and disconsolate. He does not want His obedient followers to cover the altar with their tears, but to walk happily and cheerfully along. ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation,’ He says, ‘but in Me ye shall have peace’ ‘"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you.’ ‘"These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.’” The Signs of the Times, February 10, 1909, "Rejoice in the Lord Alway" Mrs. E. G. White

A cheerful heart

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  Proverbs 17:22 

Ya know, I did a lot of research this week…maybe too much because I got way, way off the track.  There are sooooo many theories about how to stay healthy!  Some of them are really really strange – and really not helpful, at all. 

The one thing pretty much everybody agreed on was that our minds and our bodies are so closely connected that if one is sick so is the other.  Exercise can help you beat depression; pessimists tend to have more heart disease than optimists, etc.  In fact, most of the articles can be summed up in this quote from an article put out by the Public Health Agency of Canada:

“Positive mental health can help you cope with life’s challenges and enjoy life to the fullest. It can also help your recovery if you develop a mental illness.  The following suggestions can help you develop and maintain positive mental health.
• eat a well-balanced diet based on Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating;• take part in physical activity regularly;
• get enough sleep each night;• avoid overuse of alcohol, such as binge drinking or drinking to cope with problems;• avoid the use of illegal drugs;• learn to deal with the stresses of modern life and take steps to minimize the stress in your life; and• talk to others – your family, friends, colleagues – about things that concern you. Sharing feelings and anxieties can help you cope with them.”

Pretty much everybody said the same things unless they were trying to sell something.  Something very important is missing though, and it was missing in almost everything I read…you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?  There’s a third part to the health equation – the spiritual part.  The only time I saw any reference at all to spiritual health was when I was told that meditation was the best way to relieve stress.

But then, I came across an article that I really enjoyed.  It said that research has proven that people who laugh more are less prone to have heart attacks and heart disease.  And you know what text immediately came into my mind.  Of course, in my own misquote, it’s a cheerful heart that “doeth good like a medicine.”  I looked and looked but could not find a translation that actually says it that way, so I must have made it up. 

Anyway, that sent me off searching through the Ellen White database and I found that she was a real proponent of maintaining a cheerful attitude.  She urges people over and over again not to dwell on the sadness and frustration of sin because that that is a tool of Satan.  But she goes further by saying that those kinds of feelings affect the efficiency of the way our bodies work, causing all kinds of health problems.

So, I’m convinced that we’re supposed to keep our hearts “merry”.  The question is, is that something that I can control over?  My psychologist colleagues would have us believe that our emotions are something we experience, not control.  In fact, some would say that if you control your emotion s, that you are “repressing” them which is a really bad thing to do.  I mean, come on, can I be happy just by choosing to be happy?  What if I’ve been diagnosed with depression?  I can’t choose to be happy can I?  I need medication for that right?

Are we at the mercy of our feelings?  This is another spot where I think teaching people that they are descended from monkeys causes problems.  So many of the kids I see everyday are at the mercy of their emotions.  When they get angry they throw things, hit things or people, break things, yell – all things we’ve seen an angry animal do.  If you talk to the student afterward, you’ll see very quickly that he (or she) feels no remorse for acting that way.  In fact, he thinks it’s perfectly normal.  The student will explain the behavior as, “Well, [that person] made me mad.”  In his mind, his response was acceptable and the expected response.

Now I’m going to ask a scary question.  What if everybody reacted to anger and frustration like the animals we’ve been taught that we are?  Don’t answer too fast because I believe the evening news is proof that a lot of us do act and react like that.  I guess the bigger question is:  Is that how God wants us to act?  He didn’t make us to be just another animal.  He made us in His image, just a little lower than the angels.  Did He make us to be controlled by our emotions?  I believe He made us to be better than that.  I believe that God has given us the ability to choose our reactions and, to some extent, our emotions themselves.

Now, don’t disagree too fast.  Even psychologists agree with me on this one.  There is a therapy style that teaches that if you start acting a certain way, your brain will follow.  Yes, I know it’s weird.  These are the same folks I told you teach folks that controlling your feelings is a bad thing…but sometimes humans do think things all the way through.  Anyway, the theory is that you should act the way that you would if you were happy or not scared or whatever.  And as you act that way, your brain follows along and you begin to feel that way.  There is even a behavior theory for teachers to use that goes so far as to tell the teacher to talk and react to students as though they were reacting to you exactly the way you wanted them to…whether they actually are acting that way or not.  That may go a little farther than I, personally, am comfortable with, but some folks that I’ve heard speak claim that it works. 

What I’m trying to say is that I believe that God has given us a choice not only with how we act, but in our feelings as well.  Think about how many times in the Bible we’re told not to be afraid.   Well, we’re also told over and over again to rejoice and be glad.

¯    Psalm 32:11  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

¯    Psalm 68:3  But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

¯    Psalm 118:24  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

¯    Psalm 97:1  The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

¯    Isaiah 65:18  But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a   joy.

¯    Isaiah 66:10  Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

¯    Joel 2:21  Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

¯    Zephaniah 3:14  Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

¯    Matthew 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

¯    1Peter 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

¯    Revelation 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Nowhere does it say TRY to rejoice and be glad. And we know that wherever God tells us to do something, He gives us the means to do it, right? 

So, does that mean that we never admit to feelings other than happiness?  I don’t think so.  We know that Jesus was sad, angry, and afraid.  We know that God has those same emotions.  But remember that God, instead of annihilating us whenever we mess up the perfect world He created, He sent His own Son to make our mistakes right. Can we really ever lose our joy if we keep that thought always in our minds?

So, what do we do to maintain that cheerful heart that will help keep us healthy?  God tells us all through the Bible.  “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.”  Joel 2:21 Remember, there are supposed to be 365 “Fear Not” verses in the Bible; one for every day of the year.  And there’s another text that a friend showed me a few years ago that I really like in this context:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.” (2Co 10:4-8 ESV)

I especially like the phrase “take every thought captive to obey Christ”.  I believe that that is God’s promise that we don’t have to act on every thought that comes into our heads.  We don’t even have to think every depressing, angry, bitter, frustrated, sinful thought that comes into our heads.  Ok, well, the thought can pop up…but we can take it captive and throw it out as soon as we can.  Or we can dwell on that thought.

We have a decision to make.  Will we let our emotions run our lives and make us sick?  Or will we

“… count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (Jas 1:2-4 KJVR)