At All Times...

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something." -The Princess Bride

I never considered the truth of that quote until this week. Sometimes it takes a crushing disappointment to make people realize the worthlessness of their treasures on earth. We live in a fallen world--a world perverted from its original design and hopelessly broken. Life really is pain--it's a parade of broken dreams, frustrated ambitions, and disappointed hopes. It's a race from one temporary high to another that leaves the runners in despair when they realize that not one of the highs has endured and not one could bring fulfillment to their lives.


I was brought to this realization rather forcefully the Wednesday-before-last, when the event that had consumed all of my highschool career--team policy debate--came to an abrupt end. I have spent the past year thinking, dreaming, living for the chance to win a national championship. I'll never have that chance. That realization forced a sudden change of perspective around me. Looking back, I realize that I had built my life around that goal. I was defining my value and my identity by my competitive success. God, in His mercy, removed that from me.

That loss carried with it a lot of emotions: insecurity, jealousy, resentment, frustration, to name a few. In the midst of those, however, I was confronted by the words of Scripture: "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." This morning, I found myself wondering how a person can continually praise God. What does that mean? How is that even possible when you're filled up with disappointment and frustration?

The answer is, of course, fairly obvious: it isn't. While I carry that anger, I cannot praise God. This conclusion also leads to a rather obvious question: how do I get rid of the emotional baggage? As long as my life is centered around earthly success, the anger will remain. Ultimately, I think situations like these are simply the manifestation of God's question to His children: "Am I enough for you?" We can't ignore those words. To ignore them is merely to answer no. To ignore them is to cling to the life that is so meaningless in and of itself.

To answer yes is always difficult and often painful, but it is the most rewarding decision any person can make. When Christ is the center, the foundation, and the purpose of our lives, no temporary suffering can take away our joy or prevent us from worshipping Him. Nothing can separate us from His love.

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." It's easy for me to think that this means if I love God, He'll give me what I want right now. But to believe that is to love with conditions attached--and can that truly be love? As I was meditating on that verse this morning, however, it struck me that if we truly delight in the Lord, the desires of our heart are for Him and His will. God will always fulfill those desires. Jeremiah 29:13 confirms this when it says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."

If the desire of my heart is for my Savior, than the pain and disappointments of life can be nothing more than passing clouds on a sunny day. Faith does not displace pain. It does not prevent suffering. It will not make us feel them any less. But it gives us an unshakeable anchor through the storms of life--a foundation that cannot be destroyed. In Romans 8:18, Paul wrote, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis' book The Great Divorce puts it beautifully. "That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, 'No future bliss can make up for it,' not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory."

Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 1 verse 12, "For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day." That is how Paul could give up everything he had--he knew that Christ was a better prize. That is how David could bless the Lord at all times, even amidst the tragedies of his life--because he loved his God more than the world. That is how every broken human being can endure the tremendous pains that the world invariably holds--by knowing Whom they have believed.

Christ told His followers, "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Knowing that we worship the Savior Who has overcome the world, with all its troubles, is unshakeable hope. Truly understanding that fact leaves no room for resentment, no time for fear. That's the fact that I will be holding onto as I go out to discover what life has for me. This morning, God left me with the words of Habakkuk, and I will leave them with you as well.

Habakkuk 3: 17-19- "Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places."

Praise the Lord.