Another Of Life’s Trials And Tribulations

It is high August in Texas and that means hot. In parts of the state hot means humid and sultry to suffocating, while in other parts of the state hot means dry . . . and hotter.

During August people spend time outside in the mornings and move indoors by 10:30 or 11:00 am. In the dry parts of the state temperatures begin to drop nicely when the sun goes down. In the humid areas, however, it stays uncomfortable for some hours after darkness falls.

”Just another of life’s trials and tribulations,” as my parents and grandparents used to say.

Trials and tribulations are no stranger to the vast majority of us, “vast majority” being the term I use because I recognize the theoretical possibility of a “charmed life” even as I doubt such a thing exists in the real world. Some people’s catastrophes may end up being much smaller than others, but that they have setbacks that feel like catastrophes to them is something I do not doubt. Iodine stings no matter the size of the cut.

Dealing with trials and tribulations is something that crops up in the Bible all the time, as often as any other subject. From the loss of Eden to the struggles of the Apostles recounted in the book of Acts, there are very few examples of things that come easily.

Adversity

Perhaps the most prominent example of “things that came easily” is the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-23.  The story ends in disappointment for the young man who has, we suspect, had things come easy in his life:

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

It is widely accepted that adversity builds both character and wisdom – so much so that I occasionally see a bumper sticker reading “Oh no! Not another learning experience!”

Eventually, we Christians find ourselves referred to Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

We are also advised to lay our trials and tribulations at the foot of the cross.

Sometimes, and for some people, these things are more easily said than done. In one famous Peanuts comic strip, the character Lucy is quite firm on her desire to live a life with “ups” only – no downs, just ups, higher and higher each time.

This is funny in a comic strip but embarrassing to find buried in one’s own attitude.

The Book of Job

When I find myself in this state of mind, I often turn to the Book of Job.

The story of Job is not just a story of misfortune; it is the story of all human beings who struggle with the consequences of humanity’s fallen nature, which will overtake us no matter how virtuous we may be.

It is important to remember in any discussion of Job that it is a parable; we ought not to think that we can fathom God’s mind or will from reading about Job – in fact, the final chapters teach exactly the opposite: that God’s ways are NOT ours and that we have no standing to attempt to judge the Creator of all things from our tiny perspective or minuscule stores of knowledge and experience.

One of the important lessons in Job is that we cannot attribute our problems to some kind of divine retribution. Yes, our poor decisions may have led to unpleasant consequences and our better decisions may have failed to produce the results we hope for, but while we should learn from the consequences of our actions, it is a mistake to see God as producing these things the way an animal trainer might use a treat or a shock collar.

We live in a world shaped by uncounted generations of fallen people exercising their free will.  The ramifications and consequences of all these decisions, however, are utterly beyond our finite mental capacity to process, predict, or understand.

Understanding and Perception

God may indeed lift us out of dire circumstances, but the evils of this fallen world may lash out and find us no matter how careful we try to be. As an old friend of mine used to say when people would lament that they never had a “road to Damascus” moment in their lives, “God doesn’t waste cannonballs on sparrows.”

Which is not to say he does not occasionally send a BB shot our way.

This is one of those areas where we enter the (sometimes seemingly) paradoxical areas of our understanding of our faith. These paradoxes do not arise from contradictions in the contents of the faith, but from our limited ability to understand and perceive the realities behind them—as God points out to Job in Chapter 38 beginning with verses 4-7:

“Where were you when I founded the earth?  Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its size? Surely you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it?

Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid its cornerstone, While the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

Well, exactly.

Our Mortal Minds

There is a story about St. Augustine walking by the seaside one day, thinking about the nature of the Trinity. He is said to have passed a child who had dug a hole in the sand, and was carrying water from the sea to the hole with a pail.

St. Augustine asked the child what he was doing. The child told him he was emptying the water from the sea into his hole. Augustine objected, pointing out the hole was clearly too small to hold all the water in the sea.

The child then asked him how he thought he could fit the mystery of the Holy Trinity into his mortal mind. After which, as one would expect, the child disappeared.

This is the essence of Job’s answer, delivered in a more kindly and less overwhelming way: some things are too immense for us to fit our minds around.

Put plainly, a lot of life is like August in Texas: uncomfortable on occasion.

In those times when the trials and tribulations of life threaten to overwhelm us, we are all tempted to ask “Why me?” and in the depth of our hearts desire an accounting for our bad fortune from God, it is good to look back at Job and remember his statements of faith, especially the beautiful words from Job 19:25-27:

As for me, I know that my vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.

This will happen when my skin has been stripped off, and from my flesh I will see God:  I will see for myself, my own eyes, not another’s, will behold him:  my inmost being is consumed with longing.

Guilt and Sorrow

I’m not especially good at “laying things at the foot of the Cross.” But when it comes time to do that, the best I can manage is to be as honest with myself as I can be.

Some of what brings me to the foot of the cross are things I have done myself: sins of commission, omission, and just plain unaware clumsiness. And some of what brings me to the foot of the cross are things that seem to have come in from the world outside, from the jostling interaction of billions of human lives over time and space that reach beyond the individual moments of those actions. Some may even be direct action by the enemy.

When I kneel or stand or sit before the cross, I know without a doubt that none of the things that I am feeling are foreign to our Lord. No pain of body, no pang of betrayal, no disappointment with others, no knowledge of being innocent in the face of some unfair trial or tribulation can be outside the experience of him who took the sins of the world on his shoulders to liberate all of us from death. Only my guilt and sorrow for my own sin is not part of his life – it was in his death he took even that upon himself.

Life has trials and tribulations. We have the singular great example of how to carry them.

A Prayer

Father, support and sustain us in time of trial and tribulation, gracing us with the assurance of your continued love and the knowledge that nothing can separate us from your love and care if we turn to you. We know that we shall see you at last, and that in that day we shall have no more doubt or sorrow or grief or pain, but only joy of life in your presence. Thank you, Oh Lord, for these blessed assurances. Amen.