The Problem With Problems, The Issue With Issues, and the Trouble with Troubles!

"In this world you will have trouble..." John 16:33 (NIV)

Problems. Issues. Troubles. Beefs. Hurts. Griefs. Gripes....

Call it whatever you want to call it...Fact of the matter is, we will all have them at one time or another. That's just one of those things that comes along with being human. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from trials & tribulations. In fact, sometimes, it will seem more like '...how many are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me!' Psalm 3:1 Anyone who says 'oh I never have any kind of trouble/problem/issue, etc....is a liar! So there's their trouble/problem/issue right there! :)

Let me tell you a story....

Once upon a time there was a woman. All in all, she led a very happy life...a roof over her head, food on her table, shoes...sometimes even very cute ones...on her feet.  But this woman had a problem. An issue that was unresolved from her past, causing hurt in her present, and affecting her future.

At first, the problem was fairly small. More of an inconvenience really. So she would push the problem to the background and be happy for a while.

But then there were the days when the problem was all she could think of. It would block out all the good in her life, and in would rush the depression, despair, anger, hurt, until all she could think about was finding a solution for her problem.

Of course, she prayed. (She knew & still knows the value of prayer). She would beg God for the solution...or at least the solution SHE thought was best....but in the end, when the answer she sought did not come, she began to try to 'help' the situation, by looking for any and all means to an end to solve her problem.

The Problem (for now it was not nearly a problem, little 'p', but it had grown to an Important Thing with a capital 'P') began to take front stage center. It began to bleed into and affect every area of her life. Her marriage, her other familial relationships, her activities in her church.  Nothing else seemed to matter anymore but finding a solution to her Problem. Friends & activities she used to enjoy and that brought her joy, soon fell by the wayside. Friends & family whose words of advice she once appreciated & trusted now seemed to just irritate, hurt, and 'be against her'.

In her mind, troubled though it may have been,  if she enjoyed these things, these friends, then she was ignoring the problem and being fake. If she submitted, if she gave in to the things that once brought her such joy, gave in to what those who loved her asked of her, she would have to admit that the solution she had come up with to her problem was wrong.

And that right there is the problem with problems, the issue with issues and the trouble with troubles. It doesn't come in the having them....it comes from the trying to get rid of them. From the trusting that a solution to that problem, issue or trouble can come from anything but God.

A problem can be like an itty bitty pebble stuck in your shoe while going on a 5 mile walk. That first few steps...its just annoying. But the more it rubs against your foot, the more you notice it. By the time you get to the 5 mile mark (IF you don't give up along the way!) that pebble has become a huge stone and your joy from finishing the walk is diminished by the pain of getting there.  Along the route, bystanders are shouting encouragement, and all you can think about is 'But they don't know about the rock in my shoe!!' so you discount their words, and think, 'They just don't understand'.

So you try to explain to the bystanders the problem with the rock and get the suggestion 'Just take the rock out of your shoe!'  While this seems simple enough, instead of encouraging you, the suggestion rankles & ruffles your feathers. What?? Do they think you LIKE having a rock in your shoe?? And don't they know that if you have to stop & shake out your shoe, then everyone will KNOW you had a rock in there...and the others in the 5 mile walk may get ahead of you if you stop now...and...and...and...

On and on it goes & the rock grows...

When a problem grows, even if its only growing in your own mind, it slowly cuts off that lifeline of joy, until you are left with just existing. Problems crop up in your family that have never been there before. Church attendance becomes a trial because every word you hear seems like its aimed directly for your toes.  Messages that come across the pulpit rub the wrong way, giving more cause for grief.  You start cutting back on your worship because, after all, you do not want it to seem like you agree with the things being said, for goodness sake! Everything you once enjoyed is colored & viewed through the perspective of the problem, robbing you of the peace, joy & beauty that Truth brings. You push Truth to the side because it does not fit with your current view of reality, your own 'truth'. You ignore that little niggling in your spirit that you might possibly, maybe, be in the wrong, and come up with all manner of arguments (some of which are even really good!!) to support 'your side'.

Just ask the woman in the story. She's been there. But the good news is that she did not STAY there. She had someone to remind her that God  is the reason to attend church...not people. By choosing not to worship, not to participate, not to use the gifts that God had given her, she was only hurting herself...and telling God that he was not worthy enough of her praise for her to set aside her 'pride' and her 'problems' to focus on worshiping Him.

And it was just that simple. Once she could grasp that simple fact....That God deserves our praise no matter what else is going on in our lives...the stranglehold that her problem had on her life was loosed and she was once again able to feel that Joy Unspeakable that comes from loving & serving God.

Notice I did NOT say that her problem was gone. It was not getting a solution to her problem that allowed her to live the life that God means for her to have. It was getting her problem in perspective!

I began this writing with this.."In this world you will have trouble..." John 16:33 (NIV).

But that's not all that verse says! The whole verse says this...

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV).

If we could truly grasp that concept...If we could magnify God instead of our problems...If we could really truly remember that God has never ever done nothing but GOOD to us, then we won't allow our problems, issues, hurts, troubles, pain, disappointments, beefs, gripes, etc, to get between us & God.

And getting between us & God...well...that's the problem with problems, the issue with issues & the trouble with troubles!

A Mountain Dew Experience in a Diet Coke World

I am once again on the band wagon of dieting. Yes, it 's true. After living in the great state of Louisiana for over three years, and many (though they shall remain secret) added pounds later it's a necessary evil! Let's just say that rice & gravy & I get along well. Very, very well! And then there was rice & gravy AND the smothered potatoes....Oh Dear.

Knowing I was putting my diet plan, once again, into action the next day, I did what any self-respecting dieter would do.  I had The Last Supper of another of my guilty food pleasures. I had lunch at Taco Bell, and not only that...I had a Mountain Dew with it!!

This is a no-no for me (or should be anyway) because 1) the caffeine affects numerous health issues, not to mention keeps me, who usually drinks half-caff or less coffee, awake when I should be sleeping, which then keeps me sleeping when I should be awake! And 2) because it tastes good...and as my father-in-law's heart doctor told him, 'If it taste good, put it down. It's bad for you!' So go the rules of dieting as well!

Mountain Dew, in fact, is one of the few carbonated beverages that I will drink straight from the can or bottle (chilled, of course!). All others must have ice in them. And preferably be in a Route 44 cup from Sonic, purchased during their Happy Hour at 1/2 price... But that's a thought for another day's blog. :)

Anyway...

The Mountain Dew from The Last Supper started off excellent and I enjoyed every sip. But then I arrived back home and had to get busy putting groceries away, chatting with my son about his school day, and mentally figuring out what was the easiest route I could take for dinner. Multi-Tasking momhood at its finest!

By the time I had a chance to sit down for a few minutes (telling myself I had to research some ideas for my other son's ecosystem project, and where better to look for ideas than my new found love of Pinterest??) and finish off my Mountain Dew, a terrible tragedy had occurred. While I was busy playing Susie Homemaker, most of the ice in my drink had melted, leaving me with a less than blissful Mountain Dew experience.  After sadly taking a few more sips, I gladly handed it off to my youngest son who didn't care that it was watered down...he was just happy to have Mountain Dew. ANY Mountain Dew!

Ok, ok...I'm exaggerating the terribleness of the tragedy merely for entertainment's sake, but hang with me a moment or two more. I'm going somewhere with this tall tale.

I got to thinking about that Mountain Dew from my friends at Taco Bell. They didn't add ice to my drink because they were trying to ruin it. Their intentions, ( I am 99% positive) were merely to make my dining experience more pleasurable and my drink more palatable by adding ice to it.  And it would have...if I was just looking for a quick thirst quencher for the moment. But I was needing something that would last longer. Was the Mountain Dew still in the cup...yes, of course. But it had watered down so much that it only had a vague resemblance to the real thing.

Now this is where Mountain Dew gets spiritual. It can happen...in my mind anyway!

Over the last several years, I have seen (and experienced in some cases) in churches nation-wide, a trend to make Christianity 'more palatable'. More comfortable. Easier. Less sacrifice & more 'relevance'. A quick fix, when one is thirsty.  Something to fit into our busy schedules of life. Maybe. If we don't have something more important to do. 

Most of the time, the intentions are good. I seriously doubt any church planners sat down and asked each other...'Now, what can we do to mess up this Good Thing we've got going?' No, I am sure their basic intent was, rather, 'How can we share this Good Thing with others?' Their hearts, surely, have been in the right place...it was just the delivery method that got messed up somewhere along the way. 
 
The Gospel, aka the Good News, aka the Good Thing, aka (at least for my blog's sake) 'Spiritual Mountain Dew' is best served straight up, as is, no garnishment needed. It doesn't need to be embellished, or gussied or prettied up because it is the most amazing Love Story that has ever been told just as it is written. Perfection can not be perfected upon!! 

All we are doing when we try to do all that dressing it up, or dressing it down, as the case may be, is ensuring that the ones we are reaching for receive a Message that's frankly...well.. a mess. They get a watered down taste of the Real Thing, but never get to experience the full flavor of it.  And maybe...if you've never tasted the Real Thing in all its fullness...maybe that feels like it IS enough, though it will not last.  But once you have experienced that Mountain Dew in all its goodness, and have known that fullness of It's flavor for yourself...how can we justify serving the watered down, not quite the same, but retaining a fraction of the flavor version?

Side-story here, which brings the Diet Coke in the title into play...I remember a time, when my daughter was just a baby, and I was having a bad-mommy-moment...and we did a 'taste test' with her while sitting at a restaurant with friends.  I took her pacifier and dipped it into a regular Coke. She, of course, loved this interesting new flavor! Then I took her pacifier and dipped it into my Diet Coke...she most decidedly did NOT like the change.  In all her 8 month old or so wisdom, she somehow knew that the Diet Coke was not the real thing...because she had already tasted it and knew what the real thing was like...and much preferred it to the diet version.  From the mouths of babes, and all that.

This old world has enough fake, not-quite-as-good-as-it-seems, substitutes. It doesn't need watered down Good News. It needs the Real Thing. That's the only choice that will truly satisfy a thirsty soul. Our job is to simply serve it 'As Is' and let the Master Chef do the rest. Just preach the Word. Let people experience it for themselves, without us telling them when, how and where they should enjoy it. I just have a feeling that if we do that...without a lot of, you coulda, shoulda, woulda's in the way...then God will lead them exactly where He wants them to go. And another 'Mountain Dew Fanatic' will be born!