A Job Friend

I have been listening to a CD by a guest speaker at our church, Bro. Wade McKinney.  He spoke on the “Breath of the Rainmaker” out of Job 14:7-9.  This passage is after Job’s tribulations and he is commenting on a plucked up by the roots tree.  It is a powerful message about the wild olive trees and how new life sprouts around destroyed ones.  It doesn’t matter if they’ve been chopped down, burnt or uprooted by a storm, at the first hint of rain buds come from the roots. 

Bro. McKinney paints a very poignant picture of Job and the things around him as he looks down this hill at that tree.  But what he says about Job’s friends caught my attention this time.  One said, “If you had done it this way…”.  Another said, “There must be some sin in your life…”.  These are two friends who, at this moment, are oh so religious when he just needs a relationship.

Makes me wonder; how often—in trying to be a Christian friend—I just managed to be religious and not a friend.  We do have our clichés and are not afraid to pull them out. Especially, when we don’t know what to say (hint:  sometimes it’s better to keep our mouths shut and give a hug instead).

There are times when we don’t understand what is going on.  And, we definitely don’t have all the answer.  That’s okay.  That realization, for me, has been a long time coming.  I have said before, I am a dot your ‘i’s; cross your ‘t’s kind of person.  So, you can imagine how not knowing affects me. 

I do know I don’t want to hear clichés.  So, I try not to spout them off to anyone else.  I’ll admit, though, clichés are safer than saying ‘I don’t know’.  And, they fit into dotting ‘i’s and crossing ‘t’s very well. 

Even though our clichés are rooted in truth, they rarely help in that moment simply because they have become clichés.  At a later date when things have settled down and you can discuss the truth of the clichés, trot them out; nothing wrong with that.

I know different people handle things differently.  But since the Bible tell us to treat others like we want to be treated (Luke 6:31), I’ll skip the clichés, speak a few heart felt words, give that hug and try not to be a Job friend.  

The Challenge

I have made great strides (with the help of family and good friends) in getting back to being confident in who and whose I am.  But I recently noticed I was falling back into old patterns that sank me into depression so deep, I became a none person.  Such as thinking/saying:  ‘I don’t know enough’, ‘I can’t’, ‘it’s too late’, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  I refuse to let that happen again.  So does God.  He got me out of the first round and I know He doesn’t want to have to do it again.

All last week, the Holy Spirit kept tapping me on the shoulder about it.  By Sunday, there was a constant argument going in my head.  (Stubborn? Me? Surely not.)  I went home that afternoon to do nothing (but stew), again.  Instead I left the house, for a second time, and took myself back uptown to a movie.  That was a major step forward for me.

Experts say it takes 21 days to form a new habit.  I want to form is a new imagine of myself on the inside that no one can alter or take away.  I want to see myself the way God sees me. 

Easy, right?  Wrong.  We are constantly bombarded with negative things.  Most of the time we don’t even realize this onslaught is affecting us.  The slide can be so gradual we don’t notice it.

Another thing I’ve also heard is that it takes words to interrupt a thought.  So, this is what I have decided.  I am going to find 21 scriptures that tell me how God sees me and starting June 15, I am going to speak them over myself several times a day; one for each of the 21 days.  If the experts are correct, at the end of the 21 days I should have a God image of myself firmly planted in me.

I’m looking forward to the adventure.  Anyone care to join me?

Every Man Preaches

I was working at the KFC in Kilgore, Texas in 1983 when the murders took place.  Our church was in revival at the time.  My pastor and the evangelist went to every funeral with me.  I rode with them to one and we were talking about the services in general.  I said, ‘I would like to preach my own funeral.’  The evangelist replied, ‘Every man preaches his own funeral.’  I have been contemplating that statement this last week. 

For those of you who don’t know, my sister, Anola, passed away very suddenly and very unexpectedly.  She taught school for 19 years.  They roped for years and participated in the kid’s sports.  She was acquainted with a wide range of people.  The out pouring of love and support from those people for the family was phenomenal.

Due to outside circumstances, her funeral was on hold until into the next week.  I figured most of the people who had planned to come wouldn’t be able to because they would be working and it would be too short of a notice to get off.  Wrong.  The place was packed.  It was a comfort to us to see the honor given to Anola.  It brought to mind that statement:  every man preaches his own funeral.

Sixteen years ago my brother, Harold Wayne, also passed away very suddenly and very unexpectedly.  He, too, was a big presence in a lot of lives.  Again the out pouring of love and support from those people for the family was phenomenal.  The place was packed.  It was a comfort to us to see the honor given to Harold Wayne.

Mother was the same way.  People from all over knew Ms. Helen and loved her.  She too was given honor and it comforted us.

So the statement is true.  Every person, with every day they live, preaches their own funeral. 

Definitely something to ponder.