Lysa TerKeurst | 2011 October

Monday, October 31

Real Problems

I will face issues today that I could think are problems. I might have been tempted to call them problems. They would have bothered me like they are problems. I would have felt these situations are truly problematic.

But they aren’t.

Not in light of what others are facing today.

Real problems.

Life altering problems.

Problems that will still sting a month from now, a year from now, ten years from now.

Indeed, I’ll have hard things to face today. I’ll have things that make me sad today. I’ll have setbacks and interruptions and inconveniences I will deal with today. But not problems.

Oh that I would know the difference.

And when I come to the realization that what I have aren’t really problems… I can look at my hard things and see they aren’t so hard after all.

I can look at the things that make me sad today and determine to be a little less sad.

I can face setbacks without getting set back.

I can be interrupted and choose to look for God in the midst of it all.

Because I know what real problems are. And what I have aren’t those.

I think it’s good to know the difference between an inconvenience and a real problem.

Don’t you?

Cross my heart and close my mouth

If you clicked over from Encouragement for Today I’m glad you’re here. Below is an article I pulled from my book “Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl.” If you’d like to win 2 copies of my book, one for you and one for your friend, see below.

One day I got a phone message from a neighbor named Holly. She said that she knew I liked to run and suggested I give her a call if I ever wanted a running partner.

What I didn’t know until much later is that God had been prompting her to call me and wouldn’t let up until she did.

Holly and I did start running together and what began as a simple act of obedience on her part developed into a deep friendship. This was a huge answer to prayer, because I had been praying for a friend exactly like Holly.

Not only is Holly one of my closest friends, but she is also now my executive assistant. In other words, she keeps me straight on many levels, and I love every minute of it.

One day Holly gave me a unique gift that made my heart feel forever safe with her. Though it wasn’t costly to her, it became priceless to me. She committed to me that she would never say anything dishonoring about me. It was more than just a commitment to me; it was a covenant promise she’d made with God. I can’t even express what peace this brought to my heart.

It’s not that I feared my other friends were gossiping about me. I did not. And I can’t say that my other friends wouldn’t make this same promise. They probably would. But Holly verbalized this commitment boldly—in a way that has defined our friendship and built a beautiful trust rare between women.

Since we know the tsunami-type destruction gossip can cause, why is carelessly tossing out hurtful words about others so alluring? Gossip is easy to slip into and hard to walk away from.

If we just assume we won’t be tempted to gossip, we are fooling ourselves and potentially setting ourselves up for trouble. Verbalizing to a friend that she can trust we will never betray her puts action wisdom Bible teaches us about our words:

“He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity” (Proverbs 21:23).

Before I get together with friends, I do two things: I consciously decide not to utter a negative comment or “piece” of gossip I might have heard, and I prepare in advance some positive discussion items. Instead of hoping conversation with friends goes in a healthy direction, why not help steer the conversation?

Imagine the number of relationship issues that would simply vanish if we were all more committed to loving words. Why not commit today to make this kind of love a reality with those you care about?

Not only was I encouraged by Holly’s commitment to never say anything dishonoring about me, I was challenged by it as well.

Refusing to gossip is a rare and beautiful gift. Would you like to join me in accepting this challenge by making the same promise? It not only makes friendships richer but, more importantly, it makes our relationship with the Lord more authentic and believable. We honor God when we honor each other.

I’m giving away 3 friendship packs today – 2 copies of “Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl“. Please leave a comment below telling us who you are going to commit to making this same friendship challenge with.

The Best Worst Thing

I failed at being a wedding planner.

No one wants a planner who gets so undone by the neurotic mother of the bride that she throws up in the parking lot right beside the guest sidewalk.

Really, nothing says, “welcome to my wedding” quite like that.

I failed at being a kitchen gadget saleswoman.

No one wants to see the tip of a thumb sliced off into the veggie pizza at the exact moment I was promising how safe this gadget is.

Awesome.

I failed at being a cafeteria lady at a private school.

My assistant decided her arms were so dry she needed to coat herself with our spray butter. When we took the trash out later that day, we both got attacked by bees and forgot about the pizza in the oven.

Kids don’t take kindly to burnt pizza.

I failed at being a receptionist.

It’s never a good idea to just succumb to those sleepy afternoon feelings and lay your head down on the desk.

Bosses don’t like workers who snore. Even if they are pregnant.

Yes, I failed at a lot during those years where I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. At the time each of these things felt like the worst that could have happened. Now, I think they were the best worst things.

Had these things been successful, I would have never discovered the joy of being in the ministry I’m in now.

I see this same theme woven throughout many stories in the Bible.

In Matthew 8:23-24 we find Jesus getting into a boat with His disciples. “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.” Worst thing.

But in verse 26 Jesus got up and rebuked the winds and waves and things turned completely calm. The disciples were amazed. Best worst thing.

In Acts 5:12 we find the apostles being arrested and thrown in jail. Worst thing.

But in Acts 5:13 we find an angel of the Lord opening the doors of the jail and bringing them out. Later we find them with so much confidence they boldly proclaim, “We must obey God rather than men!” (v. 29) Best worst thing.

I don’t understand why we have to go through cruddy stuff. And I certainly know there are many worse things to go through then what I’ve mentioned here.

We live in a broken world full of broken people. But isn’t it comforting to know God isn’t ever broken? He isn’t ever caught off guard, taken by surprise, or shocked by what happens next.

He can take our worst and add His best. We just have to make the choice to stay with Him and keep following Him through it all.

Even neurotic mothers of the bride who make wedding planners’ stomachs work in reverse- can become best worst things.

After all, she gave me some great examples to pull from nearly 20 years later while writing Unglued. Oh I kid. Kind-of.