CAPITALIZING ON CALAMITIES

 

   The ancient Psalmist wrote, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted—“(Psalms 119:71). Is that not amazing? Some might even question his sanity. With our tendency to despise trouble, it is seldom that we find a person who feels this way.

   As the writer looked back over his past, and considered his calamities, he concluded that they had been good for him. He doesn’t give us any details. He mentions no dark valleys, rugged mountains, or raging seas that he was forced to face. He just gathers all the painful experiences together into one bundle and labels it affliction.

   Maybe it’s best that we don’t know the exact nature of his trials, lest we think ours to be unique because they aren’t on his list. Perhaps we would think his to be more bearable than ours. The truth is that we all have troubles in some form or another that seem unbearable at the time.  Although we live in a different time and place we have something in common with this man and every other person.  Job put it like this:  “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1).  Life for all of us is a mixture of sunshine and shadows, pleasure and pain, mountains and valleys, comfort and calamities.  It’s the same for us all, the difference is in how we deal with them.  Some become bitter and some become better.

            Those who accept their afflictions with the right attitude turn their pain into pleasure, their cross into a crown, their hurt into help.  They capitalize on their calamity and it becomes a cure rather than a curse.

            Trials will surely come to us all, but they need not wreck our lives.  When the storms of life rage against us, when dreadful diseases drain our bodies of much needed energy, and when the ugly monster death rips out of our hands the things we cherish most, we can still cling to the precious promises of Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to this purpose.”  So, even when it seems that all is lost and there appears to be no hope, we can capitalize on our calamity and say with the Psalmist, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted—.”  Think about it!

Over the years I’ve ended untold articles with the words “Think About It” (Selah). In this article I want you to think about it. Thinking is a subject that we all need to think about—perhaps more than you think! Let’s face it—most people don’t place a very high value on thinking. We aren’t impressed when someone responds to the question “What are you doing?” by saying, “I’m just thinking.” We might even accuse them of being lazy. We sure don’t equate it with work or constructive effort.

The Bible, however, places a great importance on our thought life. God’s Word tells us to think, and what we should think about (Phil. 4:8). God has endowed us with the wonderful ability to think, to reason, and He expects us to do it. Sadly, our ever shrinking attention span, our fascination with entertainment, and all the many technological gadgets hinder us from doing the serious thinking that we should do. As if TV wasn’t enough, now we have computers, video games, cell phones, I-pods, etc. to compete for our attention. All these things are fine when used properly, but far too often they distract us from more important matters.

Our fast-pace, high tech, entertainment orientated life-style is costing us dearly. You can’t be holy in a hurry and you can’t grow spiritually without spending much time in prayer and Bible study. We would all be better off if we spent more time sitting on a porch swing with a Bible in our hand thinking about the things of God. There is no substitute for careful reading and deep meditation. Yet the very thought of it drives some people nuts, especially the younger ones. If you don’t believe me just take a survey and ask people how long it’s been since they spent fifteen minutes watching a sunset ( the results would be even worse if you asked about a sunrise). You can’t even get most people today to sit still long enough to read a book. Unlike any other time in history, we have a vast amount of information at our finger-tips, but it is absolutely useless unless we take the time to read it.

God has given us His Word, filled with clear commands, tremendous truths, and precious promises, but it is of no benefit to us unless we read it. We neglect it at our own peril. Job said,” I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food”( Job 23:12). O that we had the attitude of the Psalmist who said,” O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day”( Psalms 119:97). Think about it!