The Bumps Are What You Climb On

The past couple of days have been challenging. Yesterday, in particular my joints were in pretty bad shape. I made it upstairs into my bedroom at night, but each step was extremely difficult. As I lay in bed, I thought back only less than a year ago I could run up the stairs in a matter of seconds. I don't know if I can ever run and my situation is not improving. My physical challenges really impact my emotional well-being.

I've been thinking, which book do I go through next. I have many options and for now, a lot of time. I've pretty much been confined to the house. However, yesterday, in the morning, I went with my mom and dad for a walk along the bike trail in our neighborhood. Well, I was not walking. A church friend donated a wheelchair to me. It is a manual one and really it is used more as a transport chair because I am blind and cannot steer especially in inaccessible areas. It was my first time ever sitting in an actual wheelchair in my neighborhood. They have transport chairs in the airport, but that was far before anything ever happened to my joints.

I really did enjoy the final chapter of this last book. Mike, that is a profound quote that you highlighted. We often do not accept God’s answers to our prayers. Sometimes we even ignore God’s answer. We often want God to answer in another, more “favorable” way.

You know, even though the book on unanswered prayer really help me to see the big picture and how God often has plans we cannot understand, I am still quite discouraged over my present circumstance. Reading one book on unanswered prayer is not going to take discouragement away. I think this new chapter will be incredibly difficult and so I think I really need to be grounded in God's truth on these matters. Satan has tempted me to despair so many times these past three to four weeks. 

The book on unanswered prayer touched a little on this subject of going through trials. I am not so much interested in the "why" of suffering as much as I am interested in the "how to make it through" part of enduring trials. This text (Wiersbe, 1987) is a little bit dated. After all, I was in the first grade when the book came out and knew nothing about God and very little on enduring trials. There is something special in the Wiersbe text. He is extremely Bible-based and pastoral in his writing and preaching. He speaks right to the heart but does not neglect that we are rational beings. I really enjoy his work and grow from it.

Wiersbe opens with these thoughts:

"A little boy was leading his sister up a mountain path and the way was not too easy. "Why, this isn't a path at all," the little girl complained. "It's all rocky and bumpy." And her brother replied, "Sure, the bumps are what you climb on." That's a remarkable piece of philosophy. What do you do with the bumps on the path of life?

I have been a reader of biographies for many years, and I have vet to find a successful person whose life was free from problems and difficulties. Looking at these people from a distance, you might think they had it made and that life was easy for them. But when you get closer, you discover that their climb to the top of the mountain was not an easy one. The road was rocky and bumpy; but the bumps were what they climbed on to get to the top" (p. 11).

Rocky and bumpy, that is the road that many of us walk on. The boy and girl illustrate two mindsets that we can take. The girl complains about the bumps and rocks, wishing the path was smooth and without hindrances. The boy on the other hand sees the bumps as necessary to getting up the mountain. This latter perspective is the necessary one but not a simple one.

Wiersbe then briefly mentions Abraham and Joseph and their stories of difficulty. For Abraham it was famine, conflict with Lot, bad advice from his wife, war, and God telling him to sacrifice his only son. Sometimes, life does not make sense. Then for Joseph he was sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of rape, forgotten in prison, and yet God had each one of these men and many others go through the paths they did for a reason. Then, Wiersbe says something amazing: "I don't know what difficulties you are going through just now, but I know some of the feelings you have, because 1 have been on this bumpy road myself. You feel like quitting, like giving up. You can't understand why the road doesn't get easier; why God doesn't remove the stones and straighten the path, If God did that, you might never get to the top, because the bumps are what you can climb on" (p. 12). I very much feel like what he just described. Many times not just with this new physical challenge, but so many times in my life, I feel like quitting. Back as an undergrad at Berkeley, there were a few people who jumped off the math building which so happen to be the tallest building on campus, ten floors. I faced so many discouragements during my time at Berkeley and had taken the elevator up so many times and had sometimes walked over to the edge. Life is so full of challenges and sometimes some of us take a quick escape thinking that this isn't worth it. We can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, the hope and promise of tomorrow.

Wiersbe introduces us to the hope and promise of Psalm 91:

"Psalm 91 says, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," It is a psalm that magnifies the care that God exercises over His children. Eleven different kinds of dangers are named in this psalm--war, snares, sickness, terrors by night, arrows by day, and others--yet God says that He can protect us from them all. This doesn't mean that we will never experience accidents or injuries; but it does mean that no matter what happens in the will of God, all things will work together for good" (p. 13). The Psalm reminds the people of God who take refuge in Him that He will protect us from all these troubles. He doesn't say He will take them away. Instead, He offers His protection and care in the midst of them. Wiersbe describes some options people take.. They can try to pick up the stones only to find that they are too heavy to move. They can stop and not go anywhere. Some even turn back and go no further. Wiersbe encourages the Christian to go through, with God's help.

Wiersbe introduces briefly an illustration from Charlie Brown. After a loss from a game, Lucy tries to encourage him by saying: "Remember, Charlie Brown, you learn more from your defeats than you do from your victories." And Charlie Brown replies, "That makes me the smartest man in the world!" (p. 14). Indeed, we learn so much from our defeats and discouragements than often we do from our victories and wins. In a moment of poetic prose, Wiersbe says that God knows how to balance our lives with sunshine and rain. He does not give us all sunshine but it is not all rain either. This illustration is so powerful to me as I came back from Rochester. In the winter there, it is so gloomy and cloudy and super cold. People including myself can really get hit hard with seasonal affectiveness disorder. In contrast, California is the sunshine state. I took this for granted in New York. Rochester winters is one extreme of life and California is the other extreme of sunshine. Life is both laughter and tears, sunshine and rain. We are to turn over our fears to Jesus and call upon Him.

"He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."

This is the promise of Psalm 91:15. Jesus is our example of someone who went through trials. He was rejected by His own, poor, a member of a minority race under Roman occupation, opposed by the religious leaders, betrayed by his own disciple, unjustly tried, and crucified. The writer of Hebrews reminds us to look to Jesus:

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (12:2). We are not called to look at our circumstances, ourselves, or others, but we are to look to Jesus.

Prayer:

Jesus, You never promise us that life will be easy. In fact, I remember that You tell us that in this world, we will face tribulation. I can’t say that I’ve mastered the ability to endure these trials. In fact, it’s hard. I have some major discomfort in my knees and ankles and can’t walk sometimes. Only a couple of months ago I was fine. I don’t know what’s wrong or why this has happened. In Psalm 91 You remind us that there are indeed troubles, but You walk with us through these difficulties. We are not to give up or turn back but go forward along this path. All along, we are reminded not to look at the situation, to ourselves, or to others, but to You. Help me to keep focus on You and not the situation. Remind me of Your promises that You work all things for good.