Overcoming Weariness With Ice Cream

Sometimes I am tired.

I am not talking about the I-need-a-nap kind of tired.  I am talking about the I-don't-have-the-emotional-energy-to-do-life-another-second kind of tired.  Weary.  Spent.  Done.

When I'm feeling this way, my solution is a three-step process:

1. Complain to others.
2. Consume ice cream.
3. Check out in front of the TV.

We can call it The 3C Approach to Weariness.  Pastors can build sermons around this alliterative list.  I think it will really resonate with people across all demographics, except maybe the lactose intolerant.

But lest we get the cart before the horse, let's consider my solution's efficacy (minor detail, right?).

Complaining to others requires me to focus on my dissatisfaction, perpetuating my weariness, which is the exact opposite of what I want to do.  Hmm.  Also, if I complain too often to the same people, being around me becomes quite unenjoyable.  My weariness spreads like an infectious disease, bringing down those around me.  Hmm.  Maybe we should nix step one.

What about step 2?  You will never convince me that consuming ice cream is a bad thing.  Ever.  I think it should be apart of every process.  Need instructions for making a sandwich?  Get out bread, spread on peanut butter, eat some ice cream, spread on jelly, eat sandwich.  Need directions for driving to Nashville?  Fill up your gas tank, get on I-40, stop for ice cream, arrive at your destination.  See?  Ice cream is never a bad idea.

Unless I eat it to make myself feel good so I don't have to work through my weariness in a healthy, yet much more difficult manner.  Or unless I eat it in mass quantities because it makes me feel good.  Or unless my body functions better on things like fruits and vegetables than it does on Rocky Road.  (Side note: my husband says I am the only person in the world who can eat a large bowl of caloric ice cream while watching the Biggest Loser, week in and week out, and not feel bad about it.  I'd consider examining the emotional problems behind that fact, but ICE CREAM IS SO DELICIOUS!)

Maybe we should move ice cream down The 3C Approach to Weariness list.  Maybe it should be the last step, a reward for successfully dealing with our weariness....   I know, I know, don't reward yourself with food...  I digress.

Step 3.  Check out in front of the TV.  Pretty sure this is a good idea.  When you're feeling beaten down by the world, nothing distracts you better than Friends reruns, NBA playoffs, or excruciating auditions for a certain singing show.  If you watch long enough, you can escape your problems until the next day, which is all we can really ask for, right?  Don't shoot too high and expect to eliminate your weariness.  Set the bar low and just seek to postpone it for a few hours...

Because we all know weariness can't really be beaten for any length of time.

And if that's true, my list is looking pretty good.  In fact, it's probably in the Bible somewhere - it's that awesome.

Hebrew 12:3 tells us what to do so we "will not grow weary and lose heart."  It says, "Consider [Jesus] who endured such opposition from sinful men..."  Hmm.  That C wasn't on my list. 

Consider Jesus and all he went through - beatings, ridicule, betrayal, false imprisonment, rejection, and brutal death.  If He went through all that for me, surely I can endure a little hardship for Him.  Surely I can exercise enough self-control to refrain from engaging in (fill in the blank) because He asks me to.  Surely I can take a little mocking from unbelievers because I profess Him like He tells me to.  Surely I can overcome some marital growing pains because I am submitting to soul reconstruction like He wants me to.  

Surely I will not grow weary during my "light and momentary afflictions" because He "endured the cross" for me (2 Corinthians 4:17, Hebrews 12:2)!

So it seems The 3C Approach to Weariness needs a little revising.

How about this....

1. Consider Jesus.
2. Commit to persevere.
3. Consume ice cream.

That's Impossible

There's a song called "What Faith Can Do", and it is playing like crazy on Christian radio right now.  When I heard it this morning, this lyric really grabbed my attention:

Impossible is not a word; it's just a reason for someone not to try.

I think it hit home because I am NOTORIOUS for claiming that things I don't want to do or things at which I believe I will fail are "impossible", especially when those things involve obeying God.  When God tells me to do something hard, uncomfortable or scary, I tell myself it's impossible.  And I am so matter-of-fact about it, my heart doesn't even usually notice that I am just making excuses to be disobedient.

My current struggle with "impossible" comes as I think about the holy standard to which God calls us.  Peter said in 1 Peter 1:15-16, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'"

When I think about the word "holy", I think of other words like "sinless", "pure", "perfect", and "impossible".  I just cannot bring myself to believe that it is possible for any human to conduct himself in a holy manner for more than about five minutes.  And that would be fine if that's what Peter meant.  If his original letter had said, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in small doses sporadically throughout your day," we'd all be in great shape.  But that's not what Peter intended.  We are to be holy all the time, just as God is holy all the time.  God's essence is holiness.  Holiness is not just another wonderful attribute about God that He chooses to display some of the time and shelf at other times.  God is holy.  Holy is what He is.  He can't be unholy or do unholy things because that would go against His very nature.

But, contrary to popular belief, you and I are not God.  We are not holy.  Our very natures are unholy.  We can't go one day without sinning, and we've never managed to eradicate that problem.  Even us Christians, whose sin problems have been taken care of from an eternal perspective, still sin everyday.  We are fallen, and it is impossible for us to be holy.

Or is it?

Scripture not only says that it is possible for us to be holy, it commands us to BE HOLY!  Whenever my perception of reality (holiness is impossible) clashes with Scripture's depiction of reality (holiness is possible), I know I am the one that is wrong.  After all, Scripture is holy, and I am not ;)

So, we are staring at this seemingly impossible standard - holiness - and we know we don't have what it takes to be holy, through and through, day in and day out.  But if we want to honor God, we have to find a way to obey.  What are we to do?

This is where I normally say, "Oh well.  I can't do it.  God knows I can't do it.  Therefore, I am absolved of all responsibility to even try."

Right?

Wrong.

God knows I can't do it by myself.   And He's not asking me to.  He's not an unreasonable guy.  He tells me in His Word how I can be successful in this "impossible" situation.

He says He will do it for me.

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:21).   God will make us stand firm - He will make us holy - if we are willing.  Per 2 Corinthians 1:9, all we have to do is rely on God.  He is the one with the power to help us accomplish the "impossible" things to which we are called.  Now, He's not going to force us to trust Him.  We have to choose.  But if we are open to it, He is standing by, ready to make us stand firm, ready to make us holy.

The Point of Pain

A popular argument agnostics and atheists like to use to justify their unbelief in God is that if God existed, there wouldn't be pain in this world.  If God existed, they say, He'd be powerful enough and good enough to make our lives pain-free.  There would be no tornadoes, no Osama bin Laden's, no domestic violence, no cancer, no anything unpleasant at all.  In the unbeliever's mind, the mere existence of suffering proves that God, at least as we Christians define Him (all-powerful, all-knowing, completely good, etc.), does not exist.

But there is a problem with this argument.

Those who argue to this end assume they understand what God's chief objective is.  They assume that God's whole point for doing anything is to make us humans happy.  Don't get me wrong, I would love for that to be the case.  I would love for it to be all about me.  Truth be told, I often act like it is all about me and my contentedness. 

But it's not.

The end all be all of life is not to have 7 billion happy people running around the planet kumbaya-ing.  That would be nice.  And God wouldn't mind if we managed to work that out.  But, unlike John Lennon, that simply isn't God's main objective for humanity.

God is concerned about more than our happiness.

Notice I did NOT say God is unconcerned with our happiness.  He is very much affected by our pain.  He grieves for and with us in our suffering (John 11:33-35).  He responds with great compassion when we are hurting, which He certainly would not do if He didn't care about our pain (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

But He is even more concerned with something bigger than our hurt.

His primary concern is having a living, breathing, active, dynamic relationship with each and every person on this planet.  Like a father of multiple children, God longs to spend as much quality time as possible with each of us.  Why?  Just because He loves us.  Oh, and it also happens to be in our best interest.  The more time we spend really connecting with God, the better off we are.  We have more peace, even in the midst of suffering (John 14:27).  We gain wisdom and understanding about all kinds of things (Colossians 2:2-3).  We become more effective at showing unbelievers that a personal relationship with God is not only possible, it is the most rewarding relationship we can pursue (1 John 5:10-11).

More than our earthly happiness, God wants an eternal relationship with us.  And sometimes it takes pain in our lives for us to realize that.

Paul understood that.  And he told the church of Corinth about it in 2 Corinthians 1:8-24.  As Paul talks about hardships he faced in Asia, he said, "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).  Paul is talking about extreme suffering and pain.  How many of us can relate on an emotional level?  We find ourselves in circumstances that feel "beyond our ability to endure", causing us to "despair even of life."

Why does a good God let us experience such utter misery?

Paul's explanation is, "this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:9).

What?

God allows us to suffer, even though He could stop it, so we might rely on Him?  You mean He is more concerned about relationship with us than He is about our happiness?

Before you tell me you don't want a relationship with a sadistically self-centered God like that, let me make one more point.

Our complete happiness can only be found in relationship with God.

We Americans tend to be an either/or society.  Things are black or white, right or wrong, this or that.  Never both.  Never simultaneously.

Yet, this is not an either/or situation.  We are not choosing between happiness or a relationship with God.  We can have both.  In fact, we can't truly have either independently.  A relationship with God births a capacity for happiness in our lives that does not exist without that relationship being in place (John 15:9-11).  I'm not talking prosperity gospel here, which says, "Accept Jesus and you 'll be healthy, wealthy and care-free."  Believers certainly have their fair share of hurtful situations.  But they also have the ability to find peace, fulfillment, and joy in the midst of pain (James 1:2-4).  Not when it is all over; not when things are wonderful; right smack in the middle of their worst days.

Pain has a point.  Pain is supposed to drive us deeper into relationship with God.  If we aren't letting pain accomplish that, we are suffering for nothing.

Make your pain count.