Fun

I cannot count the times I’ve attempted to make my life more fun. Yes, really. I always think, “I’ll be enthused about this if I can make it fun!” and so I’ll come up with reward programs for myself. Or I’ll buy something I think will really inspire me. Want to start keeping a journal? Why, order a pretty one, buy some new pens, splurge on some adorable stickers. Bored with drill and review at school? Invent a new game to keep it interesting for myself. A sink full of dishes? Find something entertaining to listen to, or even replay old messages. Yes, I really do get that desperate.

 I won’t condemn all those things. I think there is a time and place for them. But I also find myself struggling in the current atmosphere of the world around us, where we are led to feel entitled to fun. We feel like we need easy. We deserve to avoid hardship and struggle at all cost. Self-denial is highly esteemed only as long as it is used to benefit oneself in some obvious way. People go to great lengths to control their eating, exercising, and spending. Controlling these things is certainly not a bad idea, but when the motive is checked more thoroughly, we often find underneath a desire for more popularity, views, or “likes.”

 As a Christian, I find myself appalled to realize how much I’ve bought into this mindset. I somehow think that living a Redeemed life should be easy, too. I don’t want to deal with the daily battles. I feel unduly put upon when people question the choices I make. It’s so much easier to just do things how I’m used to doing them and not reconsider my decisions in the light of a reproof. And when it comes to battles of the mind? Let’s not even go there. I’d rather not recognize that I have a choice to fight the lies of worthlessness that cloud my mind, or feelings of anger, distrust, and fear that so readily leave me anxious and depressed. Because making that choice is hard, and although negative emotions are not fun, they're certainly easier to allow than to fight against.

 But the Bible clearly states that Christian life is not easy. It’s a life of joy, there may be laughter, but it will not all be fun. Right in the twenty-third Psalm, we get our first glimpse of disappointment: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”  And how about James 1:12? “Blessed,” the apostle writes, “is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.” John 16:33 proclaims boldly, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” Although the verse continues to lift out hope and cheer, the first part cannot be ignored. This is not a suggestion. It’s not a maybe. It’s not even suggesting that some may have tribulation, but if you get lucky you might miss out on un-fun events. No, instead, it is a clear and concise statement: “Ye shall have tribulation.”

One of the areas that has impressed me many times is the area of communication. Communication can be a lot of fun—catching up with friends and sharing memories, passing on good news, or sharing a joke. But many times we are called on to communicate things that are not fun. I’ve been in more of these situations in my life than I care to admit. Sometimes I’ve been the one hearing something I wish was not being communicated to me. Other times, I’m the one struggling to find the courage to communicate about questions or concerns I carry.

I’m astonished at how the Bible addresses this issue clearly. Ephesians 4:29 says “But let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying…” That which is for our edifying is sometimes hard to hear. It is also difficult to deliver. I am sure many teachers have trembled before a Parent-Teacher meeting, worried about something they must tell the parents. I know there are times as a youth where you feel to communicate about a conviction you have which you know will be unpopular with your friends. Anyone in a position of authority, whether you are a Sunday School teacher, a Youth Leader, or a School Board Member’s wife, will probably come upon an occasion where communication seems necessary but unpleasant.

Although we must enter into communication with humility and prayer, we must not leave it undone. One of my favorite verses on the topic is Hebrews 13:16: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Communication is listed as a sacrifice. I don’t like the sound of the word “sacrifice.” It scares me. What will be required? How much unpleasantness will it involve?

I’ve been inspired over the last number of months that I need to accept that life is not all fun. Instead of trying to avoid hardship, I need to accept it. Rather than look for ways to add excitement and fun to my life, I need to cherish the moments of joy I am gifted and realize that they are just that—a gift. Instead of groaning about mundane daily chores, wallowing in feelings of despondency, or buying into the myth that I deserve fun, I need to grow up, buckle down, and start thanking my Father for the things He has so graciously given me. Things I often didn’t know I needed, and certainly did not deserve.

I’m curious how God could use each of us if we could see our entitled natures for what they are and abandon our ideas of fun and want and, yes, even need, to flee into the safety of His will. Would I be asked to give up a few years of my life in one of the mission fields crying for workers? Would I need to sacrifice my precious vacation plans in order to help fund a project to help someone less fortunate than myself? Would I learn to build relationships based, not on what I can receive, but on what I can give?

I don’t know the answers. In fact, I hope this outpouring of thoughts that have been accumulating for quite a time now makes some sort of sense to your heart. I know I’ve started to think differently about my own life. Perhaps these thoughts have been only for me and my need. It makes me feel a bit vulnerable to record them. Yet here they are, a gift of communication for you, too. Maybe something will speak to you—a tiny phrase somewhere—or maybe it won’t. Either way, I want you to know that I welcome your communication, even if it’s unpleasant. I also want to learn to welcome the things in life that are not fun—because I know that although I may suffer tribulation in this world, I serve a Savior who has overcome the world, and someday I shall be with Him in a Home where all will be peace and joy, not just for a moment, but forever.

Greenhouse

There was once a man who owned a greenhouse. One day he noticed his neighbor looking over the fence into his backyard and straight at the greenhouse. The man decided he didn’t feel comfortable with this neighbor looking at his greenhouse. Not that he had anything to hide, of course, but it just made him feel a little vulnerable.

He walked all around the greenhouse. The walls were transparent, and he could see many of the plants he kept inside. A few were small enough they were hard to make out, but it was still obvious something was there. And whenever he worked in the greenhouse, he’d be obvious, too.

So he bought a tarp. A large black tarp. He draped it carefully over the greenhouse. It hung to the ground on three sides of the small building. Now, the man thought, he felt much more secure. No more could prying eyes look into his property.

It didn’t take long for things to begin to change inside the greenhouse. Leaves began to droop and turn brown. The man began to feel frustrated. He watered his plants faithfully. He fertilized them. He even tried playing music for them. The internet had guaranteed it would work.

But still the plants withered away. Then one day, he noticed something else. To his dismay, the flowers on the westernmost side of the greenhouse that had been flourishing earlier suddenly began to die. He remembered the package had said they needed full morning sun. With the tarp covering the greenhouse, they were now only exposed to sun in the afternoon. His whole hobby was turning into a disaster.

I suppose you think the man in the story made some bad choices. Perhaps you scoffed at his ignorance the first time he pulled out the tarp. And I’m quite sure you suffered frustration when he played music for his plants instead of taking off the shade that was blocking the badly needed sunlight.

But don’t discredit him too quickly. I think there are a good number of us who do the very same thing with ourselves.

We cover our feelings. We hide from people who get too close to discovering what and who we really are. And then we can’t figure out why we aren’t growing. Why does it seem that we’ve begun to stagnate? We’re doing everything we can, but it’s not working like it used to.

Transparency. It’s not an easy thing. It can be scary to let others in. We quake at what they will see and what they might think. It seems easier to keep out of sight.

Some of our faults are real. Some are only imagined. But either way, we tremble to think of someone else being able to see them. Yet we are clearly instructed in James 5:16 to “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”

I believe that it is this transparency that will help sustain the Church of God as time draws ever nearer to a close. Transparency is where we can continue to grow in grace. Transparency is where we are able to allow the light of our Father to glow through us and shine upon those around us. Transparency is where healing will begin for wounds caused by sin and for deep hurt not of our own making.

Yes, it might be terrifying to tear off the tarp and let others see what is underneath. But there is also a freedom, a lightness, that comes with learning to reveal what is underneath. Transparency is where the Glow of God shines through. It’s also where the Grow in God happens.

If you are living a tarp-free life, stay courageous. It takes a special kind of strength to live in such a state of vulnerability. If you’ve been afraid of taking the tarp off, know that you will never regret it. Know, too, that things will not be as terrible as you imagine, should you begin to lift a corner of your tarp. Because the Son will shine upon you, and you will be richly blessed.

Wishing each one a bright and beautiful week!