Tough

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People Are Tougher Than God

In some ways people are tougher than God. The Canadian election campaign has  recently highlighted that fact for me.

people

To a lot of people, God is tough. They view Him as the all-seeing kill joy, just waiting to pounce on someone who does wrong. 

Some people equate God with punishment – a punishment that is swift and harsh.

However, a careful look at the Bible will see a rather different God – one who is patient … so patient that the reader can get a little impatient with God’s patience with people.

As for punishment, rather than being punitive, the Bible shows that most of God’s punishment is for the purpose of correction and restoration. 

I was reading in the news today about all the candidates that have had to pull out of the election campaign, or were asked to step down by their party leaders because of comments they made through social media. 

The interesting thing is that most of these offences happened years ago. In some cases, the comments were made decades ago.

It seems, however, that a comment made – no matter what decade it was made in – still truly represents a person. 

Even when people apologize for comments made in their past, there is still a cloud of mistrust that hangs over them. There remains a question mark in the minds of the voters regarding whether this person can be trusted now, or ever again.

There is not a person alive, or a person who has ever lived, who has not said something in their past that they would regret if it were made known years and years later. 

There is not one person who has ever lived who has not said something, only to find out later through new information that they were wrong, or to be convicted later about some attitude they once held but no longer do. 

But in this political campaign, watch out because you will pay dearly for those comments if they get out. It will not be a quiet matter either; it will be made public for millions to know. You will face shame, and there is a good chance you will lose your ability to serve publicly.

The reason for all this? Two things, or the lack of them: forgiving and forgetting.

Especially because of social media, forgetting won’t happen. 

But people also have a hard time forgetting. Our minds are like high-end computers that can spit out data on demand, no matter how long that data has been stored there.

Then there is the forgiving.

We all want to be forgiven but we don’t like to forgive. We like to hang on to our hurts and hold others accountable for what they say and do. 

People are just like what they think God is like. They are hard, shaming, guilt-producing, angry, condemning, self-righteous and self-appointed gods.

… You only have to watch the commercials that are aired on television from now to the end of the election to see that this is true.

Here’s the thing: It’s awesome that God is not at all like that. Why? Two things: forgiving and forgetting. God is a forgiving God who willingly and lovingly forgives those who want to be forgiven. He is the God of the second chance … and third and fourth, for that matter. And God is forgetting. Rather than remembering what He has forgiven, in case He wanted to use it against us, God chooses to forget. It can never come back to haunt us.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been guilty of not forgiving and forgetting? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Travelling And Food – A Tough Adjustment

One of the toughest things about travelling is adjusting to the food.

Many of the adjustments when travelling are not difficult, but eating when travelling has always been tough for me.

We recently flew to Spain. So many things in Spain were the same as in Canada. 

Their roadways were the same. If you kept your eyes away from the Spanish signs, you would many times think you were driving the Canadian countryside.

It was also winter in Spain, just like in Canada. It was cold there just like at home – except for one difference: at home I’m cold when I go outside; in Spain I was cold when I was inside. Many people there don’t heat their homes like we do, so I found myself bundling up when I got indoors.

People were friendly and willing to communicate, to the point of being interested in where we were from and where we were going. 

It was just like home in so many ways. 

But then there was the eating thing. Every few hours I need a little refuelling and that’s where it got a little tricky. 

It would have been easy to eat American fast food (if you know the song, you can sing it here), but then I’d have missed out on experiencing some of the culture.

I’m not one to experiment too much when it comes to food, so when I found something that had some similarity to what I would eat back home I jumped on it. 

Pizza was one of those food items. I’m really familiar with pizza; I eat it all the time. Bu there I had a chance to experience a different slant on pizza. … I tried it twice because I wasn’t sure the first time if I’d just picked a bad restaurant.

Over all pizza is pizza: you have your crust, your sauce, your toppings and your cheese.

The crust, though slightly different, was much the same. The toppings tasted the same as back home … as long as I made sure the ham was not some Spanish ham. 

But the cheese was not mozzarella. I don’t know what they used. It wasn’t a strong tasting cheese, but it had a peanut butter quality to it – not in the taste, but just like peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth, so did this cheese. 

It was just a little much.

The biggest difference was almost no tomato sauce. Pizza in Canada has a rich tomato sauce spread out over the whole pizza.

In Spain, and I’m told in Italy as well, there is very little tomato sauce – just a hint, and that might be exaggerating how much they put on the pizza.

It was this combo of sauce and cheese that turned me off of pizza – one of my staple food groups at home. 

I got by, however, and no one knew I didn’t really like it. Well, until now. 

Here’s the thing: We often project that we are fine with things, that we are mostly good with what we are facing. Sometimes we give everyone the impression that we are alright with God when we are not. Maybe He hasn’t answered a prayer for a long time. Maybe He didn’t come through for you when you had a big need. You don’t have to pretend you are okay with it. Everyone else might not know how you feel until you say it, but God already knows and He can handle it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you kept from others that they should know? Leave your comments below.

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Tough Experiences Become Fond Memories

It’s funny how you can look back on tough experiences with fond memories.

The other day I was sitting in the dressing room at an arena talking about playing hockey outdoors.

There was a young guy with us, probably about 14 years old. He had no clue what most of us experienced growing up playing pond hockey.

I’m sure he’s played some hockey outdoors, maybe even on a frozen lake or pond, but certainly not in the conditions most of us did.

When I was growing up, the only indoor hockey you got to play were league games, and then even some of them were on outdoor rinks.

On those cold winter nights you would layer up under your equipment and then somehow fit a toque under your helmet.

That pompom was always a sore spot – literally! It made your head sore in one spot.

Fortunately, in those days hockey helmets never fit all that exactly so there was a little wiggle room for that little wool ball on the end of your hat.

But that really was nothing compared to the after school hockey we played on the Humber River.

We lived pretty close to the ravine and it was a perfect spot to set up a hockey game. We would get our stuff together and carry our skates slung over our hockey stick, like a hobo leaving town.

We had to cross the high school football field and walk down the hill into the ravine, being careful not to fall as there was no real path; it was almost straight down.

Sometimes we had to bring shovels, or a net, but often we used our boots as goal posts.

We would play until it was too dark to see, or we got too cold to keep going.

The latter was most common. We would get so cold that we couldn’t or wouldn’t take off our skates. We just couldn’t bare the pain, so we would walk home in our skates.

That’s right! – we had to climb out of the ravine with our skates on, dulling them on the dirt and snow, gouging them on the rocks and stones.

Usually by the time we got up the hill, we were crying or on the verge of it. It was a long walk going from one end of the football field to the other.

… And we’re talking a Canadian football field – 10 yards longer plus the extra yardage of the end zones.

By that time our fingers didn’t work to hold on to our boots. We had to carry them like you would a baby in your arms.

Our toes were so cold, the pain was excruciating. But there was still one more hurdle to climb.

And yes, we had to climb. We climbed a 6 foot metal frost fence because the thought of walking around and taking the extra time was unthinkable.

Boots and sticks were flung over the fence, then skates and all we climbed up the fence and over.

From there it was a short distance to the warmth of our home, to mom, hot chocolate, and the utter pain of thawing toes and fingers.

We’d swear we’d never do that again. But the next night we’d be at it all over again.

Here’s the thing: Those tough times shaped us. We were stronger, more determined because of those times. When you battle spiritually, remember those wounds will bring a perseverance and character that you will look back on with fondness.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has been a tough experience that made you stronger? Leave your comments below.