Riding the Up-Down, Side-to-Side Rollercoaster of Life

When I was younger, I loved riding rollercoasters. I rode the old, rickety, wooden coasters and then, as more technologically advanced, faster rollercoasters came along, I was eager to jump onto them and enjoy their ups and downs, twists and turns.

 

For some folks, rollercoasters aren’t their cup of tea. (It’s hard to drink a cup of tea on a coaster.) They start slowly, initiating a steep climb, click-click-clicking on the track beneath your feet. Then after a brief pause at the top, just long enough for you to scan the scenery below, they send you on a speedy plunge, thrusting this way and that, sometimes upside-down and even, it seems, inside-out. 

 

Fun, fun! Until you get older, and your bones and teeth start rattling more than feels comfortable. Remember the old cereal commercial, “Trix are for kids”? With the passage of time, you realize that rollercoasters are, too.

 

When you think about it, life’s a lot like a rollercoaster. Sometimes the ride is smooth, calm, hardly any jostling. Then there are the slow, steady climbs, perhaps while advancing one’s educational path, getting married, having children, or going up the corporate or career ladder. We arrive at a peak and have a chance to peer across the horizon. What a beautiful view! 

 

Then, with little or no warning, there’s a dip. A big one. As the speed intensifies, your grip on the bar in front of you gets tighter. You hang on because you have no other choice. Maybe a household emergency has put a strain on your checkbook – or unwise financial decisions in the past are catching up with you. Or your “dream job” has turned into a nightmare, making just getting out of bed in the morning feel like a major accomplishment. Or you or someone in your family has a totally unexpected health crisis and the descent seems more than you can bear.

 

Charles H. Spurgeon, the celebrated British preacher of the 19^th century, understood this well. In one of his devotionals he wrote, “Yesterday I could climb the mountain and view the landscape and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance; today my spirit has no hopes, but many fears; no joys, but great distress. Is this part of God’s plan for me?... The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope – all these things are just parts of God’s method of making you ready for the great inheritance, which you will soon enjoy…. Do not think, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it.”

 

We dare not miss Spurgeon’s key point. When times of hardship and adversity come – and they will – we can trust God’s not caught by surprise. He’s not looking down, wringing His hands and thinking, “Oh no! What do we do now?” These circumstances are part of His plan for each of us. They’re one way the Lord uses to mold and shape us into the people He desires for us to be and to become.

 

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God told the Israelites – and everyone who has been embraced into His eternal family – “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

 

Unfortunately, when things are going well – all the bills are paid and there’s still money in the bank, our jobs are going well, everyone’s healthy and the car’s purring – we’re uninclined to call out to God, to cry out to Him as our Provider and Sustainer. We might offer cursory prayers but our attitude is, “Lord, I’ve got this. I’ll let you know if I need something.”

 

More than inconsiderate, this is almost blasphemous, as if we can be our own gods – until something happens making it clear we’re not. Anyone can handle the ups of life and times when everything’s moving along smoothly on a plateau. But when the rollercoaster suddenly takes a dive, we realize how desperately we need God’s grace, power and intervention.

 

The apostles, from their own experiences, understood this. To believers in Rome the apostle Paul gave this admonition: “…we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:2-4). God’s more concerned with our character than our comfort.

 

James the apostle exhorted his readers, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

 

One day Jesus Christ led three disciples, Peter, James and John, up a high mountain where they were treated to a true mountaintop experience. Jesus was transfigured. “His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:2-3, Mark 9:3).

 

Their “rollercoaster ride” with Jesus had taken them to a thrilling peak they couldn’t have imagined. Their first reaction was to savor this moment indefinitely, in effect to camp out there. Peter, not yet fully understanding what was happening, impulsively offered to build three shelters, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

 

But then a voice from a cloud got their attention: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7). Soon they were heading back down the mountain, descending into harsh and sobering reality of the valley below. Before long the exhilaration of Christ’s transfiguration would fade into the dark moments of His persecution, trial, scourging and crucifixion.

 

The gospels show the disciples riding a spiritual rollercoaster unlike anything the Lord had taken His people through before. As His followers in the 21^st century, we’re also called to such a ride, sometimes coasting along without a care in the world but other times careening downward at a terrifying rate, clinging to our faith in Jesus because there’s nothing else.

 

At such times we have God’s assurance, “I know the plans I have for you.” As Spurgeon said, they’re part of the Lord’s mechanism to prepare us for eternity with Him. So sit back and enjoy the ride!

Temptation: Everyone’s Common Denominator

When you think about ‘temptation,’ what comes to mind? From the beginning of time, forbidden fruit has had great appeal. It started with Adam and Eve, who decided temptation wasn’t a bad idea and acted upon it. Nothing has changed since then. When children are small, telling them not to do something makes them want to do it all the more. Cookies in the pantry look very enticing, especially if mom or dad says, “No cookies before dinner.”

 

As we move through adolescence, into our teens and then adulthood, temptations may take different forms (the cookie jar remains tempting for many of us) but continue beckoning to us. In the Hollywood mindset, temptation can be a powerful tool. For the film or TV screenwriter, it can provide the basis for compelling story lines. For the film marketing department, temptation can attract many more viewers. After all, temptation is fun to dabble in, even in an imaginary, vicarious sense.

 

Poet, playwright and author Oscar Wilde famously said, “I can resist anything except temptation.” Have you ever felt that way? You’re having a good day, thinking and doing all the right things. Then temptation ambushes you, striking an area of weakness left unprotected.

 

Temptations come in all shapes and sizes. They can be something on your computer you know you shouldn’t be viewing – but you want to look at it anyway. Maybe it’s evening and you’re bored; after watching a parade of tempting food ads on TV, you find yourself staring into the refrigerator or the pantry, even though you’re really not hungry and had vowed to quit snacking to lose those excess pounds.

 

The workplace isn’t a refuge for escaping temptation either. If you’re in sales, it might be to promise more than you can deliver to close an important deal. Or you might be to make excuses for why you couldn’t finish a major project on time. You might find yourself wanting to spend more time with a coworker of the opposite sex than you should. Or you’re tempted to be creative with your expenses after a business trip.

 

Let’s face it. We’re all tempted, even though what tempts you might not be tempting for me. For instance, I’m never tempted to eat liver or Brussels sprouts – because I don’t like them. But crinkly French fries or a piece of cherry pie? That’s a different story. 

 

Being tempted is real and universal. The Bible even says so: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

 

That means when sorely tempted, we can’t claim the excuse the late comedian Flip Wilson’s “Geraldine” character often used: “The devil made me do it!” The Lord will provide the way of escape – if we’re willing to take it.

 

It’s also important to understand that temptation isn’t the same as sin. Temptation is being presented with an opportunity to sin. It becomes sin when, like Adam and Eve, we decide it’s too appealing to pass up. As the legendary preacher Charles H. Spurgeon wrote in one of his devotional messages, “There is no sin in being tempted, but there is sin in yielding to temptation.”

 

We have no greater example of this than Jesus Christ, who lived a life without ever sinning. That didn’t mean He never faced temptation. Matthew 4 recounts how the devil tempted Him three times, but each time Jesus relied on the powerful Word of God, refusing to submit to the temptations being presented.

 

This is good news, not only for affirming Christ’s purity and perfection, but also in informing us we can call on His strength in dealing with our own temptations. The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews states, “Because [Jesus] Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).

 

Later the writer adds, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet He did not sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

 

When confronted with temptation, whether for the first time or the umpteenth time, we can’t complain, “But Lord, You don’t understand.” Because He does understand. As the passage above assures us, He was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet He did not sin. Because of that, He offers the mercy and grace we need to overcome whatever temptation we’re facing.

 

That doesn’t mean it’s okay to hang around situations that tempt us, just as it’s unwise to play with fire. If you struggle with alcohol, steer clear of pubs and open bars at weddings. If you’ve got a weight problem, stay away from all-you-can-eat buffets. But we argue, ‘God said He’ll provide a way out.’ Jesus addressed that while being tempted by Satan when He said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12). 

Years ago, a friend of mine who was a diabetic admitted he was tempted every time he drove past a popular donut shop. But he clung to the Lord’s promise to provide a way of escaping that temptation – and would continue driving straight rather than turning into the donut shop’s parking lot. 

Considering the Five Senses of Faith

Human behavioral experts have concluded that whenever we make important decisions, three factors are involved in the process: our mind, our emotions, and our will. We gather the information we need, let our emotions influence how we feel about making the decision, and then initiate our will in committing to move forward with whatever the decision might be.

 

This is especially true for spiritual matters. Determining to follow Jesus Christ, for example, is typically a three-step process of engaging the mind, responding with the heart (emotions), and then willfully deciding to take the necessary step of faith. However, my thinking about this changed a bit recently while reading a devotional entry by Charles H. Spurgeon, a highly regarded British preacher during the latter half of the 19^th century.

 

In his book, Morning by Morning: Meditations for Daily Living, Spurgeon observed, “Faith in the Scriptures is spoken of as pertaining to all the senses.” How he explained this was so interesting, I’ll quote it directly and then offer some comments. He said:

“It is hearing. ‘Hear Me, that your soul may live’ (Isaiah 55:3). One of the first performances of faith is hearing. We hear the voice of God, not with the outward ear alone, but with the inward ear. We hear it as God’s Word, and believe it to be so….

“Then our mind looks on the truth as it is presented to us…we understand and perceive its meaning. This is sight. ‘Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation’ (Hebrews 9:28).

“We begin to admire it and find how fragrant it is; that is faith in its ‘smell’…. “All Your garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia’ (Psalm 45:8). Then we appropriate…faith in its ‘touch.’ By faith the woman came behind and touched the hem of Christ’s garment (Luke 8:43-44), and by this we handle the things of the good word of life.

“Faith is equally the spirit’s ‘taste.’ ‘How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my lips’… [Psalm 119:103].”

 

Spurgeon didn’t say it quite this way, but expressed in today’s vernacular, we might conclude that Jesus passes the hearing test, the eye test, the sniff test, the touch test, and the taste test.

 

All five senses are referred to numerous times in the Bible, affirming that committing one’s life to Jesus Christ isn’t a blind leap of faith as some would suggest. For example, after the Israelites had fled from slavery in Egypt, they confronted the vast expanse of the Red Sea. Never fear, their leader Moses assured them: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again” (Exodus 14:13). For them, believing was seeing.

 

After declaring, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” the apostle Paul observed, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:13-14). We come to faith in Christ when we respond to what we hear.

 

Paul also referred to the role the ‘spiritual sense of smell’ plays in one coming to faith: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life…” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).

 

The Gospels give many accounts of Jesus Christ healing people’s maladies by a mere touch when they came to Him in faith. For example, a man afflicted with leprosy approached to Him and said, “‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy” (Matthew 8:3).

 

As for the sense of taste, this is referred to several times as well. King David wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8). And the apostle Peter exhorted followers of Christ, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

 

However, in teaching about how our spiritual senses can prompt us to respond to God, the Scriptures also caution against ignoring what we see, hear, smell, touch and taste.

 

The prophet Isaiah, after accepting God’s call to serve as His spokesman among arrogant, unyielding peoples, was told by the Lord, “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding, be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’… Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

 

We find a similar admonition in the New Testament, warning those who have ‘sampled’ God’s truth but then choose to reject it: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance…”(Hebrews 6:5).

In matters both temporal and eternal, there is a time when we must ‘come to our senses’ or ultimately face the consequences. 

At the End of the Day … It’s Night!

Have you ever heard of Utqiagvik, Alaska? I hadn’t either until recently. Formerly known as Barrow, Utqiagvik (don’t ask me how to pronounce it) is the northernmost town in Alaska. So what? Well, if you lived there, right now you would be in the midst of a 67-day “polar night.”

Because of its geographic location and the tilt of the earth’s axis, this town experiences perpetual night annually for 65 days or more. The sun won’t rise there this year until Jan. 23, and then just for a few minutes. If it happens to be cloudy, too bad! That’s a long time to be in the dark!

 

The flip side of this natural phenomenon is that the more than 4,000 citizens of Utqiagvik can enjoy the midnight sun all summer – 80 days or more of uninterrupted daylight. I’ve heard of golf enthusiasts eagerly playing 18 holes at midnight during this all-light-all-night season.

 

Getting back to that long, long night of northern Alaska, most of us would consider going more than 60 days without any sunlight unbearable. We complain when we shift from Daylight Time to Standard Time and “night” descends before 6 p.m. Imagine going somewhere for lunch and it’s still pitch-dark? 

 

So what? Well, for one thing light is an essential part of life. It’s the catalyst for photosynthesis, the process by which green plants use sunlight to synthesize food from carbon dioxide and water, producing the green pigment chlorophyll and generating oxygen. Also, sunlight is valuable for health reasons. Sunlight helps the human body to produce vitamin D; a good remedy for newborn babies suffering from jaundice is exposure to sunlight.

 

Most important, light is a critical part of the biblical narrative. In the creation account, God’s first act was to declare, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Then on the fourth day the Lord said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light to separate the day from the night,,,. God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars” (Genesis 1:14-19).

 

Over the six biblical days of creation, God devoted two of them entirely to creating light, including the sun, moon, and stars. Certainly, one reason was so the animals and human beings He’d later create could see and appreciate what He had made. But there was much more to it than that.

 

In the Scriptures, darkness is often synonymous with sin, evil, and separation from God. Isaiah 50:10 admonishes, “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.” Darkness – no offense intended for the people of Utqiagvik, Alaska – is not somewhere to remain in. 

 

The New Testament offers the same view. For instance, Ephesians 5:8 proclaims, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” The source of this light is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

 

One of the major prophecies pointing to the coming Messiah proclaimed, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). Early in His ministry, Jesus recited this verse to announce He had come to fulfill those prophetic words (Matthew 4:16).

 

The first chapter of the Gospel of John, echoing the opening words of Genesis, reveals, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it…. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (John 1:1-4,9).

 

Jesus left no room for misunderstanding when He announced, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). In another setting, Jesus said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

 

Charles H. Spurgeon, the famous British preacher of the mid- to late-19^th century, observed there are three distinct kinds of light from a theological perspective: Physical light; “gospel light” that reveals eternal realities, and spiritual light provided through the Holy Spirit to enable us to understand biblical truth.

 

Just as we require physical light to see and comprehend earthly things, God shows us eternal truth through His Word, and His Spirit enables us to embrace and apply His truth for the “nasty now-and-now” as well as for “the sweet by and by.”

 

Many of us agree that our world in plagued by unprecedented levels of darkness in many forms. Nevertheless, there’s good news: God hasn’t abandoned His creation, and He’s given His followers the privilege of shining His light to help in dispelling the darkness. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

 

The people of Utqiagvik, Alaska might have no choice but to endure physical darkness for about nine weeks every year. However, despite the advancing spiritual darkness in society, we’ve been entrusted with the responsibility of shining the light of Christ to everyone in the world around us. “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (Proverbs 4:18).

It’s About Application – Truth in Action

When was the most recent powerful sermon you heard? What was it about the message that made such an impression on you?

 

I could cite numerous sermons and presentations that struck me in a powerful way, but I’d have to say they all contained three common elements. The great English preacher of the 19^th century, Charles H. Spurgeon is credited with explaining how he prepared his messages, although I suspect many other pastors have used the same approach.

 

Spurgeon said that in preparing to speak on a specific Bible passage, he would ask three questions: What does it say? What does it mean? And finally, What difference does it make? Or as I’m often tempted to ask near the conclusion of a sermon, “So what?”

 

Perhaps to a fault, I tend to err on the side of personal application, whether in reading and studying the Bible, or writing an article or blog post like this. As Spurgeon said, it’s not enough to read the words and try to discern their meaning. It’s the third step, determining what difference the teachings of a passage should make in our lives, that lights the fire under us.

 

One time I talked with a pastor about his approach to giving Sunday morning messages. He was excellent in explaining to the congregation what a Bible passage said and what it meant, at times even referring to the original Hebrew or Greek terms for clarification. Where his messages fell short, in my opinion, was in the area of application.

 

After a lengthy discussion, the pastor told me that in his view, the matter of application should be left to the Holy Spirit. In other words, it’s up to God’s Spirit to teach us how to apply biblical truth. To an extent I could agree; how one section of Scripture applies to my life might be quite different from how the passage relates to someone else’s life. But to extend the pastor’s logic, why not trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to understand what a passage says and means, as well?

 

Application – the old “where the rubber meets the road” concept – is what distinguishes a growing, fruitful follower of Jesus from one who has merely absorbed considerable biblical information and knowledge. As the apostle James exhorted first-century believers, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). To do what it says involves applying it to our own lives and circumstances.

 

The late Henry R. Brandt, a pioneer in modern-day biblical counseling, also was an accomplished author and popular conference speaker. I heard Dr. Brandt say that whenever he spoke, he had only one point to make – but by using a variety of illustrations, he strived to convey that point in as many ways as he could, so everyone listening had an opportunity to grasp what he was talking about.

 

Most folks aren’t going to write Christian books, speak at Bible conferences or preach from Sunday pulpits. But as we spend time individually in the Word of God, Spurgeon’s counsel could serve as an effective guide for our study. If, when we read the Scriptures we conclude, “I didn’t get anything out of it,” maybe it’s because we’re reading only for information and not illumination.

 

Consider a passage, any passage. It could be a psalm, a chapter from Proverbs, maybe one of the vivid narratives from Genesis or Exodus, an episode from Jesus’ life in one of the gospels, or a section in one of the New Testament letters. As you read it, ask yourself: What does it say? And don’t settle for the first answer that comes to your mind. Next ask, what does it mean? Again, take the time to ponder and even meditate on this for a bit. 

 

Finally, ask yourself, what difference does it make – for you? As someone has wisely observed, “God doesn’t give us information to know something. He gives us knowledge so we can do something.” And that means applying biblical truth to our lives through obedience and practice.

 

This is one reason the apostle admonished, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘God, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

As followers of Jesus, if we’re to live abundant and fruitful lives that glorify Him and fulfill His purposes for our lives, we dare not neglect application of the Scriptures – biblical truth in action.