No Manure – No Mess – No Milk

It’s seems we’re increasingly living in society where people want everything pain-free, strain-free, maybe even brain-free. They want rewards without commensurate effort, results without having to experience any difficulties. If we were dairy farmers, our motto might be, “We want the milk without the manure.”

Alas, that’s not how life works. We don’t become physically fit by sitting in a recliner watching exercise videos. We don’t excel in school and get smarter without the hard work of reading, studying – and thinking. We can’t experience the joys of parenthood without putting up with dirty diapers, messy rooms, unanticipated expenses, and the variety of maladies kids acquire. And we can’t succeed in our careers without experiencing setbacks, disappointments, and if necessary, investing longer hours on the job than we’d like.

My friend, Mike Landry, recently published a book, Advancing Through Adversity: Turning the Worst of Times into the Best of Times, in which he details the struggles he and his family endured over an 18-month period after he was wrongfully sued by a company he had started. Even though he didn’t want this adversity, Mike discovered it would become an excellent teacher, providing important, life-changing lessons he couldn’t have learned in any other way.

He writes, “During tough times, most of us pray for a way out, or plead for our troubles to end. We want answers, resolution, or healing…. If all we do is focus on the given situation or the other people who are involved, concentrating on fixing it or getting through it, we could miss how God wants us to use the circumstances to teach and change us.”

Mike’s right. So often when confronted with difficult problems, all we want is to “fix it” or to “get through it.” But as I’ve found repeatedly throughout my life and career, we gain the most while in the midst of confounding challenges. Adversity can teach much about patience, perseverance, humility, coping with disappointment, compassion, and, perhaps most important, it serves as a wonderful resource for testing and strengthening our faith.

This truth is revisited frequently in the Scriptures, including Proverbs 14:4 which points out, “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; but much increase comes from the strength of an ox.” Stating it in other terms, without the manure – putting up with the mess – we can’t have any milk.

Another friend, Ted Sprague, casually cited this verse years ago in Atlanta, Ga. during a crucial civic planning meeting that had taken a decidedly negative turn. After he quoted a paraphrase of the passage, “Where no oxen are the stables are clean,” the room fell silent for a few minutes. Then someone responded, “You know, Ted’s right!” The tone of the meeting instantly shifted, taking on a much more positive focus, and important decisions made then influenced the course of the city for many years afterward.

There were problems to be faced, but the benefits from being willing to confront those difficulties far outweighed the drawbacks. That’s why today a plaque behind Ted’s desk quotes the verse along with a concluding statement, “There’s a price to accomplishment.”

The apostle Paul, who knew adversity as an almost constant companion, wrote, “we also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). Not to be outdone, another apostle, James, urged his fellow believers to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4).

If we never had to wait expectantly for something, we’d have no need to be patient. If we didn’t have to deal with struggles, we’d have no need for perseverance. But when we face hardships through the eyes of trusting faith, confident God is with us and using them to mold us into the people He wants us to be, we can indeed “glory in tribulation.” We can “count it all joy,” even when we never would have asked for the circumstances that beset us.

Yet another friend from years ago, Dr. Gerald Durley, encountered racism as a young African-American coming to the South for the first time. The mistreatment he experienced was undeniable and unforgettable. Nevertheless, years later he could look back upon the pain of prejudice and rejection, recognizing how God had used it to shape his character and equip him for a fruitful career later in life. And he could say, with all sincerity, “Thank you for adversity.”

The moral we can take from this is simple: If we keep foremost in our minds that without the manure we’ll never be able to enjoy the milk, we can join Mike and Ted and Jerry in the paradox of gratitude, declaring, “Thank you, God, for adversity!” 

Listening . . . and Ready to Respond

Over the weekend my wife and I stayed overnight with a little grandson while mom and dad enjoyed a quick getaway. When it was bedtime, we hoped Maclane would sleep quietly until morning, affording Grandma and Pop a good night’s rest. But Mac had other plans.

So in the wee a.m. hours when he started crying, we waited a few minutes, hoping he’d close his eyes and go back to baby dreamland. But his crying persisted, and soon it was a reenactment of many times when our daughters were young: We went to the rescue.

That’s what good parents and grandparents do. When little ones are in distress, we respond to offer help as needed. To ignore tiny pleas for assistance would be tantamount to child abuse.

Knowing how readily we react to the needs of our earthly children, despite our flaws and imperfections, underscores how much we can trust in our perfect Heavenly Father to answer the cries of His children.

Just this morning I was reading Psalm 30, in which King David makes these observations:

“O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me…. To you, O Lord, I called; to the Lord I called for mercy…. Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help. You turned my waiting into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:2-11).

Without question, these days many of God’s children are pleading for His intervention. As occurred last spring, tornadoes have devastated many parts of the country. Here the "tornado-proof” Tennessee Valley seems to have turned into a new “Tornado Alley.” Twisters struck less than a mile from where two of our daughters live; their homes were spared, but many residents’ homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

A good friend recently received disheartening news about the baby she is carrying. The uncertainty for the remainder of her pregnancy, and for the infant’s future, makes this a very difficult time for her, her husband and family.

Unemployment, health issues, financial struggles and family discord are among other concerns being presented to God in prayer by His followers. How will He respond?

As the scripture passage above and many others assure us – He will respond, often in ways that far surpass our expectations. In Jeremiah 33:3 the Lord promises, “Call on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.”

And that’s a promise.

Perplexities of Perseverance

When did we decide to give up on perseverance?

Throughout U.S. history, a common thread of perseverance has been sewn into our nation’s fabric. Think of colonists bravely weathering months on the seas, then confronting nature’s worst to build homes and raise families in the New World. Pioneers traversing wilderness territories to explore the Western expanse. Scientists searching relentlessly for cures to horrific diseases.

Consider industrialists and inventors laboring long hours and risking everything they had in pursuit of dreams and innovation. A nation united in sacrifice to ensure the war effort’s success. Families scraping for years to amass enough money for the down payment on a house.

None of this was easy, but perseverance – bulldoggish determination that refused to accept failure as a final answer – carried Americans through, individually and collectively.

Today, we’ve devolved into a no-waiting, quick fix, microwave society. “I want it, and I want it now!” has become our mantra. We bow at the altar of instant gratification. We fume while standing to place fast-food orders; grumble in checkout lines; grit our teeth at red lights. And lose interest and give up when anything requires too much time or energy.

Mountain climbing requires
perseverance.

Recently my old “friend,” Oswald Chambers, made an important distinction. In his classic devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest,” Chambers observed, “Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling.”

This evoked images of mountain climbing. I thought first of a climber that has slipped and clings desperately to a rock or tree branch, fearful of harm to life and limb. This illustrates endurance, trying to survive. The other climber encounters obstacles, but with skill and determination overcomes them and advances slowly toward the summit. This demonstrates perseverance.

Perhaps marching toward post-modernity, our hell-bent insistence on evicting God from public consciousness, has precipitated the death of perseverance. Because what Chambers called “absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen” lies at the heart of biblical faith. As followers of Christ, because we embrace hope and not “hope so,” we persevere.  

James 1:2-4 declares, “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.”

If that’s true, refusal to persevere in the face of adversity leaves us immature and incomplete, lacking what we need – as individuals and as a nation – to live this life as intended.