Ups and Downs

Now, I know that just because you are a good person you won't be spared trials and heart ache and opposition. In fact, possibly because your are a good person a certain someone (Satan) targets you in an attempt to derail any good that you may bring to pass.

I like to think of analogies a lot. It helps me when I can visualize and compare things. Well, I was in need of an analogy a while back. There were a lot of crazy and seemingly unfair things happening all around me to good people. I was asked to give a talk in church about the scriptural account that takes place in Joshua, chapter six. If you are unfamiliar with the story, here it is in a nutshell: Good guys outside a big, powerful city. City surrounded by a big, strong wall with bad guys inside. God tells good guys to "take" the city and gives them some weird instructions. Good guys were to march around the city once each day for six days. There were certain requirements for the march that I will not include. Then, on the seventh day, this was to be repeated seven times and on the last time the good guys would shout and the city walls would fall down. (I wonder how many of these soldiers were thinking that Joshua, their captain, had lost his mind.) Well, they did it and guess what. The walls fell down and the city was conquered. Sweet. What does this have to do with any of the above? The walls falling down were a pretty big miracle, at least in my book. In our days of trial, heartache and opposition there are many people who are looking for a miracle. I, myself, have wondered at times, "Where is the miracle? When will the 'walls of the city fall down?'" The secret is that there are miracles taking place. All around us. Every day. The trick is learning to recognize them as such. They may not be as obvious as a city wall falling down, but miracles nonetheless.

What are the miracles in your life? Is it being able to get out of bed each day? Is it having a conversation with one of your kids? Is it finally understanding something you have been struggling with? Is it being able to leave your kid in nursery and not have the leaders come get you out of class? Is it sending your child to school and having them come home not in tears? A healed or healing relationship? A desire to simply be better? All of these things have at one time or another been a serious miracle for me. Without knowing the details of these situations, these events seem pretty insignificant but I will be the first to tell you that I dropped to my knees and thanked God when they happened.

So, now I'm going to share the analogy that I found. The one I mentioned earlier. Have you ever seen the printout from a heart monitor? Straight line=bad. Lots of ups and downs=good. And so it is with life. When nothing is happening, it's generally not good. We're not going anywhere or learning anything. With the ups and downs we are enabled to learn and to grow. The ups and downs show us that we are alive and that life is continuing on for us. It's all good. Hang in there, the miracle will come. Watch for it and be careful you don't miss out on it while you are busy looking for what you think you need.