The Salty Peanut Gallery

Dreams are funny things. At times they can seem so real they cannot possibly be dreams, at other times so bazaar they cannot possibly be real. They can reveal our deepest longings and our darkest fears. They can be so vivid you can’t stop thinking about them and so vague you barely remember you had one at all. They can be symbolic representations of the things we’re going through. Then there are those reoccurring dreams. We’ve all had them. You know the ones where you’re wearing no pants or where you’re falling or where your being chased. I dream about tornadoes.

Though I’ve never actually seen a tornado in person, I’ve always imagined the source of these dreams to be the result of a childhood experience in Wichita, Kansas when I was about five years old. I remember my mother getting me out of bed in the middle of the night and taking me downstairs to the basement. A storm was approaching and apparently a tornado watch was in effect. As we crept down the steps I noticed to my surprise there were others taking refuge in our basement, friends and neighbors seeking shelter from the impending storm. I remember sitting there for the longest time in anticipation of something so dreadful my young mind couldn’t even comprehend it. Eventually the danger passed, everyone went back to their respective homes and I was sent back to bed, almost disappointed the terrible event never happened.

Over the years I’ve had these reoccurring dreams of being near a tornado as it touches down and I watch as it destroys everything in sight. Sometimes I seek refuge, but usually I find myself trying to get a better look. Each time the dream seems so real; each time I think to myself, “This is it! This is what it’s really like!” And each time I wake with that same disappointment, discovering once again that it was only a dream.

I think possibly one of the things on my bucket list is to be a storm chaser. I imagine if I’m ever really in close proximity to a tornado, you’d find me heading straight toward it to get a better look instead of running for shelter. So if I ever die in a tornado, you’ll understand why.

Sarah Groves wrote a song one time about an individual in her life who is just like a tornado, where destruction, pain and hurt follows them everywhere they go. Everything they touch turns to rubble. You try to remove yourself from their path and just when you begin to find healing there they are “making a new mess”. Constantly dealing with this person becomes a battle that is so hard and so painful. Know anyone like that?

We all do. As Sarah puts it, you’d like to move and never send a forwarding address. I must confess I struggle with the tornadoes in my own life. My natural reaction is to withdraw myself from their path of destruction. Oh I’ll be polite and cordial. I usually don’t like to burn bridges with anyone, but the need for self-preservation often causes me to keep some people at arms distance.

The Apostle Paul knew all about dealing with problem people, that “thorn in the flesh” sent to keep us humble. Every church has its problems, because every one is full of problem people that are sinners saved by grace. It’s been said that if you ever find the perfect church, by all means, don’t join it; you’ll only mess it up. Paul identifies five categories of problem people that need discipleship so that they may grow:

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)

There’s the idle, the fainthearted, the weak, those who try our patience, and those who do evil things. Our natural response is usually one of retaliation or rejection. We either want to deal harshly with them or we don’t want to have to deal with them at all. If they won’t behave themselves in the way that seems right to us, then we’d just as soon they go away and never come back.

But God has a different plan. As distasteful as it may seem, He desires to use us in some small way to restore the problem people He brings into our lives. We are to warn them, encourage them, help them, be patient with them, and above all, always seek to do good to them. Ouch! That’s tough. It goes against the grain and it certainly puts us in harms way. It requires an extra measure of God’s grace. There are times when it may be maddening. It may even seem to us like a complete manifest waste of time. But who knows how God may be using us to impact the life of another? Who knows how the goodness of God evidenced in us is having a positive affect on the tornadoes in our lives.

Our good friend, Byron spent the night with us over the weekend. He was in town for our annual fantasy football auction. He needed to be someplace early the next morning, so I got him out of bed at the crack of dawn. He showered, dressed and collected his things to head out the door. We said our goodbyes and as he opened the front door, the sun was just coming up over the horizon and you could see the mist rising from the field next door, rays of sunlight streaming through the trees.

“Man, that’s beautiful,” he remarked.
“Yes, it is,” I said.

And as he turned to go I began thinking about what a blessing it was to wake up every day to such a beautiful scene and how unfortunate it was that in the eleven years we’ve lived in that house I haven’t always appreciated it.

Recently, I had the opportunity to take some time off. After 19 years with barely a break the elders at our church had decided it was time for a sabbatical. In the nicest of ways they pretty much gave me no choice. It was nothing less than a blessing. During that time we were able to visit other churches. It gave me an opportunity to just sit and worship without having to produce anything. At times I found it to be overwhelming. The first few weeks I couldn’t even open my mouth during worship for the tears and the wells of emotion.

The time away was good for me. It renewed my passion for serving and restored in me a love for what I do. But it also helped me to be able to stop and smell the roses so to speak, to appreciate all the good things that God has given me.

There was this one morning in particular, I awoke up before daybreak and couldn’t go back to sleep. Rather than continuing to lay there in bed, I decided to get up and find something to occupy my mind. As I went into the living room, I noticed it was just beginning to get light outside. Our house faces due east and it suddenly occurred to me, as long as we’ve been living here, I’ve never watched a sunrise. So I went outside on the front porch and sat down to watch the splendor of God’s creation. For the longest time I did nothing but sit and watch and marvel at the beauty unfolding in my own front yard.

Since then I’ve begun to kind of view my front porch as a sort of sanctuary, my very own personal retreat. Sometimes in the evenings when it’s cool, I like to go out there and read or sometimes Mrs. Black and I will just sit and talk. It’s taught me an important lesson that I hope I never lose sight of. Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in where we are going that we never take time to really enjoy where we are. Now certainly I’m not advocating complacency. What I am advocating is the importance of learning how to be content.

The Bible talks a lot about contentment:

Philippians 4:11 “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content;”

1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Hebrews 13:5 “…be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

See sometimes we become dissatisfied with the things God has provided and begin to get complacent and lose heart. “I’m tired of the things you’ve given me, Lord. I want what other people have. I want to do things my way.” Or sometimes our tendency is to get impatient with God while we’re waiting on Him to answer our prayers or fulfill our needs or rescue us from our infirmities. Sometimes we grow weary in our circumstances and we begin to think, “What’s the use?” Sometimes we feel like we need to take matters into our own hands.

That’s why contentment is so important. Being discontent only distracts us from being able to enjoy all the good things God has given us. Being content with God’s goodness leaves no room for craving the things we don’t have or desiring the things we shouldn’t do. Contentment comes as we find satisfaction in the sufficiency of God’s provision. With contentment comes thankfulness. With contentment comes peace of mind.

Lord, teach me to enjoy all that you have for me today, all your mercies new every morning. Help me learn to rely on your great faithfulness and to be content.