There are days on the desert of daily life when it can seem as though there
is no real point to anything. Such a state of mind does not usually
spring
up for nothing. More often it follows a string of events and
cir***stances
that begin to pull the mind down into the shadows of despair.
I am not one to feel a lot of fear or sadness. My personality reacts to
repeated disappointments with anger. When my efforts at moving forward
meet
with repeated failure, I tend to grit my teeth and push harder. I will
almost always become angry with my cir***stances, and with whatever I see
as
an obstacle to what I want.
It is easy for me to be satisfied for a time with less, so far as money or
things are concerned. But I am not so patient when it comes to
accomplishment. If I put forth effort, I expect results. I don't have to
win every time or even make a lot of progress, but I do expect to move
forward.
When I get into a situation where a pattern of sameness develops, I soon
become frustrated and angry. I am not so bothered by problems in general
as
by the problem that refuses to go away. Mind games, like, "try to see
every
problem as an op****tunity," tend not to work for me.
The truth is, many problems really are op****tunities to learn. Solving a
very difficult problem can result in much more than a personal solution.
It
can launch a new career, a new product, or at least a new method.
I guess I tend to see problems and difficult situations in life as sand
dunes in a vast desert. There are small dunes and really large dunes.
Each
one must be climbed in order to get beyond. Trying to walk around dunes
(to
avoid climbing) will not accomplish anything good. Such effort will only
help to disorient and exhaust.
At the top of some of the dunes, one can see for a good distance. And off
in the distance one may see happiness - or what appears to be happiness -
****mmering in the desert heat. That happiness may take on the form of a
tree, which would give shade, or a pool of cool water, which would give
refreshment, or even a full blown oasis, with trees, dates and water. It
matters very little what we see or think we see. Too often it will prove
to
be only a mirage. And even if we do actually see and reach a full blown
oasis, we are still out there, in the desert, with many miles to go before
we reach the end.
Life is filled with both difficulties and unexpected joys. Good things
happen at least as often as bad things. But for people like me, the bad
things begin to stand out more and more when they seem to be keeping us
from
the results we seek. Real results can seem, while still on the way, like
a
****mmering mirage on the horizon. But we often do finally reach them.
And
when we do, the next horizon - the next desired result - becomes the all
im****tant goal.
When Jesus travelled with His disciples, He often taught them along the
way.
The destination on any given day often seemed less im****tant than the
teaching along the way. I try very hard to keep that in mind when I am
becoming frustrated with the path at hand.
Jesus used the time in the boat and on the road to ask questions and to
explain im****tant truths. The questions were aimed at making the
disciples
think about things they were not accustomed to thinking about, and
thinking
in ways that were new to them. The Lord wanted to teach them to see the
world through His eyes. If they were like me, I'm sure that sometimes it
must have seemed as though they would never get the lessons.
But one truth remains: God is a very great Teacher. He always gets the
lesson across. In the process, He does not become frustrated or angry or
sad or fearful. He knows how to do whatever needs to be done to teach any
human heart the lessons it needs to learn - either in this life or in the
next.
Happiness, like the desert mirage, eventually proves to be real after all.
There really are places where the trees grow tall and fruitful by a cool
spring of water. There really is an end to the long trek. There really
is
the last dune we must climb - an end to the desert sands and the first
green
place, the first lake, the first beaches bordering an endless sea of pale
blue green.
Jim
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