“I can’t get no……. satisfaction”

Mick Jagger

When I was a kid I made things with my hands….boxes, bags fishing lures…….all kinds of things. Then, when I was in high school, I discovered that I was smart. I figured that the best way to use my smarts was medical school. So I began studying…….hard, sometimes 18-20 hours a day…………….and I stopped making things. This led to a nearly 40 year career in medicine. I really enjoyed my job, made plenty of money, and got to help a lot of people. I used to say “I have the best job in the world”. In fact, I probably did. Then I retired…….. and now I’m making furniture. My work ranges from high end craft furniture to pieces that approach art.

It is really satisfying…….much more satisfying than my practice of medicine. It is so much more satisfying that I have come to the conclusion that a this is what I was meant to be from the start. This is what I was made for. Looking back, my “real career”, medicine, was great……. but this is even better. From where I stand now, I can see that medicine, while it was rewarding…….was a distraction……..a detour en route to my real destination.

Then it hit me………… this is what heaven will be like. Forget the cloud, the halo, and the harp. In paradise you will be exactly where you were meant to be. You will be doing exactly what you were meant to do. You will be with the people you were meant to be with. You will experience the reality that you were designed for. You will know a degree of satisfaction unlike anything that you have ever dreamed of…….unlike anything that any human being has ever known.

Your life today could be a disaster…….. or it could be a huge success. Still, if you honestly search your heart, you know that your life is not all that it could be. That emptiness, that vague sense that something is missing is speaking to you.

You were created. You were specifically designed for something……….and that something is paradise. That is where you were meant to be. This violent broken world is not what God had in mind for you when he designed you. The dissatisfaction that you feel in your heart is the result of being in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing. You may be very successful…..or not…….but, at your core, you know that this is not quite right. You know that there is something more.

This is your heart pointing you toward home………toward the peace, satisfaction, and joy that comes from being in the place that you were designed for……. the place that you were created for.

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Paul, NIV

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

Paul, NIV

It seems like a lot of problems have been cropping up in my life lately. They range from big to small……..from annoying aggravations to full blown disasters. I’m sure that you are dealing with problems too. The challenge is to ride out the storms without losing your joy and peace……..and that can be hard.

So how do we deal with problems?

What do we do when our best laid plans go off the tracks?

One of the rules that I try to live by is this:

Don’t worry about things that you cannot change…….focus on the part of the problem that you can fix. This is easier said than done……but it is good counsel.

When an annoying problem surfaces (speeding ticket) …….when a full blown disaster crashes down on your world (illness, job loss, the death of a loved one) the first step is to sort the problem into two categories……..the part of the problem that you can fix……and the part of the problem that is beyond your control.

The first category is the easy one. Do whatever you can to fix the fixable…….. and this includes getting help. Oddly, diving into the fixable will help take your focus away from the part of the problem that you cannot fix.

The second category is problematic. It can be hard or easy. For the secular humanist there are two approaches: #1 ignore the problem and #2 worry pointlessly………”we’re all gonna die!”. Unfortunately, neither of these approaches will fix anything. Ignoring the unfixable at least buys you a little peace…..as long as you can keep it up. Pointless worry just makes you and those around you miserable. This is the hard approach. For the easy approach, for the Christian, things are different. You pray, turn the unfixable over to God, and then get back to work on the fixable. People will wonder how you can find peace and joy in the face of tragedy. They may even think that you are heartless……..or just hard. But here’s the thing, the Christian approach works. It works by helping you to live and love your way through the crisis. But, also, when I look back over the years, it is surprising how many times God has taken care of the “unfixable”. I suspect that I will someday learn that he has also fixed many of the things that I thought he had missed.

So…….there it is…….the secret to living a life of joy and love in the midst of tragedy.

Fix what you can……..turn the rest over to God in prayer……then get back to work on the fixable.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul, NIV

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

David, NIV

A recent post dealt with “How does God feel?” That post was a bit of a reach. As I said then, I don’t presume to speak for God………I was just making my best guess.

Today I’m going even further out on a limb.

First of all, let me clarify some “ground rules”.

Satan is real……..just look around…….. if you don’t believe he is real, you just aren’t paying attention.

Satan is not a metaphor, a hazy concept, an idea, a guy in a red suit. He is a living creature with a goal and the tools to pursue it.

Satan wants power and control……over you.

Satan looks out for Satan………and nobody else.

God will defeat Satan…..in the end…..and Satan knows it.

Because he knows that he will ultimately lose, Satan wants to do as much damage as he can before the end. He is not a “good sport”.

Satan was created by God. He was an angel. I think that he and God were once close. He rebelled against the power structure in God’s world and was “ejected from the park”. He now roams the Earth trying to set up his own kingdom. Unlike God’s kingdom which is based on love….. Satan’s kingdom is based on domination. He still visits and talks to God……..but, his access is limited and his power is limited…….by God. He will ultimately be destroyed.

So……..what does it feel like to strive to build a kingdom?

Satan is proud.
Satan is ambitious.
Satan is hopeful.
Satan has big plans.
Satan is organized……..he has a team that he manages closely.
Satan is powerful and he has extensive resources.
Satan loves his power and his resources and he uses them skillfully.
He builds his kingdom by separating us from God.

What does it feel like to strive to build a kingdom based on domination when you know that you will ultimately fail,?

Satan is frustrated.
Satan is angry.
Satan has an inferiority complex.
Satan wants to share his pain….because misery loves company.
Satan is vengeful……he can’t hurt his real enemy……. God……. so he attacks you and me.
He finds joy in our failures.

To sum it up……. Satan is a combination of ambition and angry frustration……..and he takes his anger out on us.

How should we deal with him?

Focus on the primary power structure…….. God.
Know that in the end ……….God wins.
Do not ignore Satan……..but know that he is a second tier operator…… ultimately, a bit player.
Know that he will try to pry his way into your world….. every day.
Know that you get to choose which team to join……..the winner who operates on love………or the loser who operates on domination.

“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus, NIV

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Peter, NIV

Sounds like a pretty simple idea.

We all agree that truth is a good thing. We teach our kids to “tell the truth”. We say that we want more of it. We see others doing and saying things that don’t seem true fairly frequently and this offends us…….at least intellectually.

But, how much of our effort goes into seeking the truth internally. In other words, how much time do we spend dispassionately analysing the things that we say, believe, and do in order to determine if they align with the truth?

The truth, it turns out, is a bit more complicated than we like to admit.

One of our greatest failings is that we tend to filter the truths that we encounter. We pay attention to the truths that support our beliefs and we ignore the truths that keep us from getting what we want.

Here is wisdom………it is entirely possible…..even common….. to say a dozen things all of which are factually correct and in the process to be untruthful…….. to lie. It turns out, that in any area of controversy, there is truth on both sides. As an example: a woman should be able to control her body without government interference…. and……abortion kills her child. If you only deal with the truth on one side of an issue and ignore the truth on the other side, then you are being dishonest. And we all do this……every day. How many conservatives do you know who only watch Fox? How many liberals do you know who only watch CNN? Do YOU watch both? Or do you just listen to the talking heads who tell you what you already believe?

There is even a term for this……”the echo chamber effect”.

If the truths that you focus on uniformly support what you believe……what you want. If the truths that you believe never lead you to change. If the truths that you believe never drive you to do something outside of your comfort zone, something that you wouldn’t ordinarily do……..then you are either a saint or you are ignoring the truths that you don’t like.

The great immutable truths are in our hearts from birth. We all recognize these same basic truths…… because they were intentionally put there……..by our Creator. We can run from them. We can beat them down. We can try to bury them. But, they are there…….. If we care to look. If we are honest with ourselves.

There is a connection between God and truth because God is the source of truth. There is a connection between truth and joy because the closer that we get to truth, the more joy we feel. In a word…….the closer that we come to God and his truth, the more joy we feel.

So…..what is true?

God is love……..he loves me…..and I love him.
I love my children and my grandchildren.
God is truth.
Loving others brings us joy.
To cause others pain is bad.
To help the downtrodden is good.
There is something bigger than me.
There is something waiting for me……after I die.
There is good in my heart……. but there is evil as well.

There is good in the world and there is evil…… hatred, lust, jealousy, murder, and, yes, dishonesty to name a few. Each of us has both good and evil inside of us. Most of the ideas that we support contain both good and bad…… and it’s a lot more fun to attack the bad in the other guy than it is to ferret out the bad inside of us.

But…… honesty demands that we look at both the truths that we like and at the truths that bother us….. the truths that restrict us and our appetites.

Democrats must look at the harm that abortion does.

Republicans must look at the harm that gun violence does.

Or we could just keep attacking each other……..an ongoing exersize in dishonesty……..each of us ignoring the inconvenient truths that tell us that we are at least partly wrong…..and, all of the while, believing that we occupy the moral high ground.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus, NIV

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Jesus, NIV