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Stormy Days or High Places
 
Do you remember Joe Btfsplk? For those who do not, Joe was a character in the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner (published 1934–1977) by cartoonist Al Capp. He was a well-meaning fellow, but he was "the world's worst jinx," bringing disastrous misfortune to everyone around him. In the cartoon, a small, dark rain cloud always hovered over his head to symbolize his bad luck.
 
My guess is that you, like me, have days when the world seems to be spinning out of control. If I’m having one of those days, I am tempted to look over my shoulder just to make sure old Joe is not following close behind me, but wait... Doesn’t Matthew 5:44-45 say something about “sunshine and rain” (good days and bad days) being spread around to everyone?
 
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Matthew 5:44-45, RSV
 
Yes, but I want sunshine and roses all the time. Yet, I know that is not reality and that is not the way my life has unfolded over the past seven decades. I have lived through the good, the bad and the ugly. And, as I read God’s word, I encounter many stories of God’s chosen people experiencing challenges, difficulties and hardships.
 
On those days when things are not going my way, I have a range of options. I can go sit in the corner and pout, I can play the blame game, or I can turn to Holy Scripture and see what others have done when their world was topsy turvy.
 
Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like hinds’ feet, he makes me tread upon my high places.
Habakkuk 3:17-19, RSV
 
These words from Habakkuk remind me that when I look over my shoulder, it’s not old Joe following close behind me. The one close behind me, the one who has my back, is the Lord of life, the King of Kings. So, the next time that you are having “one of those days,” pull out your Bible and meditate on the above verses from Habakkuk, and allow God to take you from the depths of your dilemma to your “high places.”
The Rev. Robert E. Wareing
Pastoral Associate
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