These are the Times That Try Men’s Souls
Do you have a dark side?
One of my all-time favorite movies is When Harry Met Sally… And in the beginning when Harry and Sally are driving to New York, Sally asks Harry how he and his girlfriend Amanda got together and Harry says it’s because of his “dark side.” Sally looks at him incredulously and says, “Your dark side.” Harry explains, “When I buy a book, I always read the last page first. That way in case I die I know how it ends. THAT my friend is a dark side.” When I was growing up, I used to do that, too. After reading a couple of chapters, if I thought the book was good, I’d go to the end to see how it turns out. It’s because I read a story about some little kid who never got to hear the end of some bedtime story and his soul was trapped on Earth until someone finally read it to him. That freaked me out! And then I read that ghosts are people with unfinished business and I didn’t want that to be me, so I’d flip to the end. Just. In. Case. Now, I don’t believe I’m going to come back and haunt anybody, but once in a while I still flip to the end of the book. It gives me peace of mind knowing how it ends up. I don’t read it in detail. I still want to be surprised, but when you know where you’re heading, you don’t mind the twists and turns you encounter along the way. It’s the things you don’t know that cause you the most anxiety.
Not knowing makes people do the strangest things.
Researchers did a study where they tested if people preferred getting an electric shock immediately or maybe getting an electric shock later and they found people preferred getting the shock now rather than go through the anxiety of waiting to see if they would get one.[1] Sounds crazy, right? Get a guaranteed electric shock early rather than maybe not get one at all? But as human beings, we do not like the unknown. Sure, for things that are fun, we tolerate it and sometimes even like it. Movies, books, surprise parties; those we tolerate the anxiety, hoping the payoff is worth it. Professor Fishbach from the University of Chicago said, “it’s exciting when the stakes are not huge.”[2] But for other things like test results, applying for college or a job interview, those things make us more on edge because more is at stake and the end is unknown. People can go one of two ways when the stress of not knowing starts to become too much – they either work hard toward ending the stress or ignore it altogether, both of which can have disastrous results. Not going to the doctor because you’re afraid of the result won’t cure whatever you might have and bugging someone constantly to get the results you want might push them the other way. There was an episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon went up to his childhood idol, Professor Proton and wanted to collaborate with him, but Professor Proton turned him down. Sheldon said, “It’s because I’m annoying, isn’t it? Just say it. I’m annoying. Just say it. I’m annoying.” Sheldon kept going on and on until finally Professor Proton said, “You’re annoying!” and closed the door on him. Sheldon looking sheepish said, “Wow, that hurt.”
The future seems uncertain for us.
It seems like a storm cloud has surrounded us and we are caught in the middle of it all. Just look around at all the things happening in the world today and in our own country and you can tell people are freaking out. Not just because they agree or disagree with what is happening but because they have no idea where it will all end up. If you KNEW everything would end up okay, it would be easier to tolerate. You might even be more gracious, more understanding of other people who are also freaking out. You might react in kindness instead of in kind, but we are in such uncertain times, it is driving up the anxiety all around us. Israel and the Palestinian people. Israel and Iran. Ukraine and Russia. Not to mention the National Guard being sent into California and basically occupying DC. Rigging elections. With so much uncertainty everyone has in their own lives already, this extra level of stress makes it that much worse. As Thomas Paine once wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”[3] How we react will say a lot about who we are.
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying,“Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another,“Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” – Luke 8:22-25
That must have been one BIG storm.
It also must have been one BIG lake.[4] I’ve gone lake fishing a BUNCH of times growing up and I can’t imagine a storm so violent that I would ever be in danger. Especially not in a boat with a bunch of fishermen.[5] And these would have been seasoned fishermen who have been out to sea, who understood if not experienced what storms were like already. The fact they were scared enough to believe they might drown means it must have been a massive storm. Not being a seasoned fisherman myself, I had to look up a couple of the terms, and a squall is “a sudden violent gust of wind or localized storm, especially one bringing rain, snow, or sleet”[6] so this would have taken them by surprise, especially if they were in the middle of the lake. There would be nowhere for them to go. And when the Bible says the boat was being swamped, that’s not just waves of water crashing down on it. It means that the boat was being drenched or submerged.[7] That’s how much water was rushing into it. They were literally fearing for their lives. These kinds of storms can become extremely violent. Back in 1961, there was a 92-foot ship called the Albatross which sank suddenly when it encountered a “white squall” where winds whipped up to 150 miles per hour.[8] Six people died as a result including four teenagers. And the boat the disciples were on likely wasn’t that big. We don’t know how bad the squall was, but it was enough to panic the disciples. When they woke Jesus, he calmly stood up and quelled the storm and he asked them “Where is your faith?” In the middle of the storms of our life we need to put our trust in Jesus. When we focus on him, he will calm the storm raging around us and quell our anxiety. In the story, the disciples literally focused on the person of Jesus, but today we need to focus on the promises of Jesus and the lessons he taught us. When people did things Jesus didn’t agree with, he didn’t condemn them or curse them. He ate with them. He got to know them. He invited them into a relationship with him. And Jesus asks us to do the same.
We don’t need to turn to the end of the book because we already know how it turns out.
God wins. God’s goodness will overcome the evil around us. God’s will is stronger than our best efforts to sabotage it. And God’s love will win out over hatred and indifference. But that doesn’t mean we should sit around and do nothing. God always calls on us to be proactive in the world. When God presents an opportunity, we need to step through the door and pursue it. But when we are filled with fear and anxiety, it’s hard to see those opportunities. They block us from noticing where God is leading. We need to quiet the storms within us. Moses’ crossing the Red Sea speaks to this exactly. The escaping Israelites are in complete panic, yelling at Moses that he should have left them in Egypt. “Better to die a slave and live out your life than to die on the run!” But Moses tells the people, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” We can’t listen for God’s direction when we are caught in the middle of our anxiety. We must allow God to quiet the storm inside us, then and only then can we go where God is leading us.
There are still times when I let the storms of life get the better of me.
But through experience and my own stubbornness, I have learned the best way to handle them is to have faith in God and allow him to guide me. It has led me to have a peace about life that I know I didn’t have before. You’ll often hear me say I don’t know how things will work out, but I know they will, and I believe that. I trust in God to guide me through. But I’m still working on it. One day I hope to have a peace about myself like Cassie’s grandparents who remain for me a model of Christ’s love in the world. Or like some of you. In each place I’ve served there have always been people who have what Paul calls the “peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).” I pray we all can share in that peace. I pray for our country and I pray for our church, but I know God will be there no matter whatever else happens. And I still flip to the end of books sometimes, but I don’t worry anymore about dying and coming back as a ghost. Instead I am learning to enjoy the journey and turn to Christ in the storm.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/03/how-uncertainty-fuels-anxiety/388066/
[2] Ibid
[3] http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/c-01.htm
[4] The lake Jesus was on with the disciples was the Sea of Galilee and according to Bible Hub was a lake about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide – so pretty big.
[5] It’s possible none of the disciples on that particular voyage were fishermen, but since Luke simply said “the disciples” it’s more than likely that at least some if not all of them were there.
[6] https://www.google.com/search?q=squall&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
[7] https://www.google.com/search?q=swamped+boat+meaning&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/10/nyregion/the-day-the-albatross-went-down.html
Craig's Corner 