Oh Well!

Ever heard the phrase, "Pick your battles"? This is what we need to do with things that bother us. We expend so much energy on little, insignificant things that when something truly serious comes along we start the battle drained. By remembering that our present suffering will be nothing in comparison to the glory of Heaven, we can shrug off those petty annoyances that used to cause us so much grief. I think about a friend of our Sunday School teacher. He's 46 and suffering from cancer in multiple places. I think about a guy who went to church with me in college. I didn't know him, more like knew who he was. He died Friday from cancer...he was only 26. These are just two of many examples of people with significant issues. I think about 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (see below) and about how our troubles "won't last very long." Even if we live to be 90 years old, that's nothing compared to eternity. Justin only lived on earth 26 years, very short compared to most people, but now his troubles (his very serious troubles, not petty ones like I face) are over forever. Let's face it, we could spend our whole lives asking "Why?". There are so many "unjust" or "unfair" things that happen in our lives that we question. But according to Solomon, the wisest man in the world!, we'll just drive ourselves crazy. Let's learn to say "Oh Well!" to troubles instead of "Why?".
Proverbs 20:24 "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?"
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 "For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we can see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."