Pastor's Pen
by Buzz Dahlen
Over spring vacation, Myken and I took a road trip up to Kelowna, British Columbia.  I was really only along to give Myken a ride, so I had to find something to do to keep me occupied all week.  While we were driving through town, I noticed a recreation center.  So, I ventured out on my own to investigate.  They had a nice weight room, exercise bikes, swimming pool, hot tub and basketball court.  Everything I needed to keep up my exercise program.  They even gave me a great deal on the entry fee. I was set.
On Wednesday, I was in the pool doing my laps and a nice consistent pace.  A man in a wheelchair came up to the edge of the pool.  When I got close enough to see I could tell that he was missing his right leg.  As he began to get down from the chair and into the pool, it was evident that he was also missing his right arm.  I made the turn and headed toward the other end of the pool.
It wasn’t long until this guy passed me by.  I was a bit surprised to say the least.  He blitzed by me and made the turn to the other side.  I watched him churn through the water, working his stump along with his other arm.  As I kept my steady pace, I thought I could hear what I will identify as God’s voice, telling me something.  “Buzz, that guy is focused on what he has, not on what he has lost.”  Wow, what a lesson.  I know that it is very easy to focus on what we have lost, what we don’t have and completely lose sight of all that we have.  There are times when we lose things, things that are precious, things that are important, it happens.  When it does, we must make sure we are focus on the right things.
Consider Job… In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East… I hope you know the story, Job lost everything that he had and yet he was able to say: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:
There is a natural tendency, when things don’t go the way we think they should, or when we lose something that is precious to us, to not only focus on what we have lost, but to get mad at God for it.  I promise you, that serves no good purpose.  God has a plan for each of our lives and that plan always includes His blessing and provision.
And now for the rest of the story… After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.  All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.  The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.  And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
We may never understand why “troubles and loss” happen in our lives.  All we need to understand is that when we do, we need to focus on what we have and not what we have lost and trust in God.

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