My lower back and right hip keep nagging me. If I lean down to pick something up, the pain more than doubles me over and drops me to my knees. I wonder if I'll be able to stand straight again.
But I do. Because, when everything is said and done, the pain I'm experiencing is nothing. Nothing, when I weigh it on the Lord's scale as provided by the Apostle Paul. "For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18) Paul was himself no stranger to physical pain. Mind-numbing pain so severe that Paul labeled it a "messenger of Satan" sent to torment him! (2 Corinthians 12:7) So Paul prayed about it. Repeatedly. Asking the Lord to take the pain from him. The Lord's answer? "He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
And the result? "Therefore, I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me. That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Like gold smelted in the fire, the Lord used physical pain to refine Paul's faith. To anchor the Apostle even more solidly on Christ Jesus, the only sure foundation for us all. To build resilience.
And then there's also this. My physical pain is nothing when weighed on the scale of what others, even in my own family endured. My Grandmother on my mother's side, Emma, lived with us in her last years. I was away at college by then. When I came home, Grandma sometimes lectured me about dating. About waiting. About being mature. When the lecture hit repeat, out of my impish heart came the question, "How old were you when you got married, Grandma?" I already knew the answer. 16. But like others of that time, 16 wasn't deemed young for marriage. Plus her beau, Edwin, was going off to WWI. Like my other Grandpa, Otto. Trench warfare. Gas. Hellish memories so vivid my Grandpa Otto still had nightmares about it when he was an old man. He cried out in his sleep. He shook like a leaf whenever there was thunder (shell shock).
And did I mention the Spanish flu of 1918? We think we had it bad with COVID? Read up a bit on the Spanish flu and let this fact hit down deep inside. This H1N1 virus killed almost 3 times as many people world-wide, as died because of WW1. In a span of 15 months, in three massive waves, just as the war was winding down. And the primary demographic for the dead? Healthy adults ages 20-40. 1/3 of the American population were infected. 675,000 Americans died.
My grandparents lived through all that. Yet they started families. Worked on farms or in factories. Struggled and scraped to put together a life far simpler than the one we enjoy today. (No smart phone. No internet. No computers. No central heating. NO INDOOR PLUMBING.) Eating out? Very rare. Meat and potatoes usually graced the dinner table. Gardens, orchards, and butchered livestock filled root cellars or ice houses for the winter. And closets? None were needed for the limited wardrobes they owned.
Then, just as they were putting their lives back together in came crashing the Great Depression. Lost jobs. Bank failures. Food lines.
And after that, when this same generation hit middle-age? WW2. Hell on earth once more.
Yet I knew members of this generation when they were in their 60s and 70s. With few exceptions, they weren't bitter. Angry. Instead, they were grateful. They prayed before every meal. Wore out their Bibles by reading them daily. Listened to the Lutheran Hour on the radio. And as long as they were physically able? They went to church and filled up the exact same pews way in the back, right-hand side, of St. John's in Newtonburg, WI. Every Sunday.
All because the Lord used the most severe testing to work resilience. Merriam Webster Online dictionary offers this as a definition of the term: "an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change."
I'm going to adjust that definition slightly, borrowing from something I found online. "God-given resilience is the spiritual strength and capacity to endure hardship, bounce back from crisis, and remain faithful through divine power rather than self-made grit." Resilience agrees with James when he encourages us, "Consider it complete joy, my brothers, whenever you fall into various kinds of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces patient endurance. And let patient endurance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)
Resilience trusts our Lord's promises, "Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you cross through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not set you on fire." (Isaiah 43:1-2)
Resilience helps us bounce back, because we know, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed." (Psalm 34:18) And we know the Lord saved us through Christ. Christ's cross. Christ's suffering. Christ's death. Christ's payment for our sin. Christ's resurrection which guarantees ours one day.
Resilience is God-given through the struggles he allows in our life. The bad hip, heart, or cancer. The death of a loved one. An accident. Fractures in our family. The loss of a job. Resilience keeps us from looking down or giving up. God-given resilience is able to say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
But I do. Because, when everything is said and done, the pain I'm experiencing is nothing. Nothing, when I weigh it on the Lord's scale as provided by the Apostle Paul. "For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18) Paul was himself no stranger to physical pain. Mind-numbing pain so severe that Paul labeled it a "messenger of Satan" sent to torment him! (2 Corinthians 12:7) So Paul prayed about it. Repeatedly. Asking the Lord to take the pain from him. The Lord's answer? "He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
And the result? "Therefore, I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me. That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Like gold smelted in the fire, the Lord used physical pain to refine Paul's faith. To anchor the Apostle even more solidly on Christ Jesus, the only sure foundation for us all. To build resilience.
And then there's also this. My physical pain is nothing when weighed on the scale of what others, even in my own family endured. My Grandmother on my mother's side, Emma, lived with us in her last years. I was away at college by then. When I came home, Grandma sometimes lectured me about dating. About waiting. About being mature. When the lecture hit repeat, out of my impish heart came the question, "How old were you when you got married, Grandma?" I already knew the answer. 16. But like others of that time, 16 wasn't deemed young for marriage. Plus her beau, Edwin, was going off to WWI. Like my other Grandpa, Otto. Trench warfare. Gas. Hellish memories so vivid my Grandpa Otto still had nightmares about it when he was an old man. He cried out in his sleep. He shook like a leaf whenever there was thunder (shell shock).
And did I mention the Spanish flu of 1918? We think we had it bad with COVID? Read up a bit on the Spanish flu and let this fact hit down deep inside. This H1N1 virus killed almost 3 times as many people world-wide, as died because of WW1. In a span of 15 months, in three massive waves, just as the war was winding down. And the primary demographic for the dead? Healthy adults ages 20-40. 1/3 of the American population were infected. 675,000 Americans died.
My grandparents lived through all that. Yet they started families. Worked on farms or in factories. Struggled and scraped to put together a life far simpler than the one we enjoy today. (No smart phone. No internet. No computers. No central heating. NO INDOOR PLUMBING.) Eating out? Very rare. Meat and potatoes usually graced the dinner table. Gardens, orchards, and butchered livestock filled root cellars or ice houses for the winter. And closets? None were needed for the limited wardrobes they owned.
Then, just as they were putting their lives back together in came crashing the Great Depression. Lost jobs. Bank failures. Food lines.
And after that, when this same generation hit middle-age? WW2. Hell on earth once more.
Yet I knew members of this generation when they were in their 60s and 70s. With few exceptions, they weren't bitter. Angry. Instead, they were grateful. They prayed before every meal. Wore out their Bibles by reading them daily. Listened to the Lutheran Hour on the radio. And as long as they were physically able? They went to church and filled up the exact same pews way in the back, right-hand side, of St. John's in Newtonburg, WI. Every Sunday.
All because the Lord used the most severe testing to work resilience. Merriam Webster Online dictionary offers this as a definition of the term: "an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change."
I'm going to adjust that definition slightly, borrowing from something I found online. "God-given resilience is the spiritual strength and capacity to endure hardship, bounce back from crisis, and remain faithful through divine power rather than self-made grit." Resilience agrees with James when he encourages us, "Consider it complete joy, my brothers, whenever you fall into various kinds of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces patient endurance. And let patient endurance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)
Resilience trusts our Lord's promises, "Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you cross through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not set you on fire." (Isaiah 43:1-2)
Resilience helps us bounce back, because we know, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed." (Psalm 34:18) And we know the Lord saved us through Christ. Christ's cross. Christ's suffering. Christ's death. Christ's payment for our sin. Christ's resurrection which guarantees ours one day.
Resilience is God-given through the struggles he allows in our life. The bad hip, heart, or cancer. The death of a loved one. An accident. Fractures in our family. The loss of a job. Resilience keeps us from looking down or giving up. God-given resilience is able to say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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