HOW TOUGH IS YOUR SOUL?

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV)

In my first year at FCC I met a wonderful woman named Violet Farrar. I was just getting to know her when one day I got a call that she was in the hospital. I went to visit and she said, “I just got dizzy and weak one day. The next day they told me my heart was bad and here I am, on my way to Duke for bypass surgery.” Less than a week later, we were burying Violet.

Life is tough. And it only gets tougher. I’m discovering as I get older, and I know you are too, that “life is good, no worries” is at best a temporary arrangement. “Life’s a witch” is usually waiting just around the corner. The tough things in life are one heartbeat, one doctor’s report, one emergency phone call, one company meeting away.

And lest we think “that’s only for the older folks” I remember how suddenly I lost my friends Joseph Ramsey, a high school senior, and Steve Kotter, aged 49, who died in car accidents in 2002 and 2004. I also remember how quickly Halifax County lost over four thousand jobs in the first few years we lived here.

Life is tough and it gets tougher. In fact, life can get down right crazy. And the temptation is to spend all of our time as a church in the “emergency room” of soul work – helping wounded people heal – instead of in the gym or on the practice field, training believers for strength and endurance and skill to face the battles.

Healing is necessary. But healing is a temporary state, or it’s supposed to be. (No one I know wants to spend one day longer in the hospital than necessary.) Growing up into full maturity, coming back into the game after an injury or illness, and playing ‘all out’ to the end is what following Christ is all about.
God wants us to be strong people, active people, resourceful people and balanced people as we face the challenges of life. I’m going to spend the next few weeks E-Update columns talking about how to get there. Until then, …be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. (Eph 6:10-11 NIV).