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“You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.”

• Psalm 18:39 

According to my airline pilot friends the periodic flight simulator training and testing they are required to undergo has less to do with the basics of normal takeoffs, landings, and flying their particular aircraft, and much more to do with responding to adverse situations.  Most experienced professional pilots can fly a plane practically blindfolded.  But what they must practice over and over is how to react when things go awry, of which there are endless possibilities.  More than anything else, and thankfully so, it is this preparedness that limits the number of mishaps to the small percentage it is. 

Likewise, there are a lot of excellent golfers around, but only an elite few become PGA winners.  The difference between the amateurs and pros is not that the pros necessarily hit the ball longer and straighter and sink more putts, nor do the pros do a better job of avoiding trees and sand traps.  What the pros do better, thus setting them apart from the amateurs, is recovering from the tree hazards and sand traps – dealing with the adversity they encounter.  Same is true for football.  Just watch the current NFL playoff games or the upcoming Super Bowl.  Certainly the teams who play the best and make the fewest mistakes will have the advantage, but odds are the winners will also be determined by the teams who scramble out of tight situations most effectively. 

In my youth I had dreams of a perfect life, perhaps you did too – perfect job, perfect home, perfect family, perfect everything.  But life doesn’t work that way, does it?  “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus reminds us (John 16:33).  Adversity is inevitable. 

In this life we will surely and unavoidably encounter difficulty, though some certainly more than others.  But what separates an abundant life from a tragic one is neither an absence of adversity nor the severity of it; rather it is how we deal with it when it occurs.  So, if you are living an abundant life it is because you know how to react when things go awry, or how to recover from the hazards of life and scramble out of tight situations. . . . And I’m willing to bet you know the One who armed you with the strength to do so.

“. . . go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”  John 15:16 

Jack Hamrick was a grocer in the small community where I grew up, following in the footsteps of his father who had established the family enterprise long ago known as Hamrick Grocery.  Jack was a good man, good citizen, and a good merchant, hard-working, kind, gentle and generous.  In those days it was common practice for local merchants including grocers to sell goods on credit as most customers being farmers depended on harvest time to be able to settle their debts.  It was in the early 1950’s when our rural county experienced a severe drought causing widespread crop failure driving many of the farmers off their land and small businesses to close their doors, leaving folks like Jack Hamrick with uncollected receivables.  But Jack did what he could to carry his customers through those hard times.  Some were never able to pay. 

Eventually the economy did recover somewhat and Hamrick Grocery once again prospered in a modest way and continued to operate for many years until Jack’s health began to fail forcing him to sell out to a larger grocery chain.  A few years later when he died many came to pay their respects.  It was then that untold stories began to emerge about his goodness and generosity, including one gentleman who shared with Jack’s widow, Millie, that had it not been for Jack’s generosity during those dark times in the early 1950’s his family would have starved to death.  Then there was the story about Ray Loftis who had once owned the local Piggly Wiggly, one of Harmick Grocery’s fiercest competitors.  One year Ray was stricken with some serious health issues.  Jack could have taken competitive advantage of the situation, but instead called his neighbor Ray to ask how he might help with the store while he was away receiving treatment.  That’s the kind of man he was. 

“It’s one thing to clear a piece of land, move the rocks, rake the soil, and protect it with a fence,” I read from a quote recently.  “It’s another to bring it to life with berry-bearing bushes, exuberant tubers, vigorous vegetables, and many-splendored flowers.”  Profits are not the fruits of a successful business.  It is the good for which they are used that bears fruit – fruit that will last.  That’s the lesson I learned from the life of Jack Hamrick. 

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  – Matthew 25:40 

Do you ever find yourself so deeply disturbed by daily news reports that you wish you had the power to change the world, the ability to make things right?  Consider all the war, violence, hunger, disease, poverty, human trafficking, greed and corruption, drugs, gangs, homelessness, mental illness, and addictions.  Even the leaders of our own great nation with all the resources we have at our disposal seem unable to make things right.  How discouraging it all seems and how helpless we often feel to do anything about it!  Or, are we? 

Turn your attention instead to a lady by the name of Lanell Armstrong, a pretty blond middle-class housewife who convinced her family to abandon their comfortable lifestyle and move into an east Dallas barrio inhabited by gangs, guns, and drugs.  There in the “hood” she has opened her home to provide a safe environment to a bunch of street kids, boys, headed down the path of drug dealing, gangs and violence, which will eventually lead to the inevitable consequences of prison – or worse.  In the comfort and safety of her home, though, these boys get to experience something they’ve never experienced before – love, encouragement, and a healthy family environment. 

Every day Lanell wakes up to the same disturbing news reports you and I do.  The difference is she does not find herself feeling helpless in doing something about it.  No, this mostly unheard of Mother Teresa of east Dallas is out there changing the world, one vulnerable young boy at a time, and being a role model for the rest of us, showing us how in our own way and in our own environments we too have the opportunity to change the world – one human being at a time.  But this is not Lanell’s model, it is God’s model.  God does not zap the world to make it right.  He depends on us to do that – one person at a time.  And nothing pleases Him more than when we do; for as Jesus said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Thankfully, there are a lot of unknown Lanells out there, and I want to be one too, or at least become a better one.  It’s my new year’s resolution.  Care to join me?  Let’s change the world!

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”

Isaiah 11:1 

I would like to end this year’s Abundant Living series (be back January 6) by encouraging you to remember that you are a child of God and that your life matters more than you ever imagined.  I’m reminded of Steve Lund, one of our son’s high school teachers.  Though quite ordinary in the eyes of the world, Steve Lund nonetheless inspired a young man who at the time may have otherwise appeared bored and disinterested in school.  But fast forward twenty plus years and you will find that same young man, our son, following in the footsteps of his beloved teacher and mentor “Mr. Lund” in the classroom.  And who knows what young eyes may be observing him, being influenced and inspired by his own teaching style.  You see, Steve Lund’s life matters more than he ever imagined; for from his roots a branch bears fruit. 

Who is Jesse?  He is hardly a high profile character in scripture.  About all we know is that he lived in Bethlehem, raised sheep and had a large family.  Scripture does suggest that he may have been fairly prosperous, a prominent citizen, faithful Jew, and a man of good character; otherwise, he was really quite ordinary.  Yet from among his brood of children his youngest son, David, would rise up to become Israel’s most famous king; and furthermore Jesse is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God whose birth we celebrate in this season.  From Jesse’s roots a Branch bears much fruit. 

Steve Lund had no idea what young eyes were observing his every move, being inspired to one day walk in his footsteps, but his life mattered more than he ever imagined.  Jesse lived a rather ordinary life having no idea that he was influencing the course of history, preparing his shepherd son to become Israel’s greatest king, and most importantly from his line would come the King of Kings.  His life mattered more than he ever imagined.  What young eyes are watching you?  How might your life be influencing the next generation or the course of history?  More than you ever imagined.  Indeed your life matters, too.  Young eyes are depending on you, so is the world – and so is God!

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”  –  Luke 12:48 

This week I’d like to share two stories.  The first I heard on the radio news station I was listening to this past week while driving along in my car.  It was a human interest story about a bank in North Dakota that had reinstituted the tradition of paying Christmas bonuses to its employees.  This year each part time worker will receive $500 and full time employees will each receive $1,000.  But there is a catch.  The recipients are not allowed to spend the money on themselves or their families.  Instead, they have to give it away.  It must go for a greater cause.  One lady, according to an interview with the bank’s president, had already committed her funds in support of an unemployed single mom and her small children.  In the interview the bank president speculated there would be many other wonderful stories emerge from the recipients of those bonuses. 

The second story is one that I not only witnessed but participated in.  Years ago back in my previous life in the corporate world one of my colleagues approached me with an idea.  Instead of giving each other Christmas gifts, she suggested, why didn’t we pool the money we would have collectively spent on those gifts and help someone in need.  So, through a church we were able to identify a family in desperate need, an immigrant family from Mexico with five small children whose mother had been diagnosed with cancer and the father was unemployed.  With our pooled funds, plus donations from others outside our business unit, we purchased food, clothing, and many other items that the family needed.  But we didn’t just send it to them; we delivered the gifts personally – all of us at one time.  One colleague even dressed up like Santa Claus.  What happened that day became a tradition for us, growing to the extent that we were able to help even more families in need.  That experience not only helped those in need; it changed us as well.  It made us all better human beings. 

I do believe that much is expected from those of us who have been given much.  It’s our opportunity to make the world a better place.  And I think the bank president is right, many amazing stories will emerge from the employees who receive those bonuses.