Mike's Musings: Life is more valuable with extremes

Greetings To Everyone, I hope your enjoying whatever season it is today. I know our weather fluctuates wildly here in Oklahoma, and I know that it is like this most of the time, but it gets a little challenging sometimes. If you are a gardener you know how hard it is to plant at the right time when the weather doesn’t agree with your plans.

The one rule of thumb I learned when helping my dad was that potatoes need to be planted on St. Patrick’s day. Beyond that, good luck. Life has a lot in common with the weather and planting gardens. One day we have sunshine and a warm breeze from the southwest, and then the “blue norther” rolls in and stirs the pot. We often wonder why can’t our world be calm, forgiving, and pleasant all the time. Why do we have to have to have the ups and downs?

Why do we have droughts and tornadoes in our lives? It would be much better if the extremes didn’t exist and we could live a peaceful life. Many people wonder why bad things happen to good people and why Christians have to deal with the ugliness of life. This is a question for the ages but the Bible sheds some light on this. In Matthew 5 verse 45 it says “it rains on the just and the unjust”. It doesn’t hardly seem fair but that’s the way it is. You might ask “if that’s the case, why would I want to be a Christian?”.

First of all we don’t accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to have an advantage. We follow Christ because he died for our sins. We accept his holiness so that we can be forgiven of our sins and spend an eternity with him in Heaven. Another reason we accept Jesus as our Lord is because he gives us peace in the storms of life. In John 16 verse 33 Jesus said that we would encounter problems and tribulations but to not be concerned because he has overcome the world.

Simply put, our faith in Jesus gives us strength and wisdom to deal with our problems. It doesn’t guarantee that we’ll have smooth sailing everyday of our lives but it assures us that Jesus is with us every step of the way. You may say to yourself “I want a life on easy street. I don’t want to have to deal with the negatives and bad things”.

My reaction to that is that it is a nice thought, but that is a dream called Utopia which is non-existent. Remember the rain? Life has its highs and lows for everyone. So why would we want Jesus in our lives? Because he will help us and guide us through everything we must deal with. He will be with us in the good times and the bad. One of my favorite songs says it better than I ever could, “God On the Mountain” recorded by Lynda Randle. (Check it out on YouTube) Well its time to get back to the garden.

Wait, which garden you might ask, the vegetable garden or the garden we call life? It doesn’t matter, pick one or pick both. Regardless, the same rules apply. It will rain too much sometimes and there will be drought other times. It will be too cold once in a while and it will be too hot other times. Just remember that in life, we can call on the master gardener, Jesus, to help us grow. Life is full of challenges and uncertainties. If we try to go it alone it, we will disappointed.

Following Jesus as our Lord and Savior is a sure way to not be alone in a world full of surprises. If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, ask him right now to come into your life. You won’t be disappointed. Grace and mercy to all.