Worst Case Scenarios

Worst Case Scenarios -  He Said

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself, enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst. Lamentations 3:29 (The Message)

Listen to Worst Case Scenarios – He Said

“What’s the worst that could happen?” I asked the college admissions officer.

“You could flunk out.”

“Not if you won’t let me in, I can’t. Please, sir, isn’t there some place you can put me?”

I sat in the admissions office at NC State hoping they’d give me a chance. That’s all I needed, just a shot. But a look of disgust spread across the face of the clerk reviewing my transcripts. Months earlier, with SAT scores in the lower latitudes and grades barely above average, my college application had been swiftly dismissed.

“Son, I’d like to help, but honestly; you have no business at this university. Worse, you have no hope of graduating.”

I persisted. (Tenacity was all I had left after he’d insulted my intelligence.) He finally relented, admitting they had a few unfilled slots in the Industrial Arts Program. Art, I thought. I hate art. And painting boring buildings at that.

“Okay,” I said. “Industrial Arts it is.”

Four years later I graduated with a degree in English.

My life remains a series of “worst case scenarios” that never happened. As a professional writer, I’m assured of only one thing: rejection. Each month my wife asks me; “Where’s the work gonna come from?” I never know. But it always does.

And always has.

Despite my caustic personality I spent eighteen years as a paper salesman, three times making the President’s Council. After a career in sales (and even though I could barely spell HTML), IBM hired me to code web pages. When I left Big Blue, I launched my own web design firm even though I knew nothing about running a business. Despite suffering through one of the worst economic periods in the past 50 years, I prospered and eventually sold the business. Each time it looked as if I’d reached a dead-end. I hadn’t.

The Old Testament writer laments: Life is hard. Amen to that! But the writer also coaches us on how to deal with life’s adversities. Seek solitude, pray, don’t doubt God’s goodness, and stop asking “why me, what’s next, and how, when and where, Lord?” We’re to face our difficulties with a full-on, in-your-face tenacity.

Mark Twain once quipped; “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

I have, too. And the thing I’ve found after each “dead-end” was the next thing was better than the one before. Each lost job led to better work. Not necessarily better pay (as my wife is quick to remind me), but more fulfilling. I still dream about my prior jobs but when I wake up, I call them what they are: nightmares. I don’t want to “go back” because God is calling me to “come on.”

What “worst-case scenario” looms before you? Don’t run from it. Seek God in silence, voice your concerns, and wait for His strength. Chances are, your “worst case scenario” won’t happen, but if it does, at least you’ll face it with God by your side.

Burned and Blistered – She Said

Burned and Blistered

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst. Lamentations 3:29

Listen to Burned and Blistered – She Said

Trouble nipped at my heels. Didn’t seem to matter what kind of shoes I wore, my heels were still blistered. I’d bought new hiking boots, wore them around for a couple of weeks before I hiked. I thought they were broken-in.

When I reached the summit, my heels, raw and sore, stung. I pulled off the boots and propped my feet on the boulder. Huge bubbles formed on my heels. Figures—I was alone…no bandaids…and a two-mile trek back.

It was a hard month. Our lives were shrouded with hurt and frustration, and now we had a life-altering decision to make. I’d walked away from a person whose jealously and hatred tried to drag me into conflict. It had to stop. Walking away was hard but I’d prayed over a year for a solution. While God pondered, I hiked the mountain seeking the quiet, hoping for an answer—to listen–to wait. All I got…blisters!

God promises to hear our cries; to guide us. He asks us to pray continually, believe, and trust. He is a faithful God, good for His promises and true to His children.

I blew on the watery blisters then pinched them. Clear fluid drained. I could walk barefoot but the path was filled with sharp rocks. I pressed a tissue against the sores, pulled on my socks and boots, and suffered through the sting.

By the time I reached the bottom, I understood what needed to be done. Walk head-on into the fire. God urged me to walk away from a group of people I loved. It would burn worse than the blisters on my heels. It was the answer. Not what I’d hoped, but it was right.

When life hits us hard, God encourages us to walk into the flames, just like the three Hebrew boys. Their lives were made fireproof.

My blisters hurt, but they could have been worse. They could have bled. I could have crawled down the mountain instead of walked. At the foot of the trail waited bandaids, soft socks, and cushy shoes, but I had to fight through the pain to get to the healing.

My boots are broken-in now. They’ve molded to my feet and I don’t get blisters anymore, but it took work and wear to get them to a comfortable spot. I suppose I’ll always wonder why God asks us to walk through the fire. He could just fix things, make our life peachy—but I guess that doesn’t make us better for the wear. Does it?

When you seem at wit’s end—blistered and burned, keep pushing. Remember, things could be worse. Wear Christ until you’re molded tight to Him. There is hope.

Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and cofounders of ChristianDevotions.us. They cowrite the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host Blog Talk Radio’s Christian Devotions Speak UP! along with Scott McCausey.

And now you can catch them each Friday evening at 7 p.m. on He Said, She Said Radio! (Call in number, 646-929-0706 ). They travel with Christian Devotions Ministries teaching the art of writing devotions at writers conferences across the country. Eddie and Cindy are featured in Faith & FINANCES: In God We Trust – A Journey to Financial Dependence.