Burrr Cold

You know it is cold when the gas meter locks up. Wednesday January 14, 2009 was a very cold day. If the cold itself were not bad enough, the wind chill was life threatening. Of all days for a furnace to quit. God gets your attention when He allows it to happen on such a day. What made the problem really serious was that ALL the furnaces in the church, not just one of them had quit. Not only the furnaces, but the gas water heater as well. Fortunately the problem was discovered before the temperature inside dropped enough to freeze any pipes. The gas company sent a man out to fix the problem and we had heat again within a few hours.
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Reflecting on what happened, I am reminded of all the challenges that the cold brings. I recall how much more difficult the cold seemed when I was farming. For those with livestock it is especially difficult. I can remember having to start the tractor to feed the cattle when it was bitterly cold. There were times when it just would not start. We would have it plugged in, with the battery charger charging, as the Nipco heater blew a bit of warmth onto the engine. As we waited for the tractor to warm up, we would have to go around and thaw out the floats and drinkers on the hog tanks. Then we would check the automatic waters for both the hogs and cattle and often they were froze up in spite of the electric heaters that were supposed to keep them working.
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Starting the tractor and thawing the water was not the only problem. The animals themselves faced their own challenges. Often the hogs would cluster together in a corner to try to stay warm. That worked well unless you were the pig at the bottom of the pile. Livestock would die. Gates would be frozen shut. Cattle would walk over fences. Still the best of farmers revel in these challenges rather than facing discouragement.
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No doubt the cold has become MUCH easier to bear now that I am no longer on the farm. Still that does not mean that I no longer have to contend with its challenges. I still get cold walking to the post office, the fan motor in the truck locked up on a bitterly cold morning, and then there was that incident with the gas meter. These, however, are minor compared to what I used to contend with. Today I face different kinds of problems then I did then.
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This reminds me a little bit of the salvation experience. Some suggest that if you just come to Christ, all your problems will go away. That may make for a good sales pitch. The problem is, it is not true. The Lord has not promised to take all our problems away, but He does help us to bear them.
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Furthermore, if we come to Christ just for what we can get, where is the repentance in that? We are to trust the Savior because He is God and we want to glorify Him, not just because we want our life to be easier. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
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The Apostle Paul warned that instead of ease, the godly Christian should expect problems. He said us in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
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So then, why would anyone even want to be a Christian? Because being a Christian is not just about us getting from God (we definitely get much), it is also about us trusting God- especially when the going gets tough. It would have been so much harder struggling to get the cattle fed, if I had not had the privilege of calling out to my Heavenly Father for grace to bear the cold.
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He doesn’t take all our problems away, but He does help us through them. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
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What’s more, as Christians, we do not just consider this life, but the life ahead. Paul admits in I Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Yet Paul was not miserable. His hope was for a better place. A place where is neither the bitter wind chill or the fires of hell. His hope was not of this world. His trust was not in this world. Even as he knew he would face more problems in this life, he was still joyful. Consider what Paul said in Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
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I pray that you as well could finish your course with joy. The only way that you can do that is to put your complete trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The next life will not be this cold, but it could be very hot if you neglect so great salvation.