Ordeals

Ouch ouch ouch. It just gets worse doesn't it? I wonder what the reason for your ordeal here is?

I believe it to be a test of how I react to conditions that are irritating but not life threatening. I was talking to my lovely bride about this ... imagine being a family with only moderate means, out for a rare holiday, and having a flight canceled like this. It could end up costing the family considerably more than they planned for; perhaps considerably more than they have. It might also mean not returning to work on time, resulting in, perhaps, being fired.

Contrast that with me ... my hotel is paid by American Airlines. Even if it weren't, our employer would be picking it up. My meals are paid for by our employer. I have no particular time pressure to get home. My life is not threatened. I have no physical deprivations to speak of. But I am irritated nevertheless, simply because things are not working out the way I want them to work out.

I have been consciously trying to be as gracious as I can be to those I encounter. But I find my patience growing thin, and I am becoming more irritable. And the thoughts in my mind are anything but gracious. So if this is a test, I am not doing all that well.

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Have you ever considered what are the things you react most strongly to? For me, it is having another treat me dismissively. I will react more strongly to having someone roll their eyes and walk away than nearly anything else. Twice yesterday -- in a shoe store, and in the hotel sports bar -- I was treated as if I was of no worth, and rather quickly dismissed.

Again ... a test.

* * *
But perhaps it is better in it's original form, I view this as a sign that you have mentioned the tense we consider Jesus in.

That your first inclination was to think of Him in the present tense is, I think, a very good sign. I am growing in my realization of His being present right now. I am not doing so well in the "do what I have told you" department.