As we continue a look at the detours of life – the Plan Bs. Let me remind you that we spend most of our lives on the detours. We have plans, but more often than naught we are forced to live our lives with the Plan Bs of life. One of the byproducts of living our lives in Plan B is that we must deal with stress. In less formal terms, we feel stress or stressed when we feel that "things are out of control." But, perhaps the most useful and widely accepted definition of stress is: Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that "demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize" (Richard S. Lazarus).
A side note: prior to the 1920s stress was only mentioned in relationship to physics or engineering. Today, stress is just a common part of our lives. Stress is known to have effects on our health thanks in part to psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe who in 1967 decided to study whether or not stress contributes to illness. They surveyed more than 5,000 medical patients and asked them whether they had experienced any of a series of life events in the previous two years. Each event had a different "weight" for stress. The more events the patient added up, the higher the score. The higher the score, and the larger the weight of each event, the more likely the patient was to become ill.
Not all unusual events (Plan Bs or detours) are as equally hard to deal with and The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), more commonly known as the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, was created to measure just that. This tool helps us measure the stress load we carry. How much does it take to push you "over the edge"?
I have during several periods of my life scored over 600 on the stress scale – I might also add that I am ended up at the Heart Doctor on both occasions. Stress can cause severe health problems and, in extreme cases, can cause death. You should take the advice of a suitably qualified health professional if you have any concerns over stress-related illnesses, or if stress is causing you significant or persistent unhappiness.
The Bible is packed with stories of people that are pushed beyond what they could handle. These are stories we need to learn from because they are stories about us. We should be able to relate to these characters in the Bible as Life happens – Plan Bs pop up – detours occur – and we reach our limit – the proverbial last straw hits – and we can’t take anymore!
We hit the wall. Our world is turned upside down – divorce, betrayal, job loss, a sudden death, health issues, deep depression, or perhaps a disillusion experience at church. Truth is any one of these could push us over edge. Whatever it is we are pushed to our limits and we find ourselves once again questioning ourselves, questioning God, questioning church, and even our questioning faith. In these moments of stress, we have more questions than answers:
We don’t know where God is? or Why God has abandoned us?
We don’t understand why this is happening? or What God is doing?
We don’t’ understand what God has planned?
And we certainly don’t know how God is going to fix it?
Perhaps one of the best examples of someone hitting the wall in the Bible is Job (on the stress scale Job scores over 1200!).
As we examine the story of Job, we will discover that this is more than a story about one person. Job lives in the Land of Uz – not OZ! (there are no munchkins or yellow brick roads). In the Land of Uz, Job is a good man and good things just seem to happen to him. Some might call him blessed. Others might just call him wealthy! For many people in The Land of Uz, it appears that the good things that happen to Job do so in direct proportion to the good things he does. The world today would call that Karma. And while we each know that that ‘Karma’ isn’t true, each of us struggles to let go of the notion – “bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people”. Why else do we carry luck charms and superstisouly repeat certain actions in hopes of bringing good fortune?
Reality is that The Land of Uz isn’t that different from where we live. The Land of Uz is a place where bad things happen to good people. As a matter of fact that is a pretty common occurrence. The Land of Uz is simply a place where people find themselves living along the detours of life. The land of Uz is really the land of us! After all, Job is the story of us – of you – of me – of everybody.
You are probably familiar with the story of Job. Job is the subject of a strange wager between God and Satan over how Job will respond to losing everything that he holds dear. At the very beginning, Satan declared, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose! “But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He’d curse you right to your face, that’s what.” (Job 1:9-11 The Message)
In other words, the argument is that people will only follow God if there is an immediate benefit to them. So first, Job loses his livestock, his wealth, his servants, all of his children and family – you might say catastrophe strikes – and he loses everything! We witness Job’s response as recorded in Job 1:20-22 CEB: Job arose, tore his clothes, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshipped. He said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb; naked I will return there. The Lord has given; the Lord has taken; bless the Lord’s name.” In all this, Job didn’t sin or blame God.
What an attitude! You might characterize Job’s response as super-human or at the least other-worldly. Job’s response is sorrow, followed by prayer, and then worship. It is hard to comprehend this type of response. For most of us, we can’t even begin to imagine responding in that manner. Job’s response is at best what we would hope for, but and in reality it is that which we doubt we could ever achieve. But, Job’s response is really what this entire story is about – so pay attention to it. In this story of us, we must learn from it.
Next, Job is afflicted with health issues that cause his body to be covered with painful sores. Job’s response is different this time. This time Job begins to struggle. Job begins to ask hard questions like “Why didn’t I die at birth?” (Job 2:11b NIV) and philosophical questions like “What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense?” (Job 2:21-23 The Message).
An interesting side note to consider - It is only humans that ask these type of questions. In the midst of death and tragedy, only humans ask why? A buzzard, finding a carcass on the side of the road, doesn’t stop to ponder the tragedy that has occurred. No, it just thinks – dinner! Only we ask why?
We ask why in the face of tragedy because there is a part of us that knows “this” isn’t right. When we are in the detours of life, we know that we were created for something better than this – Job innately knew that he was created form something better than the Land of Uz. You and I know that too! How is it that we know things aren’t right?
When Job lost all his children and his possessions, he knew something wasn’t right.
When bombs are ignited at the Boston Marathon and people are killed, we know that’s not right. When a child slowly dies of cancer, or a young mother or father, we know that’s not right.
When a woman is abused, we know that’s not right.
When children are hungry and starving, we know that’s not right.
When children are growing up without fathers and mothers, we know that’s not right.
Whether we believe in God or not, something in us tells us this events – these detours - aren’t right. Something causes us to ask Why?
Why aren’t things right? There is a reason. Let’s take a detour to Genesis 2:15-17 CEV: The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. 16 But the Lord told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong.
Creation was good. Man and woman had everything they needed to be healthy and happy. There was one rule and that one rule was broken and with it came knowledge of right and wrong – good and evil. In other words, we learned to know when things are the way they should be and when they are not. And as descendants of Adam and Eve, we have inherited their problem. No matter hard we try, life will never quite be the way we hoped it would be. That’s why we find it so disappointing that things aren’t the way they are supposed to be.
The prophets of old used to dream about the time when things would be made right. They wrote of the Promised Day when God would make everything right as it was supposed to be. They had a word for it: shalom. You have probably heard this word used as a form of a greeting, but shalom is more than a greeting. The word comes from the root word shalem which means “whole, complete, perfect and full.” In other words, shalom means “all things the way they are supposed to be.” Shalom is a prayer – a hope. Shalom, may all things be as they are supposed to be. One day, according to the Bible, they will be – but not yet – not while we continue to live in the Land of Uz.
While we are still living in The Land of Uz, we will keep running into detours and plan Bs and we will be left to keep asking, “Why?” For only humans ponder these things. It is ours only to ask, “Why?” We ask because we know things aren’t right. Our asking might even result in us finding it harder to believe in God for when you live in the Land of Uz doubt comes naturally. Sometimes doubt even shows up at your door. Just ask Job.
In our story, Job’s friends come to offer words of comfort. There is something strangely familiar about these friends of Job (perhaps for you as well). I can tell you that throughout my life well-meaning, well-intentioned people have spoken words they thought were helpful Biblical truths to me – perhaps you have experienced that too? The unfortunate thing is that so much of what we hear from others is 1) not Biblical and 2) simply contributes to our already growingly distorted view of God.
Their comments are filled with the same type of expressions you might have heard while living in your Plan B:
Job’s wife starts "Are you still holding on to your principles? Curse God and die!" (Job 2:9)
You must have done something to deserve this: you only get what you deserve. (Job 4:7-11)
You know Life isn’t working out for you because your life doesn’t measure up to God’s standards. (Job 5:8-19)
Your faith in God hasn’t helped you – has it? God will do what He Pleases! (Job 7:11-12)
You see? That’s exactly why I stopped going to church – praying – believing in God. (Job 12:1-6)
The problem with Job’s friends (and for that matter many of our friends) is that their comments aren’t helpful, but the real problem is that their comments aren’t true!
Wait! We can’t leave out one of my “favorites”: Just remember, God won’t give you more than you can handle! Have you heard that one? It sounds sweet – you might say it even sounds loving. It was probably said to you with a loving touch, a squeeze of the hand, or a gentle hug. The problem is that sweet though it sounds it just isn’t true! It’s not even in the Bible!
So, here is the truth: Throughout your life you will face one difficult situation after another and many of them will be beyond what you can handle and that is exactly why they are so difficult!
Job knew that. Job even knew his friend’s advice was wrong. The question is do you know that?
So many of us are still stuck with the idea that “If you do good, God will bless you, and if you do bad, God will allow bad things to happen to you.”
Job is a reminder to all of us who live in the Land of Uz that there will be times when you are seemingly doing everything right and out of nowhere you will be forced into a detour – a plan B. Everyone experiences moments of crisis and pain in their life. Everyone has moments when life doesn’t turn out the way you had planned. Why? Because we live in the Land of Uz.
Job is a reminder that how we respond to God in the detours of life matters.
We are called to be faithful to God even in the times when it seems God has not been faithful to us. We are called to love God even when we feel abandoned.
We are called to look for God even when everything around us seems hidden in darkness.
We are called to worship even while crying tears of despair.
Can you do that?
When Plan B is wreaking havoc in your life and God doesn’t seem to be doing a thing, can you still worship? When the way before you isn’t clear, can you still follow Him? When life isn’t turning out the way you planned – the way you hoped – can you still trust Him enough to believe?
I can’t help but think of the lyrics to Even If by one of today’s popular Christian groups Kutless:
Sometimes all we have to hold on to
Is what we know is true of who You are
So when the heartache hits like a hurricane
That could never change who You are
And we trust in who You are
Even if the healing doesn't come
And life falls apart
And dreams are still undone
You are God You are good
Forever faithful One
Even if the healing doesn't come
Lord we know your ways are not our ways
So we set our faith in who You are
Job did just that. Can you?
Remember, we were created for something better than
the Land of Uz.
Keep the faith. Shalom!
Thanks to Pete Wilson for the inspiration for this message found in his book, Plan B
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