When Life is Hard, Listen Up

Did you ever watch that late-nineties/early-2000’s TV series The West Wing? Martin Sheen plays Jed Bartlet, President of the United States. Bartlet is a decent man and a devout Catholic. He also has a longtime personal assistant, Mrs. Landingham, who is like a mother to him. In one episode, Mrs. Landingham is very excited to finally buy her first car. But that night, she is tragically killed by a drunk driver. After the funeral, Bartlet asks his Secret Service detail to give him a few minutes of privacy inside this big, silent cathedral. Once he is alone, he rages at God. He swears at God, calling him a “vindictive thug.” He rattles off a list of all the good things that he’s done for God and shouts, “this is how you repay me!?” He sarcastically recites a few Latin prayer-phrases, fires up a cigarette, and storms out, shouting “I’m done.” It’s an emotionally powerful scene that earned  Sheen an Emmy nomination. Today, Solomon tells us that there may come a time in our own lives when we want to storm into the cathedral and rage against God.

Solomon has told us to be realistic about what to expect from our broken world. There’s a lot of ugly stuff out there, like injustice, oppression, and death. The people of God are not exempt from experiencing these hardships. Solomon has also told us that a day of judgment is coming, when God will balance the books against sin and evil, and wipe every tear from the eyes of his people. But in the meantime, the heartache we can experience in this life can become overwhelming. So what do believers do when life in this world is painful, confusing, or unfair? Solomon says that we need to go to God, but we also need to be careful about how we do it: "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God” (1).

Trials are often turning points in our walk with God. They are either where it all comes together, or where it all falls apart. As a pastor, I’ve seen both. The difference is in how you navigate them. Over the next few days, Solomon teaches us about how to approach God when life is hard. First, we need to listen up.

When life deals out pain, we’re tempted to wheel on God like Jed Bartlet did and accuse him of divine child-neglect. We all know believers who right now are embittered at God because of a past disappointment. Maybe that describes you. Solomon says, “I know it hurts. But instead of telling God off, draw near to listen.” “To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools” (v1). When we ‘tell God off,’ as if we’re wiser and more loving than he is, Solomon calls it “the sacrifice of fools.” My pain makes me want to spout off about how God doesn’t know what he’s doing and should have consulted me. Solomon urges me instead to “lay my hand on my mouth" (Job 40:4), to "be still and know that he is God” (Psalm 46:10), and to remember the vast gap between God and me: “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few” (2).

When life brings you to the end of your resources, come to the Lord and say, “I don’t understand all you’re doing in my life now, and I’m not enjoying it. But you’re God, and you’re my Father. You would not allow this if it weren’t for my good. Whatever you want to teach me, I’m listening. However you want this to shape me, I’m open. Humble me, purify me, mature me, teach me, sweeten me. I trust you.” This is the humble, expectant silence before the Lord that David describes in Psalm 131. Instead of "lifting up his heart" and "occupying himself" with what he can't understand,  he “calms and quiets his soul, like a weaned child with its mother.”

Great saints are made in this quiet place.

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church