A letter from my heart to yours:
I’m not very lucky. If it can break, it will. If I buy a house, I lose money on it. If I invest money in the stock market, I’ll lose at least half. If I buy a lottery ticket, I don’t even get one number right. If I try to fix it, I’ll make it worse. I think some of my children believe they’ve inherited the “Putman Curse” because the same thing is happening to them.
I may not be very lucky, but I am something better; I’m blessed! Those who have watched my troubles and have seen God come through anyway.
We have a God who loves us. We have children and grandchildren who love God and us. Our siblings are not only siblings, but true friends. We have true friends all over the world. We live in a wonderful house and work in a great church. Even though we have had limited resources or talents, God has used us to make a difference in people’s lives. Who needs luck?!
We were not able to raise you in fancy houses with lots of expensive toys or even help much with college, but God has blessed you greatly! The Lord has given you mates and children who really love you, and together, you are accomplishing more in your lives, marriages, and children than we even dreamed.
I hope you will get a blessing out of reading what we’ve learned about trouble and the difference between “luck” and the “help and blessings” of God.
Thanks for reading.
Bill
“INTO EVERY LIFE A LITTLE RAIN MUST FALL…BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS!”
One day I was so burdened with my own problems and the constant needs of people all around me that I felt completely drained—empty. I was working in the church office when I heard a car door slam, and I rushed to the window to see who it was. ”Oh, no!” I thought. “I can’t handle one more person!” I thought of hiding in the bathroom, but I noticed she was moving fast. I knew I didn’t have time, so being the great man of God that I am, I hid under the desk!
After she left, I did what I should have done first. I took myself to God in prayer and asked Him to take my heavy load. I picked up the phone and called my dear friend and made an appointment to see her.
Maybe you can relate to my story. So, how are you doing? Tired is all right. Weary, overloaded, exhausted, and full of doubt and fear isn’t.
I SEE THE HEAVY LOAD THAT SOME OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE CARRYING.
Some of my friends are weary because their children or grandchildren come home, not just for a visit, but to stay. Some of them are trying to carry the burden of a broken heart because of the unfaithfulness of their mate or of a divorce. Some of them have children who are in prison, are trapped in drugs or alcohol, or have made other destructive choices. Some of our friends are weary, overloaded, and overwhelmed because their loved one has Alzheimer’s, diabetes, or a hundred other health issues that require their constant care. Others are enduring the exhaustion of a depression that just won’t seem to go away. Some are filled with the cancer of worry that stands like a cloud over every second of their day. Some of my friends are disappointed and bitter at life and God…and just can’t try anymore. Some of my friends have taken their eyes off of Jesus and have lost their faith.
One day several years ago, while reading Evidence That Demands a Verdict (by Josh McDowell) I found the following letters.
GODISNOWHERE
Since then I have carried around cards with those letters on it with a small question printed underneath…”Which do you see?” Take a close look… Is it “God is NO where?” or “God is NOW here?” Both of these statements are made up of the same letters, but how you arrange the letters is critical to how you’ll get through hard times.
God is NO where.
When I see “God is nowhere,” I picture myself as an ox pulling a wagon with a heavy load through the mud. The ox pulls and tries until, stuck in the mud, it is too exhausted to go further. Sometimes in our weariness we conclude that God is nowhere! Our burdens weigh us down and we come grinding to a halt. When “God is NO where” in my heart, I can’t help anyone else. When they come to me with their problems I want to yell, “Will you shut up? I don’t want to know about your problems! I WANT HELP WITH MINE!”
In those difficult times just “believing“ isn’t enough! Believing helps me know that Jesus came to “seek and to save sinners” (Luke 19:10 and John 20:30-31). It helps me knows that when Jesus sees people in need He helps (Matthew 9:36), and He feels compassion for them—like sheep without a shepherd. Believing helps me know that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But sometimes “believing” isn’t personal; sometimes it’s just a list of facts.
Knowing the historical evidence for the Bible and learning about Jesus supports my belief. It helps to have evidence that He was God in the flesh, evidence of His sinless life, and evidence of His miracles. It helps me believe His message—that He died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of all men and rose again to offer new life. The evidence helps me know, which helps me believe. But I need more than “belief.”
When my head says, “God is now here,” but my feelings say “God is nowhere,” I don’t need more faith; I need trust! I need Jesus to step out of the Bible, the pictures, and sermons and be real to me! It has to be personal…so I can trust. Unless my belief turns to trust, I’m in trouble!
Are you there, God?
Consider John the Baptist, in jail, already sentenced to die. In Matthew 11:1-4 he reflects on his life, a life dedicated to God—to holy living and the ministry of proclaiming the savior, Jesus, to the world! But there he sat in prison, facing death. I love his honest words, “Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, 3) and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” John was asking, “Is GOD NO WHERE or is GOD NOW HERE?”
Imagine, John the Baptist had given his whole life to proclaiming the truth, but suddenly he was asking, “Was I right? Are You really the one? Did I waste my life? Is what I’ve spent my life living for, worth dying for?”
I love what Jesus did for John. When I’m burdened, I need Him to do the same thing for me. Jesus first sent some other believers to encourage John. Listen to the message He sent: “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see; the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them’” (Matthew 11:4-5). He is essentially saying, “Yes, I’m the one, John. I’m still doing miracles! You are still my man!”
When I am tired, the Lord uses other believers, the Bible, a song, or a precious memory to remind me that no matter what I feel….GOD IS NOW HERE. I might not be able to see what He is doing in MY life, but He is working.
I have to admit that sometimes I don’t want to hear the encouragement He sends, and I’d rather have a pity party. Sometimes I am so tired, burdened, and self-absorbed, that when I hear of others’ blessings, or see others getting their prayers answered, it only adds to my heavy load.
God is NOW here…COME!
I’m so glad that in Matthew 11 Jesus gives further instructions for His weary followers.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest. 29) Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. 30) For My yoke is easy and My load is light.”
Looking closer, Jesus says:
- “Come.” Jesus always invites. He never forces.
- “Come unto Me.” It’s personal. I am to come to a person, THE person, Jesus. Too often I find myself looking to a book, a seminar, a worship service, a significant Christian leader, or a counselor when only Jesus can satisfy my needs. “Come unto ME!”
- “Come unto me ALL who are heavy burdened.” The only requirement for coming to Him is being tired and overburdened. He excludes none. I don’t have to feel, act or do “right” to be qualified to “Come to Him.”
4. “Come to me…Take My yoke upon you.” We see that Jesus is asking, “Give Me your burden; you cannot carry it by yourself. Exchange your single yoke and team up with Me. Take My double yoke, and we’ll carry it together!”
5. “Come…Take My yoke upon you and learn from me.”
I believe that He is inviting us to team up with Him. We begin the Christian walk with Jesus walking beside us to teach us how to live our lives. He promises that even when we are weak or we stumble like little children, He will be gentle with us. - “Come…You will find rest for your souls.” In this passage Jesus talks of two different “rests”; one He gives (11:28) and the other He helps us find (11:29). The first rest comes when our sins are forgiven. The second rest He helps us find as we walk beside Him, as He helps with the everyday circumstances of our lives.
During the first year I was restored to the Lord I found this comforting poem:
HE WENT THAT WAY BEFORE
“The road is rough,” I said. “My Lord,
There are stones that hurt me so.”
And He said, “Dear child, I understand,
I walked it long ago.”
“My burden,” I said, “Is far too great;
How can I bear it so?”
“My child,” said He, “I know its weight;
I carried my cross, you know.”
“But,” I said, “If there were friends
Who would make my way their own.”
“Ah yes!” He said, “Gethsemane
Was hard to face alone.”
And so I climbed the stony path
Content at last to Know,
That where my Master had not gone,
I would not need to go.
And strangely then, I found new friends.
The burdens grew less sore,
As I remembered, long ago,
He went that way before.
- Leone Bays
FROM BELIEF TO TRUST
We can’t trust Him unless we know Him personally. How long has it been since you’ve taken time to listen to God? The Lord has given us His Word, His Christians, His Church, and His Communion to remind us who He is and what He promises.
How long has it been since you honestly talked to God in prayer? When I struggle with my prayer life, I sit down at my computer and just vent my feelings to the Lord. I pour out all my feelings—get it all out! I can’t fool Him, so why hold back what I am feeling? When I’m finished I delete the parts I don’t mean and then I read it to my Heavenly Father.
Here is a prayer from my journal during a difficult time:
“Lord, I’m overwhelmed today. Yesterday I was flooded with wounded people whose troubles were so far beyond my ability to help, let alone understand. Over the day I noticed I started being more and more tired and stressed, and I think that I was trying to help these people in my own strength.
Lord, today, right now, before the next person calls or comes in, please help me remember that I don’t have a single yoke I have to carry all by myself. Help me remember that you said, ‘Come unto Me,’ and YOU will share the load of those who come to me.
Lord, I love you. Thanks for reminding me I can’t face life on my own; I never could. I’ve always needed You!”
Bill.
Today I read this chapter to a man who is in the last stages of cancer. Unless the Lord chooses to add to his life, he will soon be in heaven. As I read this to him, I asked him what he does when nothing he’s tried seems to work. He said, “Unless the Lord shows up, I’m sunk. But I believe God is always there, whether I feel like He is or not.”
Sometimes I trust. Sometimes I want to trust. Often I just want to WANT to trust, and God is faithful anyway!
Bill