I was talking to our missionary Tim Parrow the other day when he mentioned that one of their church people hasn’t been in the services for several weeks – it may have been as many as six weeks. There hasn’t been any problem with the church. It appears that the difficulty is spiritual and emotional. This lady, working at the local university, spends hours every week surrounded by a variety of social and personal wickedness – all of which drag her down. There is probably more to the story, but she has hinted that by the weekend she’s so depressed she can hardly get out of the house even to go to church.
It appears to me, from my distant perspective, that quitting her job would be a good and proper solution, but I don’t have all the facts. Even if she must stay where she is, she should at least push through her depression in order to fellowship with other saints and to be encouraged by the Lord and His Word. She is contributing to her condition by not taking advantage of the God-designed help available to her. In the pushing through her depression should be found the answer to at least one of her problems.
Of course, none of US are in her situation, or even in parallel situation, but some day we might be. So I’m asking you to store this lesson away in your heart for the day you might need it.
As an illustration, I will tell you that several of my ancestors on my mother’s side were railroad people. They worked the trains in southern British Columbia, north of Spokane, where mining and timber are king. And at least one early uncle worked the main line of the Canadian Pacific from Vancouver, through Canada’s Glacier National Park and on up to Field, BC in the Canadian Rockies. I can’t put the entire blame on those relatives, but I have a love for trains and especially steam locomotives. One of the things which caught my attention years ago, were those trains in the winter. From Donner’s Pass in California, to Stevens Pass in Washington, to Rogers Pass in BC, trains have had to deal with snow drifts sometimes as high as 30 and 40 feet.
For those trains, even the earliest, waiting for the snow to melt in order to get through was not an option. Not only for economic reasons, but at times people’s lives were at stake if they didn’t push through. At first, nearly all locomotives had plows called “cow-catchers,” because they weren’t just for snow. Later special cars were built with huge wedges to shove the snow aside. Often these plows had to be pushed by three or for locomotives. Then came some experiments with auger type plows similar to what we use in our drive ways. Eventually, a couple industrious Canadians, invented the rotary snow plow. It looks like a huge fan – as big as the front of the train. Early on, the rotary blades were driven by steam, but the plow itself, again, was pushed into the snow by three or four locomotives. Pushing through was the only way to get the mail, the cargo and the people to their destinations on time.
Switching tracks, there are scriptures and scriptural examples which remind Christians to STAND FIRM.
Galatians 5:1 for example says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” We have Daniel’s friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, telling Nebuchadnezzar, “Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will NOT serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Similarly, Peter and John told their persecutors, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” And Paul, in looking at the problems of his life said, “But NONE of these things move me…”
There are situations, when the saint of God must stand firm. But that doesn’t preclude moving forward. For example, I Corinthians 15:58 ties together standing firm in one way with plowing through in other ways. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” How can we abound in God’s work without crossing over the pass or plowing through the Jordan River?
The Jordan River might be used to illustrate the PROBLEMS of LIFE.
It could picture a flowing, down-hill economy, sweeping away a Christian’s savings and equity. It could picture the flowing of time and the eroding away of a person’s health and strength. In it is violence it might represent the disastrous effects of an evil society. The only way for Israel to reach the Promised Land was to plow into, and through, Jordan’s muddy waters. And to do this, we see the priests going first, carrying the symbol of the presence of the Lord. Putting the Lord first, we see stability, while at the same time – progress. What would have happened to Israel, if she had chosen to stay on east bank of the river? Pushing through was absolutely necessary for the Lord’s blessings.
Another illustration, if you permit, could be that really heavy northwestern snow storm. When a winter storm circles around from the east, the Rocky Mountains and other ranges collect its snow, so we here in Post Falls don’t get as much of it as Montana and Glacier National Park. If that storm comes in from the Pacific, then the Cascade mountains catch brunt of it. Nevertheless, into every life a little snow must fall.
We could use snow to illustrate that the Christian’s periodic cold and depressed heart. There may have been a period when we were on fire for the Lord; when we couldn’t contain our zeal and when the Spirit within us melted every problem which came our way. But today, or last month, or 3 months from now, an avalanche of problems buried us in tons of deadly snow. Or perhaps we weren’t actually buried, but those problems, looming out in front of our little locomotive, stopped us in our tracks. Debts in single dollars, add up one by one, like snow flakes, until they are a mountain. Health problems begin as little aches or weaknesses, but one falls on an earlier one, along with another and another until it looks like the path down the road is blocked. Or one of our favorite loved ones dies, and then three months later a good friend passes away, followed by another and another. Grief upon grief cools our hearts. Ounce adds itself to ounce until we are a pound heavier than we want to be, and then there is another. Maybe it is successive news casts, which we probably shouldn’t be hearing in the first place. There are so many things potentially which we might think are keeping us from our intended destination. And often they begin small, but they keep adding up, like snowflake after snowflake.
It was one thing after another for Joseph – hatred, betrayal, servitude, incarceration. For David the snowflakes kept mounting up, even though from one perspective it was simply – life. For Daniel, it was the same. Paul, Peter, James either talk about, or illustrate, trials. Into every life those snowflakes and blizzards fall. And at some point, we are just going to have determine to push ourselves through.
But how can we do it? How can we push through?
Our strength can barely get us over the mountain in good weather, but now there are four of snow as well. A couple of things should help to impel us forward. First it is our duty. It is our responsibility to keep pushing forward. Joshua, “be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest” – Joshua 1:7. Notice the command to stay on the track. Moses said to all Israel, including Joshua in Deuteronomy 5:32 – “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you; ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” There is a path – a track – which the Lord wants us to take. There aren’t any other options but to say on the track or to fall off into a train disaster. On the other hand, it is possible to stay on the track and just to stop. That is not a good option. We have the command to move up the mountain – up the track which the Lord has laid out for us. “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us” by the Lord.
And while it is our duty to carry God’s freight to its intended destination, it is not simply a matter of law, time tables and clearing the track so that we aren’t stopping the express train. There is also love and even a little homesickness which should keep us moving. This the Lord’s cargo; these are the Lord’s people in the carriages behind us. Christ loves us; we love Christ. And we love these others around us. It is usually selfishness and sinfulness which keeps me from pushing through the blizzard. There should be a spiritual homesickness which helps to impel us forward. I don’t want to be stuck here. I want the shelter of the Saviour’s round house – the place which He has gone to prepare for me. Yes, I know that He will take me to himself, but I want to be moving toward Him when He calls my name.
And again, someone might say, “But how can I get through these huge drifts?” That person might say, “I believe in God’s sovereignty, so I believe it is God’s will that I suffer these things.” I hope you can go beyond that to recognize that God ordains things to test us, to push us, to develop us. The Lord doesn’t want us to be stuck in this snow drift. It is designed to be used for the Lord’s glory. Remember, God has the fuel and the fireman to stoke your spiritual boiler. And in that boiling boiler, is the power necessary to move forward even into the snow drift. So it is not about your strength or mine – it is the Lord’s power – but we have to engage the gears.
And the Creator has designed a rotary plow that can cut a swath through thirty-foot drifts. I have seen pictures of steam locomotives running through channels with snow on either side piled higher than the train cars. The Lord has power to deliver us, but a necessary part of that deliverance is for us to move forward. Moving up the track may be dangerous and nerve-wracking, but it is the only way for the rotor to move snow. So push through when you think you can’t, because in truth you can’t succeed, but the Lord can. Paul said to his troubled friends in Philippi, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He also added, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me.”
I’ll close with one more illustration. On February 23, 1910 – (1910 was not a good year for our part of the world.) In February of 1910 two trains were forced to stop on Steven’s Pass at about the Cascade tunnel. One was a passenger train and the other a mail carrier. They didn’t have the heart – or perhaps the power – to push through the snow. While just sitting there, avalanche rushed down upon them, and they became America’s worst train disaster. After 113 years it still is the worst. Ninety-six people were swept into the river canyon below them. If they had been able to move forward, even into the tunnel, they might have been spared. But they were standing still.
Sitting still for whatever reason is not a good option for the Christian. Avoiding the house of God in periods of depression or stress, is not a good option. Push forward. Avoiding worship and service, will not help us. That only exacerbates the problem.