“Joyful Countenance” – “Saints Struggle” – “Beware Self-Confidence” – “People, Not Stereotypes” –  “His Work”

I finally made an appointment with a specialist to look at my shoulder. It has only been 29 years. Hopefully they do not have to cut it all out and give me a new fake one. This flows into one phrase from the week of “Saints Struggle”. Not that I qualify to be saint by my actions, but I am on the team due to my belief. At some point along the way, I have developed a problem in seeing doctors. My main doctor is a friend and I like her, but I avoid going to see her in a professional sense as much as possible. Same for my dentist. (Have to make that appointment next.) I did go see my eye doctor last week. She is not a friend, but my glasses broke, and I do not like to wear taped up glasses, so off I went. The point is we all struggle, maybe not as much as me, but Saints, those walking life with you, need your prayers and your help as much as you need theirs. The church is to be one body and we often forget the basics of givng and getting help.

At bible study yesterday, the phrase “Beware Self-Confidence” came in handy. We have all struggled with something and sometimes we think we have something whipped only to trip up on it when we are not concentrating. I do not drink alcohol, so it is not something I ever worry about tripping me up, but I do find many opportunities to stumble if it was an issue. I use this example to be safe, but I know there are others, like food, where I am a constant failure and have or should have no confidence.

I feel like the phrase “His Work” is becoming an overused one in my life these days, but I think it is because I struggle with focus sometimes and need to remember this constantly. I am to work as if for the Lord and not with divided attention or lower standards. Neglecting to account for something I wrote down is not new to me, so why do I keep doing it? I am distracted and only working, not working for Him.

In all the upheaval our country has seen around race the last year, I continue to run across the “solution” of the phrase “People, Not Stereotypes.” George Floyd was a single individual and a member of many groups or stereotypes. Not one of those stereotypes could possibly account for the complexity of his life that put him in the focus of American history. Even today, we are getting used to numbing ourselves to the emotion that his death brought forth in all of us. The media has moved on and left him to the history books. With history books written by the winners, there is no telling what the next generation will be told. We must treat everyone as an individual loved by God so much that He sacrificed His Son for them. Is your neighbor that important to you?

I got mad this week because my bank changed the terms for the fees on my account without my approving them or acknowledging them or even knowing about it. I closed all those accounts. And now I have to figure out how to avoid other fees in the future on the accounts I want to keep open. My wife cautioned me to not damage my witness while talking to the people who could help me get my $16 back. “Joyful Countenance” was my goal and actually the two people who I spoke with to accomplish my task seemed as if they wore a smile on their face also. The bean counters made a change to help their business and I made one to help mine. The anger could help nothing, the bank would not change for me. I could take my business elsewhere, but I figure other banks are at least as bad as this one, and I have a good idea of how to make use of this one. My helpmate helped me, and at least this once, I had a “Joyful Countenance”.