Trials and Foolishness

This morning during our Marketing department's prayer time, our discussion led to ways that we're reassessing how we do business; what "ministry effectiveness" really means (part of our mission statement). The credit union has always relied on what we do well, like financing, that makes business easy for us. But in this time of economic crisis, we have to step back, re-evaluate and begin looking at things like customer needs, ministry effectiveness, and how to approach business in entirely new ways. Which in turn will allow us to serve better and to be a better ministry to ministries.

This topic led to how difficulties (such as being laid-off, as so many around the country are right now), can be an opportunity to experience God in new ways, to re-evaluate life, etc.

What inspired me to write this post was that, as I returned from lunch and walked into our galley to put my leftover lunch back into the refrigerator, I walked past our Communications and PR manager (who had led our prayer meeting this morning), and another man from our Participations department. "How are you? How's your family?" He asked my the PR manager, Jac, enthusitically. "My son got laid off from his job a week ago," he replied. Immediately and in his deep, thundering voice, the other man set his hand on Jac's shoulder and replied, "Praise God! Isn't that great that He loves him so much that he allowed this crisis in his life to bring him closer to God?" I was walking away at that point, and couldn't see his face but could hear the smile as he spoke. I couldn't help but smile, even laugh a little.

As a Christian, I loved hearing this immediate response of joy in recognizing that those hard times, while not diminishing their difficulty, bring us closer to God and give us time to lean on him and know him better. And that is something to praise him for, not just whine about the frustrating circumstances. But if I were a non-believer, I would think these two men were delusional, irrational, and probably in denial.

What fascinated me further was the context I had for the conversation. Besides prayer this morning, my reading in 1 & 2 Corinthians lately has addressed all of this:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer....8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead."

And: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Suffering and trials produce dependence on God and opportunity be comforted by him - therefore leading to a greater experience of his love and power - which allow opportunities to comfort others, which brings them peace and salvation. To those who are perishing, to rejoice in suffering is foolishness. And that's okay. Because to those who are being saved, it is here that we find hope, peace and the experiential knowledge of God's power.