Trials

Sam Dixon was the General Secretary of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. He died under the rubble in the Montana Hotel of Haiti, serving God while meeting with other relief agencies to work together to better help the Haitian people. When one serves God so faithfully and suddenly is killed, you’re tempted to ask, “Is it worth it?” My father served God as a pastor for 43 years. Six months into his retirement, he went on dialysis and then developed circulation problems in his legs. Over the next three years he had one leg and then the next amputated and twice was forced to learn to walk again with prosthetics, which he did but only on a limited basis. He never really had a retirement to enjoy and died 7 years later. And sometimes I want to ask, “Is it worth it?” Has anybody ever been there? We pray to God, give all of ourselves and then face hardship or even limited effectiveness or even personal attacks, and then the enemy causes us to question, “Is it worth it?” At times, it can appear not. The Bible cautions us against going through life and making decisions based on “appearances."