Don’t Worry… Be Happy!

Most of us enjoy the blessings of this life so immensely, we want to live as long as possible.

Illus: An 80-year-old man went to a doctor for a check-up. After the examination, the doctor told him what he was hoping to hear. He said, "You're in terrific shape. There's nothing wrong with you.” “By the way, how old was your father when he died?"

The 80-year-old responded, "Did I say he was dead?" The doctor couldn't believe it! He said, "Well, how old was your grandfather when he died?”

The 80-year-old responded again, "Did I say he was dead?" The doctor was astonished. He said, "You mean to tell me you are 80 years old and both your father and your grandfather are both alive?"

The old man said "Not only that," "My grandfather is 126 years old, and next week he is getting married for the first time." The doctor said, "After 126 years of being a bachelor why on earth did your grandfather want to get married?"

The old man looked up at the doctor and said, "Did I say he WANTED to get married?"

We all enjoy this life, and we want to live as long as we possibly can live on this earth. But at the same time, honesty compels us to acknowledge that this road of life sometimes gets a little bumpy.

For example, the Bible tells us about a man named Job. He was a rightous man, and for many years he enjoyed the blessings of God on his life. He had everything going great for him for many years, but then he came to a stretch on the road of life where everything got bumpy for a little while. When times like this come in our life, we feel like we have been through the rinse cycle.

Illus: A little boy went into a grocery store and asked the store clerk for a bottle of Janola detergent. The clerk asked what he needed the detergent for. The little boy replied, “I want to wash my dog.” The store clerk said, “Well, son, that Janola detergent is pretty strong for washing a little dog.” The little boy answered, “But that's what I want! I am tired of looking at that dirty dog each day.”The store clerk responded, “Well, okay, if you're sure. But you need to be careful when you wash your dog in it. That Janola detergent is very strong. It might kill him.”

About a week later the little boy came back into the store and the assistant recognized him, and asked, “How's your dog?” The little boy said, “He's dead.”

The store clerk replied, “Oh, I'm sorry, but I told you that Janola detergent was awfully strong and that it might kill him.”

The little boy shook his head and said, “It wasn’t Janola detergent that killed him. It was THE RINSE CYCLE THAT GOT HIM.”

At times, we all feel that we have been through the rinse cycle. WHY DO WE FEEL THIS WAY?

The problem is that we all have people in our lives that do everything they can to make life rough for us. That is one of the sad realities of life!

HOW DO WE REACT TO THESE PEOPLE? We know the Bible tells us we should pray for them. But the last thing we really want to do is pray for God to bless them.

Let’s take our halo off for a minute, and confess how we really feel about them. We really feel that they have made life rough for us, and we would like to make life rough for them. (Am I the only one that feels like this at times, or are there others in this congregation that feel the same way sometimes? Say Amen!)

Illus: Sometimes I feel like the rich man who had a cousin named Dan, who gave him a difficult time in life. He made life rough on this rich old man in many ways. The rich man died, and a lawyer was reading the will to the people mentioned in the will:

• "To you, my loving wife Rose, who stood by me in rough times as well as good, I leave the house and 2 million dollars."

• The lawyer continued, "To my daughter Jessica, who looked after me in sickness, and kept the business going, I leave the yacht, the business and 1 million dollars."

• The lawyer concluded, "And, to my cousin Dan, who hated me, argued with me, and thought that I would never mention him in my will - well you are wrong. Hi Dan!"

Some people have made life rough on us and we would like to make life rough on them for what they have done to us. But we have to suppress the evil desire to do evil for evil, and look to the Word of God to see what we should do when things get rough in our life.