The Monday Memo

Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

When a farmer anticipates a windy day, he puts off planting seeds; otherwise the gusts will blow the seed away before they can penetrate the earth. And when a farmer anticipates rain during the harvest, he puts off cutting wheat or oats; if the grain gets wet it gets ruined. So a farmer needs to exercise a little caution. Exercise too much caution, however, and your seeds will never get planted and your harvest will never come in.

The Living Bible renders this verse: “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4 TLB)

If you need to begin a new project or start a new diet or launch a new ministry or make some big changes in your life, don’t wait for the perfect conditions to come along. Instead, seize the perfect moment — this moment — and take the first step in moving forward.

Frederick Nietzsche said, “Every talent must unfold itself in fighting.”

What’s he saying? He’s saying that growth in any area comes with a price — and that price is struggle. We experience nothing worthwhile without first passing through some kind of adversity — the adversity of opposition, the adversity of lost sleep, the adversity of financial pressure, the adversity of loneliness, the adversity of delayed gratification. To be good at anything, a price must first be paid.

To be in good health, the price is paid through exercise and diet. To be a good a musician the price is paid through study and rehearsal. To be successful in business, the price is paid through long hours and sacrifice. To paraphrase Nietzsche’s words: growth comes only as a result of struggle.

Paul knew that he was in the midst of a fight. He knew that in order to become the man of God he wanted to be, he must daily enter the battlefield to contend with an enemy: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV)

It will do us good to remember that we are engaged in battle, day-in, day-out. It’s not a struggle that can be seen with the human eye, but it can certainly be felt with the human spirit. This struggle cannot be avoided; it must be confronted. On the other side, however, victory awaits us, because we do not fight unarmed. We carry with us the full armor of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit and the helmet of salvation.

Peter tells us not to be surprised at the fiery trials we face; they’re part of the process of growing in Christ. Every talent must unfold itself in fighting; growth comes through struggle.

Where are you struggling today? In a relationship? In your work? In your effort to be holy? The obstacle will not disappear on its own. It belongs there. You are called to confront it, through the power of Christ within you, until you can claim victory.

It’s been said that the average child laughs 300 times a day and the average adult laughs 15 times a day. I don’t know how authoritative this statistic is, since I see it quoted often but never with a source. However, it really doesn’t take a Harvard study to prove that children laugh more times a day than adults. Hanging out with both for a while confirms this.

Solomon was right on target when he said, “A merry heart does good, like medicine.” (Proverbs 17:22) Laughter has been shown to have many health benefits, from reducing food cravings to increasing one’s threshold for pain. It relieves stress and anxiety and improves your sleep. A good laugh really is good medicine.

There’s also a social component to laughter; it brings people together. C.S. Lewis once said, “There’s no sound I like better than adult male laughter.” That’s because there’s nothing better than friends and family coming together to celebrate life and enjoy one another’s company.

When you’re alone and when you’re with friends and family, I encourage you to invest some time in laughter each and every day. You’ll find that what Milton Berle said is true: “Laughter is an instant vacation.”

Henry Drummond tells the story of two artists who were commissioned to paint a picture depicting perfect peace. The first artist painted a landscape with a mountain lake: calm, quiet, serene. The second artist painted a violent waterfall crashing down on jagged rocks, but next to it was a slender birch tree, with a single fragile branch stretched out over the water. In the fork of the branch was a bird’s nest. Lying in the nest, untroubled, even glistening from the spray of waterfall, was a small bird fast asleep.

This is peace. It’s not the absence of crashing waves, it’s the security of the nest in the midst of the turbulence.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV)