MARCH 2006
Dear Mt. Olive family and friends,
“Stand pat.” That’s
today’s word in my Word Origin Calendar.
Originally a word used in the game of poker, it refers to holding the
cards one is dealt, without asking for more cards.
I think – when it comes to living out my life here on earth
– I’m willing to stand pat. After giving
it a few hours of thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m content to play
the cards I’ve been dealt without asking for more cards.
Right now, I’m troubled with a bad back. At times it can be a real pain! If you hold the bad back card, you know of
what I write! Most recently, it kept me
lying flat on my bed for three days, unable to even move from side to side.
Would I like to trade the bad back card for a new card? It’s tempting! But then I’m more than familiar with my bad
back card. I know all about the
paralyzing shooting pain that brings with it an involuntary moan or
shriek. I know from experience of the
burning and tingling sensations in my legs.
I pretty much know what to expect.
I now know, too, that surgery is not a guaranteed permanent fix.
Yet I’m willing to stand pat! Why? Because I’ve been holding the card long enough to know what to
expect. I know that when the bad
back card is being played, I have to move slowly – that getting into bed or a
chair can take just as long as getting out of one. I know that the absolute worst time to deal
with the bad back card is on the weekend.
Hospitals don’t want you; doctors forget to return your calls; and
pharmacists can’t give you relief without the doctor’s prescription. Knowing all that from
personal experience somehow makes the card tolerable and even “comfortable”.
I’m fairly certain that what is true for me is probably
true for others, too. Without giving it serious
deliberation, you may think that you’d prefer to dispose of certain cards you
are holding and pick up some new ones.
However, the new cards will be totally unfamiliar to you. As painful and annoying as your toothache
card may be, are you willing to trade it for a rebellious child card? Are you willing to trade your trick knee card
for a lung cancer card? Or your high
cholesterol card for a broken marriage card?
You see, in a less-than-perfect world, a world contaminated
by deadly sin, we all hold less-than-ideal cards. I may desperately want to trade some cards,
but my new cards may prove even more challenging than the old ones.
The Lord our God knows which cards each one of us
holds. I don’t believe that He has necessarily
dealt us our cards, but He has allowed us to be dealt the cards we hold, and
the cards we hold have all been filtered through Him.
Furthermore, He has promised that through the cards we
hold, we can grow and mature in our faith in Him and our love, compassion, and
understanding for one another. He
assures us that He will not permit more cards to be dealt to us than we are
able to bear, and that He will supply the strength to handle even the most
painful of cards.
This by no means implies that we should take a fatalistic
“whatever will be, will be” view of life.
Rather, let us, with God’s help and by His grace, deal with the cards we
hold and grow through them.
St. Paul urges us to stand pat when he writes, “Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord,” (1 Cor 15:58, KJV).
Stand pat, dear people of God! Trust the Lord in all of life! Trust Him to help you through the bad card
days and carry you through the impossible ones. Learn from Jesus who stood pat all the way to
Pastor Carl R.
Henkel