That Didn’t Turn Out Like I Thought It Would
“If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.” Proverbs 9:12 KJV
Vacations are a great way to get away from the hustle, bustle, and pressures of the daily work life. Sometimes it is the only way to revive our sanity. To me, one of the worse ways to spend a vacation is worrying about or doing work.
On my last vacation I decided that I was only going to check into work twice. That was probably two times too many. The vacation was going great and the work would be there when I got back. Still, I didn’t want to hear about something that might have happened, so I did my duty and checked in. It’s such a shame that something can upset you so much that it affects your treasured vacation. That’s just what happened.
When you are President it is very important who you chose as your running mate. This President had the real hope that his choice for a running mate might actually become a clone of himself. Having to pick someone else as his choice was partly because he promised not to run for another term. Besides, this fellow seemed like the type he could mold. Choosing him, he might have thought, would help him build a legacy well beyond his White House years. You have your plans and you have your hopes. What could go wrong?
The replacement actually never really wanted to be President. No, his perfect job would to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Several times he had been offered an appointment to the court as a justice, but the jobs he was in at the time he felt he couldn’t leave. Besides, it wasn’t the Chief Justice’s job he was offered. He served as Governor-General of the Philippines, Provisional Governor of Cuba, and Secretary of War. Now they wanted him to be President. His wife also wanted him to be President really bad, too, and that probably made it even harder to say no.
Paul and Barnabas decided that they should spread Christianity to other parts of the world. They got together and planned what became known as Paul’s First Missionary Journey. The road would be tough, but they were in it together. They felt like there was no greater need than to spread the Words of Christ. Like most ministries when they first start out, there was no limit to what they could accomplish together. The human element is not one of those things you plan for when spiritual issues are involved.
None was probably more excited about this adventure than the young John Mark. It may have been John Mark’s mother’s house that Paul fled to when he escaped prison, so he was probably well aware of the risk involved. Barnabas may have been a relative of John Mark’s, too. The Bible is very vague with the details on these relationships so it makes it very hard to tell precisely what is absolute. But when the going got rough on the journey John Mark decided he had enough and he headed back home.
It was just going to be a friendly game of volleyball in the pool. I thought it would be a good way for me to take my mind off the email I received earlier in the day from work. Just like a bad song that is stuck in your head, though, the more I tried to get it out of your mind the worse it got, and my thoughts kept returning to work. My little, nearly eight-year old, grandson was on my team. He was trying so hard, but even in the shallow end he was just a little above water. Then came the spike that hit him on the head. It reminded me of work and a comment I received a few weeks before. Sales were lagging and I was trying to explain to my boss that everyone was trying and it was just a summer slump. His response was, “We don’t get paid to try.” I was floored. Now my little grandson was that same little guy making all the effort he was capable of and the bigger guy was going to crush him. The competitor in me came out and the volleyball game was no longer a game of fun but a game to win. Single handedly I mounted our comeback playing by the same rules the other side wanted to play by: hit wherever you could to get a point. Victory had its cost. Very few wanted to play volleyball after my tirade, including myself. I felt bad the rest of the day.
Teddy Roosevelt had the grand idea to make William Howard Taft a little mini Teddy Roosevelt. He threw his whole support behind him and Taft was elected the next President. His real hope was that Taft would be the dummy and he would be the ventriloquist. Soon Roosevelt learned that Taft, unlike a puppet, had a mind of his own. This upset Roosevelt very much. When the next election rolled around he would show his young protege who was the real man the people wanted. Taft defeated Roosevelt for the Republican nomination, so Roosevelt accepted the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party’s nomination. Now it would be a three-way race between Taft, Roosevelt and the Democratic nominee. In almost all the election situations like this one, when two people, basically from the same party, enter the same race, it pretty much hands the victory to the other party. This election was not an exception to that rule and the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson, won the election.
When Paul and Barnabas decided to do another Missionary Journey, John Mark decided he wanted to go on this one, too. Paul said absolutely not. Barnabas insisted that John Mark should be allowed to go on the journey. Paul and Barnabas could not agree on a solution, so they split up and each went on their own journey. A lot of the New Testament is about Paul and very little bit is about Barnabas. Was Barnabas’ journey not as successful as Paul’s or was Barnabas just not as good of a writer as Paul and we have no record of his missions? We may never know. What we do know is a very powerful witness team decided to go their separate ways over a disagreement.
We may have a vision of standing on a platform and receiving a trophy for some accomplishment. We dream we are standing there with the awe of the world running through our veins. We can hear the cheers before they even reach the stage. We know we made this statement and everyone is amazed at our wisdom. The problem is when we stand in front of the trophy, all anyone sees is us. They lose sight of the inscription of our purpose because we are standing in the way. It is no longer about what is really right. No, it becomes a matter of winning and when we “win” like that, everyone, including ourselves, really lose.
Prayer: Father, please forgive me when my determination exceeds the real motive. Let my accomplishments be not for my glory, but for the success of the purpose at hand. Please let those involved in my little volleyball game and those watching also forgive my behavior. Please help me to do much better in the future. Amen.
