The Smooth Ways of Rough Stuff

## Things Come in Fours

We all have those rough days where we think, “What else can go wrong?” Recently, I had a weekend like this. My old oil burning smoky truck went in the shop on a Saturday. Our TV died on Sunday. My wife informed me the kitchen drain was stopped up, and we spent over 3 hours on Monday night after work trying to snake it out clean. People say “things come in threes” when bad things come. This is never said when two good things happen, but after the second bad one shows up, someone will say this either as a comfort or a warning like, “Don’t worry (be on the lookout). Only one more bad thing can happen now.” Well, it got worse. Skip to Wednesday that week: I had my first recorded motor vehicle accident at work in a 21 year career. Sometimes “things come in fours”.

## Opportunity

Last we heard Jesus telling His disciples to put their time into things of longevity; not in their religious building, not their nation, or even the earth itself. For it will shake, and times will get rough. Then He says to His Followers, “Things can get worse. Things can come in fours.” Yes. When you go to jail in chains, and then the guards come drag you into a court before the king, that’s God opening a door. Our cushy American church life isn’t even close to this level of persecution, but most of us are afraid to knock on our neighbor’s door to bear witness. I don’t think it would be so hard if we were already friendly with them. And what’s the worst that can happen? They avoid you from there on

out (I have one like this- just became friendly waves from a distance). Or they answer that they already go to church somewhere. It’s probably not as bad as we think it will be. In fact, something crazy could happen; they could meet Jesus in you!

## The Fixes

In the end, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The truck, the TV, the sink, and the ticket were all taken care of for about $250 combined.

## Self-Check

While we can count it as an opportunity to bear witness when “bad” stuff happens, it can also be an opportunity to watch God handle the rough stuff in smooth ways. Example: Thanks to some research by Pastor Mark, the three capacitors that I discovered blown in my TV costed me just $4.99. Not that a TV is essential, but we avoided a several thousand dollar replacement purchase; and learned a new capacity within myself from God.

## For the Name’s Sake