Rev. Dan Polecheck - Universal Life Church Ministries - Older Blog Posts - At Your Wit's End

Before I started this blog I was writing for a blog on the Family Worship Center - Algoma Campus website. This is a copy of one of those posts with links to the original blog.

At Your Wit's End
Originally Posted May 31, 2020
Original Blog Post

How many times a day do you get frustrated? Lots? It happens so easily, doesn’t it? Driving along, you come across bumper-to-bumper traffic, which makes you late for an appointment. Or your pen runs out of ink at the wrong time, or the battery in your car dies, or the supermarket closes just as you pull into the parking lot. I’m sure you can think of lots of experiences like this.

There’s just no escaping it. All of us, one way or another, must deal with the problem of frustration. No matter what kind of life you lead, plans will go wrong and opportunities will be lost. It’s just the way life is, unfortunately. I like the story of Thomas Edison who struggled to produce the incandescent light. In his laboratory he had 523 light bulbs that didn’t work. When someone said, “Think of all the time you’ve wasted,” he said, “It wasn't wasted, I found 523 ways it couldn’t be done.” He channelled his frustration positively.

Maybe you have made promises to yourself or to God not to let this be a problem, e.g. I’m going to control my temper, be nicer in traffic or I’m going on a diet. Or I’m going to be more mindful of the needs of others and be less self-centered.

This can be serious. I read of a social worker who wrote in a newspaper: “One of the reasons there is such an increase in drug use is because people find it increasingly difficult to deal with frustration. They can’t take it any more”.

How Jesus Handled Frustration

I’m interested in the way our Lord Jesus handled frustration. When frustrating things happened to him, he knew how to turn the situation into an advantage, and so can we. Let me take you back to an incident in Matthew’s gospel when Jesus received devastating news about his cousin, John the Baptist—he had been put to death.

We read in Matthew 14: 13-21:
As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed the sick.
That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.
“Bring them here,” he said. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!

Don’t Let Frustration Have the Last Word

Jesus wanted to deal with the pain and grief of the news of John, and that was fair enough. He wanted to be alone to work through his grief. But what happened next? The crowds saw where he was heading and followed him via land from many villages. In other words, they had interrupted his day and his plans.

How did Jesus respond to this? With frustration and anger? No, not at all. He used the interruption to heal those who were sick and miraculously feed a multitude. When his plans were hampered, he simply made bigger ones. What a terrific way to handle frustrating situations.

Jesus was the master at adapting and learning to use the situations which came upon him, sometimes unexpectedly. Frustration does not mean defeat. So, don’t let frustration have the last word in your life.

Rev. Dan Polecheck - Universal Life Church Ministries - Older Blog Posts - I Pray For Patience And I Want It Now

Before I started this blog I was writing for a blog on the Family Worship Center - Algoma Campus website. This is a copy of one of those posts with links to the original blog.

I Pray For Patience And I Want It Now
Originally Posted May 22, 2020
Original Blog Post

“…so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.” (Colossians 1:10-11)

Do you consider yourself to be patient? Our daily lives require us to exercise patience, whether the issues we face are small or big. An unexpected expense, dealing with a difficult co-worker, experiencing conflict with a friend or getting sick are all situations that require us to be patient, and it is often easier said than done.

Unfortunately, we cannot control every aspect of our lives. The way others treat us and the situations we find ourselves in are sometimes simply beyond our control, and we have to find ways to cope with them.

So, how can we be patient in seemingly impossible circumstances?

Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” In life, we will face trials. However, as believers, we can find hope in knowing that we have a loving God who is in control of our lives. When we put our trust in His perfect plan rather than our own, we do not need to feel anxious, worried or impatient.

In addition, we do not have to struggle to find patience within ourselves. In fact, when we call upon God, He can give us the strength to be patient. While we may not understand the waiting period we are in, we can rest in the fact that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Rather than trying to make things happen, we can let go of the reigns and give Him the power in our lives.

If you are in the midst of a season of waiting, remember that God’s plan is greater than anything we could imagine. As His children, He does not withhold good things from us. When we give our lives to Him and are faithful in prayer, He will work through us in incredible ways.

Rev. Dan Polecheck - Universal Life Church Ministries - Older Blog Posts - The Bewildered Birdie

Before I started this blog I was writing for a blog on the Family Worship Center - Algoma Campus website. This is a copy of one of those posts with links to the original blog.

The Bewildered Birdie
Originally Posted May 17, 2020
Original Blog Post

One morning as I climbed out of the shower I heard a wheezy kind of whistling noise. At first I thought it must be my wife snoring, but the longer I heard the evenly paced, high pitched sound, the more I was convinced it was coming from outside my bathroom window. So I grabbed my glasses and looked out the window and there on the corner of our storage shed roof was a robin.

When the red breasted bird opened his beak, I knew for sure that's where the sound was coming from. He looked like a young bird as I could see the speckles on his breast. After I listened to his lonely call a few times, I wondered if I could mimic it. His chirp was more like a whistle than a bird call. I couldn't resist, I finally gave a short single pitched whistle back to him. I knew it wasn't the right pitch, but it made him stop. He finally gave another whistle, so I changed my pitch just a bit and let out another short tweet. Sure enough, he stopped his chirping again and began to look around. After several tweets back and forth, and the poor bird looking all over trying to find me he flew to the tree in the backyard and I lost sight of him.

Later that day, I couldn't help but think about that little bird. I wondered if he was looking for his mother. There was one thing I was sure of: Had that bird been a mature bird rather than a young one, he wouldn't have given my whistles the time of day. I wasn't truly close enough to his pitch, and a full grown robin has more of a "song" in their call. He obviously wasn't old enough yet to be familiar with the true tweets from his kind. I recalled John 10:1-6: " . . . the sheep follow Him because they know His voice . . . they will never follow a stranger . . . because they don't recognize a stranger's voice."

I thought about how often as a baby Christian I felt like that little bird. Sometimes I was so eager to hear Christ, I mistake other thoughts and feelings for His voice. I was anxious to find Jesus. Sometimes I wanted protection, other times I was simply looking for advice or encouragement. No matter what it is that caused me to seek my Savior, I’d discovered that the more I got to know Him, the more often I wait until I was sure the voice I heard was truly Him, the better my life became.

Perhaps, like me, you've answered the phone and had someone begin talking without identifying himself. On those occasions, I would find myself paying more attention to the sound of my friend's voice than the actual conversation. Generally before we're on the phone too long, his timber, tone or something he said would give me the clue I need to correctly identify the caller. But this only works with a friend, someone I knew well and have talked to a lot.

And as you may have guessed (or already have discovered in your own life), the same is true for Jesus' voice. Until we've talked with our Savior and listened for His response on a regular basis, we won't recognize Him when He calls you, and much like my little bird friend, you'll be easily fooled when a stranger tries to imitate the Holy One.

As Christians it's vital that you get to know our Savior's voice. You need to do be a 1 Thessalonians 5:17 person, praying continually and listening carefully to His voice. Reading scripture is equally important so that you can become more and more accustomed to the things Jesus might say. It may take some time, you may miss His voice from time to time, like my new robin friend. However, the more you grow, the more you listen, the closer you get to Christ, the more you'll be ready to recognize His voice and the better you'll be able to fly free!