“God is our refuge and strength, a very ready help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 NASB)
The Free Dictionary defines what it means to “roll with the punches” in two ways: (1) “Literally, in martial arts (especially boxing), to maneuver one’s body away from a blow so as to lessen the force of the impact,” and (2) “By extension, to adapt to setbacks, difficulties, or adversity so as to better manage or cope with their impact on one’s life.”
Being transparent I will share with you that this last week, rolling with the punches has not been as simple as it sounds. Oh I think I have done well in terms of maneuvering my body away from punches thrown by our adversary, but in the scope of the second definition above, admittedly, honestly, I had difficulty adapting to things going on in my life. No one is immune or exempt from things that will bring stress into one’s life. There is no vaccination that excludes the holiest of humans from having to cope with hard to deal with times where multiple situations set you back momentarily. And they don’t have to be big things either.
Oh I have big things I have to deal with in my pastoral, church leadership role, and I almost borrowed from a familiar movie and said, “This is the life we have chosen.” But I quickly canceled that thinking by acknowledging that it is the Lord who does the choosing and whatever He chooses us to do, we must do it to the best of our ability. And while empathy, sympathy, and ministry tasks can take their toll, that’s not what challenged me this week. You want to know what it was? It was the unexpected things that tried to knock me down with a series of concealed, consecutive blows that came out of nowhere. There was my search for the source of an odor, an unpleasant odor that moved me to clean out a storage area under the stairs, mop two rooms, discard things that perhaps had gotten wet, and my search throughout half a day, many hours, did not find the source. Frustrating! Yes! I finally found a piece of discarded chicken in a trash can after all that work. Immediately prior to that I discovered that closed air vents in one room was causing the drywall compound on one wall in the lower level to wall to poke out in places, as it was saying, “I’m alive!” That will have to be replaced and I have already referred the task to some professionals. I go to the mailbox and one piece of mail left by the carrier, who had to be laughing as he inserted it in the mailbox; one piece of mail, the notification of this year’s property taxes, due in mid-May and increased by a double-digit percentage amount compared to the previous year. The “punches” continue! We opted to pay our state and federal taxes in a lump sum, as opposed to setting up some type of payment arrangement with the IRS. Are you starting to see how “rolling with the punches” was becoming a challenge? As they say, “Do you feel me?” Well, I’m not done. During the middle of the week we had snow and ice fall in the middle of Spring. I had just said goodnight to my wife, and we hear this loud crashing sound. I dismiss it with a comment, “Something must have fell off a wall or in the closet.” Regardless, I wasn’t about to get up! The next morning, I looked outdoors and saw that a huge limb had fallen and hit the gutter, leaving a dent and the task of getting rid of it by sawing it into little pieces and putting it in the trash can. This moved me to look at the multiple, 20- foot limbs that were sprawling over the house and into the street and decided they have to be cut. I’m called a reliable contractor right away! The “punches” were getting to me!
It was time for me to do better in “rolling with the punches.” I needed some help! So I reached to heaven in prayer. My response was, “You have got through tougher things before. We (Did you catch that friend?), we will get through all these. You got Me and, I got you!” Then, the Holy Scriptures gave me some help. Now, here is something positive, something noteworthy! In the midst of all these things I remained faithful in performing my teaching, my preparation for Sunday’s sermon, teaching four Bible Study classes, writing the daily meditations, and in doing all that pastors do. “Rolling with the punches,” is something you will not be exempt from. But follow my example, call on the Lord, a very present help in times of trouble. Listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let the word of God minister to you! Look at how Jesus “rolled with the punches,” much more difficult punches! Roll with the punches and keep pressing on, remembering this: “Come what may from day-to-day, God will take care of you! Our heavenly Father watches over you!” Things will be alright! If this is not helpful today, I hope it will help you later. Store it away. Now remember tomorrow is Sunday, the day of worship! Have a great Saturday! Be blessed!
“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” (Romans 12:12 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King