Come along boys, and listen to my tale,
         I’ll tell you of my troubles on the ol’ Chisholm Trail.”
                   –Unknown

    “When we were actually with you we gave you this principle to work on: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’ Now we hear that you have some among you living quite undisciplined lives, never doing a stroke of work, and busy only in other people’s affairs.”
                   –2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 (Phillips)
————————-
I’m not a person that gets easily perturbed.  Once in a great while something agitates me and riles up the ol’ gizzard.  That’s one reason I quit watching the news with all the lies and hatred that’s being spewed.  One thing for sure, you surely know who their “father” is.  But I read something on FaceBook, of all places, the other day that just jerked my jaws.  I’ll pass it on to you.

         “Hi, I finished my free trial of adulthood and I’m no longer interested so I would like to cancel my subscription.  Is there a manager I can speak to?”

    That just brought the gall up.  That’s part of the problem that I see our nation facing–the lack of adulthood.  I’ve written here before that I once had a student ask me if he was a “man.”  I replied, “do you accept responsibility; if not, then you’re not a man.”  So-called adults jumping from one job to another, others wanting the loans they took out for college removed, complaining about this and that, wanting more and more handouts (socialism).  Where is the responsibility?
    There are far too many people who want to join Peter Pan out there somewhere is Never-Never Land.  My Mom spent most of her life working two jobs.  Why?  It certainly wasn’t because she planned on becoming rich.  I asked her one day why she worked so hard and so much and her reply was that she liked to work.  My Dad said that the most important lesson that Grandpa taught him was the value of working hard.  Do a study on work sometime, and don’t forget the Scripture.  It seems that the greatest form of natural joy is the fulfillment of a good day’s work.  There should be satisfaction in work.
    We could sit down and discuss the reasons why adults-by-age do not want to be an adult.  Look at many of them.  They spend money, time, and effort on entertainment.  Part of the problem we have created by not wanting to hurt their poor little self-esteem.  Now, the real world has smacked them in the face and they look and scream for an excuse.  Forget it dumplin’, life’s not fair.  There will always be some kind of “taskmaster”, and if you get your desire of socialism you’ll see a true picture of a harsh taskmaster.  In fact, he will eventually require that you take a “mark” if you want to feed yourself.
    Wake up while there’s still time.  Soon it will be too late for a person to work.  Soon a  job will be required and it will cost you everything, including your soul.  If you want to speak to a manager, do so now.  He is waiting and willing to hear from you.  He will not cancel your subscription to adulthood, but if you want you can remove yourself from His grace and mercy.  Right now He is expecting you to do what He has called you to do.  Straighten up, be the man or woman that God has called you to be.  Work at your job with vigor for the Lord so that no one can call your work into question and therefore bring shame to the Lord who has called you.
    Oh, and thank the Lord that it’s Friday.  But remember, Saturday is not for play.  Work around the house, do something with the family, but whatever you do remember the Lord and His goodness to you.

Beauty is not what you see on the outside, but the spirit you know is within.”
              –Elmer Kelton (The Buckskin Line)

    “May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”
              –Philippians 1:11 (NLT)
————————-
I remember it well, it was August of 1972, and we were driving down a road in West Virginia toward my first permanent duty station at Tyndall AFB in Florida.  The details have gone from my mind, but I can still see my hat flying out the window.  We were moving along at a good speed, so it was a spell before I could get the car with trailer pulled over to the shoulder and begin my trudge back to retrieve my hat.  Annie laughed at me the whole way and will probably laugh more in disgust when she reads this now.  But that was my hat.  Now that hat’s been long gone, but I have one that has taken its place and another one that I’m working on.
    You see, that was my hat.  When I look at my worn one now it tells stories.  There is the smell of a thousand fires that it has fanned into existence.  Plenty of sweat from work that I had taken on.  There were trails traveled while hunting, and a place where it had fallen off and been stomped on.  Look inside and you can get a view of a few hairs, and a well-worn brim.  The aroma of sweat, hair tonic, and after shave are there with the hint of wood-smoke.  There is a place on top of the crown, mostly faded out now, where the eldest granddaughter started showing her artistic talents by marking on it with a marker.  Why if that old hat could talk, the stories it could tell.
    Looking at that old hat I see the similarities between that hat and me.  There is a common bond–they both have character.  Like me, that hat took a spell to break it in to fit right.  Now, it slides right over the bumps and lumps on my head.  It is permanently stained from the toils of life just like the creases in my forehead have been etched over time.  That hat was once new and brilliant, silver belly; now, because of the weathering of life it is mostly gray, with only a remnant of silver left.  That hat has some tears just like the scars that I carry.  Yes, don’t mess with that old hat of mind for it took quite a spell to get it that way.
    Maybe the words from this Ed Bruce song can convey some of the meaning.

         “This old hat’s hung on the bedpost too long
          Forgotten like some used to be remembered like a song
          Where all the words are so easy to recall,
          Hmmm, this old hat.

          It’s seen day fade to night in an open sky,
          Beneath the fury of the heavens,
          Kept the rain out of my eyes
          Yet, somehow don’t look as weathered as I,
          Hmmm, this old hat.

          This old hat’s been down some dusty trails,
          And may not look as good as it did new.
          The crown is stained, the brim is torn
          It’s even been walked on a time or two….”

    I’ve walked into stores wearing that old hat and people turn and look.  At wonder if it is at me or the old hat, but then some will walk over and either say, “Nice hat,” or “How much will you take for it?”  There have been plenty of times that folks have tried to buy that hat off my head.  Now, what I think is that they don’t see many who walk with character, much less have it on their head.  A person of character, who knows a good hat, is hard to find these days.  It sort of stuns them for a few moments until they recognize what it is.
    The same is true of a person with righteous character.  They shake up a person of the world and they cause the hackles to rise in an evil person or a fool.  As we walk through this life, the Lord’s character should be evident upon us.  The toils and suffering He took upon Himself showed His true character, so why should we wonder if we get a little sullied and scared from struggles in this life; it only adds to a person’s character.

This desert solitude was the storehouse of unlived years, the hush of the world at the hour of its creation.  It was solemn, grand, incorruptible.  It did something to one, something inexplicable; it drew one’s narrow soul from out oneself, and poured in something big, so big it was almost too great to bear.”
              –Zane Grey  (Captive of the Desert)

    “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”
              –Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)
———————-
I have never been one who frets much about tomorrow.  At times the devil has wanted me to do that or he will try and put fear in my mind about something possibly happening to one of the kids.  Most of the time I can just wave it away, for I trust in the Lord.  Now, that’s not saying that I shouldn’t look at the possibilities and be prepared should something happen, but I don’t let it disrupt my living.
    I enlisted the last big year of Vietnam.  Graduation was looming in front of me, and there was a desire within me to serve my country.  There was that possibility that I would be sent to that dreadful place of death and destruction–Vietnam.  My wife and I talked about it and we came to the conclusion that I could be killed walking across the street by a pink Volkswagon beetle.  If God couldn’t keep me in Vietnam, He couldn’t keep me when I crossed the street.  Now, that may be too simplistic, but there is a vital truth there–God is God no matter where, no matter the circumstance.
    Much of this goes back to the training I received from my Aunt, Grandma, and church in which I was raised.  We didn’t believe in hyper-faith, but daily faith.  Faith that God is there with you throughout each day.  Draw attention to the following verses:

         “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.  For he who has entered His rest has himself ceased from his works as God did from His.  Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”
                   –Hebrews 4:9-11 (NKJV)

I never thought about it before, but it takes diligence to rest in the Lord.  We are to learn to rest in Him, not be fearful of the path ahead whether it be today or tomorrow.  It seems to indicate that if we do not learn this we are apt to fall into disobedience.
    What does it mean to “rest in God”?  David Wilkerson defined it this way.  “It is to come to a place of total trust in the Lord’s promises–a place where there is no longer any struggle of doubt or fear, but rather a settled confidence.  It is a continual belief that God is with us, that he cannot fail, and that he who has called us will see us through.”  “Settled confidence,” I like that.  He is able, or He isn’t.  I think Bill Gaither wrote a song titled, “Calm Assurance.”  When we get to that point we are truly resting in the Lord.
    However!  Remember, the enemy of your soul doesn’t want you to rest.  He wants your mind to stay in turmoil.  He wants you to fret, fumble and stumble around through the day.  He wants you to strike out at others with a confused, frightened, and agitated soul.  Wilkerson says he will come at you by saying that you are a failure.  Look at your life, you’re further away from God today than you were yesterday; you are not making any spiritual progress.  He will say you are too weak.  Look at yourself:  you may be sick, tired, fatigued, diseased, crippled and you fail over and over again.  You are just too weak to continue on following the Lord.  Or he may say that because of your actions, your attitudes, and your failures that you have grieved God.  He can no longer stand the sight of you.  Go away… DON’T LISTEN!  These are lies to make sure that your soul is not at rest in Him.
    Go away today knowing that you can rest in the Lord.  REST–“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 20-21, NKJV)