Life Swings

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek…after them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean…[who] ate up the seven fat cows…Then I woke up. In my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain…[and]…seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin…The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads…Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain are seven years…the seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine. (Genesis 41:17-27)

The nightly news is a living nightmare. Gas prices are inching towards $4 a gallon. The housing market is in freefall. Consumer debt is forcing bankruptcy, foreclosure and default. Food shortages abound. The airplane and trucking industry is collapsing. Around the globe there’s famine, flooding, earthquakes, fires, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, pestilence and other natural disasters. Wars are waging. Terrorists execute their deadly deeds. Political scandals and pastoral sins create injustice and mistrust.

Armageddon is surely around the corner. Everything is swinging towards the bad.

Of course, a wider view of history reveals a more sensible perspective. In almost biblical fashion, there are good years mixed with bad years. Feasts and famines. Prosperity and poverty. We enjoy times of peace and endure tribulations of war. Paradise resides between calamity and catastrophe. Florida’s beauty and beaches can be tragically washed away by wind and wave. The gold in California’s hills is regularly shaken by quake. From Montana to Mozambique and Atlanta to Zurich, life can turn on a dime and cost millions.

That’s why Pharaoh’s dreams were private nightmares. He spent years building a kingdom that could collapse in a moment. The good years could easily be consumed by bad, leaving a terrible taste on his legacy. When life unravels and disasters mount, the people fondly remember former fortunes and the “good old days.” Pharaoh had a right to his sleepless nights. He was swinging in the wind.

And yet history hinges on a balance between two extremes: living large and surviving lean. It’s what makes life “life.” Middle ground may solve argument but it doesn’t create spice and spontanaeity. Mid-road is a recipe for road kill. Mid-life is crisis and conflict. Middle-management is a curse.

The bad times remind of us of the good. And, if we’re wise, the blessings will be counted when burdens come to call. Too much sun and deserts emerge. Too much rain and floods prevail. And yet every drought has it’s deluge and every paradise has its pests.

Are you loving the sun right now?
Prepare for rain. You'll never know when the clouds will roll in.

Are you dry and destitute?
Pray for His Reign. God is in control. He'll provide your needs.

After all, life truly is a swing to which we're all tied. Good and bad. Bad and good. I know, I’m swinging, too. If I didn't know God was in charge, I couldn’t hang on.


NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON GOOD AND BAD TIMES:

“As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.” (Jean De La Bruyère)

“Because one doesn’t like the way things are is no reason to be unjust towards God.” (Victor Hugo)

“Can anybody remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.” (Anonymous)


Father, it is You brings both the blessing and the burden to my life. And while I cherish the good, help me this day to appreciate the bad. Trials and tribulations remind me of Your Providence and Protection. If I knew only riches, I would die a poor man. If I dined always upon delicacies, I could easily forget the flavors. If I enjoyed only sunshine, I’d never experience the moisture of life. Thank you for the good and the bad and forgive me when I miss either in either. Amen.