Experience

January 25, 2019

Experience is a difficult, wonderful thing. It’s what enables the professional to do the same job as an amateur twice as well in half the time. Experience is costly. The best experience often comes from pain; unpleasant at first, but it makes life easier later on. It’s like John Wayne once said, “Life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid.” Or as someone once said, “Good decisions come from wisdom. Wisdom comes from bad decisions.” 

Forty years ago, I would have been frantic by now. A little backstory is in order. I had arranged for a colleague to preach for me last Sunday while Linda and I were in Toronto with friends. As it was, church was cancelled due to the weather. Normally, I would have just shifted from last Sunday to this Sunday, giving me another week off, but pastor Debbie’s father needed surgery this week, which means she has had to shoulder some additional responsibilities in taking care of him and her mother. “Would it be better for you if I preached this Sunday so you don’t have that burden hanging over your head?” I knew the answer even before I offered. Pastor Debbie was relieved to be able to give her parents the undivided attention they need right now, and I was glad to be able to make things a bit easier for her.

There was a slight problem however. I had gotten a bit lazy, and didn’t have a sermon ready. I worked on it off and on through the week, but nothing came together. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, but it was very rough indeed! As I said, forty years ago, I would have been in a panic. Experience however, has taught me that if I am patient, God has a way of coming through, and this week was no exception. I’ve been mulling over the scriptures I had planned on using, but also spending time with Linda and our granddaughter, doing jigsaw puzzles and playing dominoes together. Tomorrow will be packed full, so anything that was going to come needed to come tonight, and it so happens that as I was getting ready for bed, the unifying idea popped into my head. Experience is a difficult, wonderful thing, and I am thankful tonight to have it working in my favor. It saved me a great deal of worry; I know I can trust God for the future because I’ve experienced his faithfulness in the past. Tonight is no exception.