Destress the Damsel

Do you fear the force of the wind,
The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them,
Be savage again.
Go hungry and cold like the wolf,
Go wade like the crane:
The palms of your hand will thicken,
The skin of your cheek will tan,
You’ll grow ragged and weary and swarthy,
But you’ll walk like a man!

– “Do you Fear the Wind?” by Hamlin Garland

We’ve all heard the old adage: “April showers bring May flowers!”. While it’s easy to shrug these words off as little more than a rhyme cited by ultra cheerful optimists, the adage is a truthful one that we all should cling to in difficult seasons. “April” is a time we all go through at one time or another. Our April may be short or long; we may go through it once, or we may go through it multiple times…whatever the case may be, April will come. None of us can fully escape dark and dreary times in our life, symbolized by the rainy month before the flowers bloom. To get to May, we must conquer April…there is no way around, only through.

April isn’t all bad, you know. The rainy days may bring gloom, but they also bring a promise – May flowers are coming. So it is with dismal times in our lives. As Christians, we can be assured that the difficult seasons on this earth will last only for a little while; soon to be replaced by better days. In the meantime, how can we “weather” our way through our Aprils? Is there really a way from trial to triumph? What can we learn from an April shower?

Today, we will ponder three significant actions that April showers perform in our lives. Act One…

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with Spring rain. – T.S. Eliot

An April shower arrives on the scene as a dark, sinister figure lurking in the shadows…

An April shower is the knock on the door: “there’s been an accident”.
It’s the breakup call: “we need to talk”.
It’s the test results: “the cancer has recurred”.
It’s the tear-stained letter: “missing in action”.

April showers are the fruition of our worst fears:

Saying goodbye all too soon. Being lonely. Having your name slung through the mud. Being falsely accused. Never measuring up, no matter how hard you try. Being rejected. Feeling like no one truly cares about you. Being misunderstood.

Like a Spring rain, the pain in our life comes looming over us as a furious storm cloud and then pelts down on us suddenly and drenches us completely. We feel like David, who cried out in anguish:

…Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away, and be at rest…I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. – Psalm 55:6,8

When our trials feel like more than we can bear, abandoning ship can look rather inviting. Yet David pushed through his April…he didn’t stop trusting in the Lord or give up on his God-given purpose. Neither should we, or we will never see Act Two…

April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in the garden. – Marty Rubin

An April shower takes up residence, rolls up its sleeves, and crafts something beneath the surface…

In one sense, April is the cruelest month, but it can also be the kindest. How so? April (which symbolizes difficult times in our lives) performs a mighty work in us that no other time can do so well. It begins to groom us for May…molding something underneath the surface to be revealed in due time; just as an April shower grooms the parched ground with rain.

Every pain in life has the potential to set us backward or to set us forward. We get to choose whether the rain will drown us out and diminish us to nothing, or grow new life in the soil of our hearts.

The hardest time to see the results of Spring rain is during the tedious grooming process. We look out the window for days on end and see nothing but dark and dreary skies. We glumly muse, “Will it ever stop raining? Why must every day be drop after drop of rain?” So it is with our trials…we may ask, “Will I ever stop hurting? Why must every day be drop after drop of pain?” We ask both questions because we don’t see the work being done “underground”, as it were. We don’t see beyond the surface:

…I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. – Amos 4:7b

Without rain, a piece of land and a person are both bound to wither away. As hard as it is to accept, the greatest growth occurs through rain and pain – but only if we let it be so. It’s the only way to make room for Act Three…

April is a promise that May is bound to keep. – Hal Borland

An April shower clears away in time, and leaves in its wake a beautiful new creation…

An April shower looms, and an April shower grooms, but thanks be to God, an April shower blooms! April showers do bring about May flowers, but only after weeks of driving rain and stormy blasts. Will we, as Christians, likewise bloom under great pressure and adversity? If pain is allowed to have its perfect work in us, it can transform us into something grand.

Pain is one of life’s greatest teachers. It can build in a person knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. It can give us compassion and grace for others. It can make us soft where we were once hard of heart. It can give us the right words of comfort to someone going through a similar trial. It can spur us and inspire us to help our fellow man. It can bring us closer to the Lord. It can affect generations.

Maybe you are experiencing an April shower in your life right now. Take heart, my friend…this season will not last forever. Press on with all that is in you; May is coming:

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo…the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth… – excerpt from Song of Solomon 2:10-12

In conclusion…

Is there a way from trial to triumph? The answer is: absolutely. If we can hold on tight through April’s looming and grooming, we will soon see the glorious day of our blooming. You and I were made to be Mayflowers. It may be that God is using us to bring safe passage to other weary pilgrims on this earth weathering their own storms…if you catch my drift.

Today’s tears grow tomorrow’s flowers. In due time we will see…

Sweet April’s tears, Dead on the hem of May. – Alexander Smith

For God’s Glory,
CA Bolks

Chelsea Bolks is a church of Christ minister’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.

Has anyone here seen Mister Mo?
Said the man-eating plant, “We did.“
Did he come in here an hour ago?
Said the man-eating plant, “He did.”
He was carryin’ Nugrow and potting pans
And clorophyll boxes and waterin’ cans,
And he came in here to feed the plants.
Said the man eating plant, “He did.”

– “Man-Eating Plant” by Shel Silverstein

Our natural world consists of three primary categories of living creatures: plant life, the animal kingdom, and humankind. Each of these living beings builds upon the next…

• Plants, being the lowest of all creatures; consist only of a soma (a body). Their “awareness”, as it were, only extends far enough to respond to the world around them in a physical way. (i.e. growing under the sunlight, grasping onto a vine, recoiling at the touch of a hand, etc.)

• Animals, being a step above plants; consist of a soma and a soul. Their awareness not only includes the physical responses detailed above; but additionally, animals have unique temperaments, behavioral patterns, and societal order. (i.e. the tendency to be a friendly or grumpy pet, the capacity to learn commands and routines, the ability to function with like creatures as a group, etc.)

• Humans, being the most dominant species on earth; consist of a soma, a soul, and a spirit. Our awareness includes not only the combined awareness of plants and animals alike; but additionally, we have the ability to function in a Spirit-fueled existence beyond our fleshly nature in this world. (i.e. forgiving someone who has wronged us, serving when we feel like lazing, denying our sinful desires, etc.)

As you can see, while all living beings on earth are vastly different from one another, they have certain basic similarities that tie them together. Our lesson today will focus on one shocking similarity between all three earthen species: the potential to be a man-eater. I’m sure we all have heard of man-eating animals, and even man-eating plants (a misnomer, as plants only “eat” small animals at best, but I digress…). What may not be as apparent, is the reality of another species on this earth with the capacity to feast on men: us. Humans.

[Pause for a brief disclaimer: I am aware that there is a certain usage of the term “man-eater” which speaks of a sexually deviant woman. This is not, however, the way we will be using the term today. Instead, we will be focusing on dealing aggressive behavior toward others.]

It is true that we as humans are known to bite, jab, and claw at one another. In extreme cases, humans behave aggressively toward others with fists and weapons; but more often our aggression comes in the form of petty behaviors: distasteful facial expressions, disagreeable body language, despicable words and detestable actions. In these ways, we attack our fellow man with fatal blows that can destroy friendships, family relationships, and marriages. But wait just a minute. As top species on this earth…as God’s crowning glory of creation…as possessors of soma, soul, and spirit; how can this happen? How can we stoop to engage in man-eating, thus behaving as a lowly plant or animal? Friends, this should not be.

You might be wondering…

How is a man-eater made, and how do I keep from becoming one?

The answer will be threefold. Firstly, H.O.W. a man-eater is made is by…

All’s good in a famine. – Thomas Fuller, M.D., Gnomologia (1732)

Thanks be to God, humans are not considered the natural prey of any wild animal. Yet we all know that desperate times call for desperate measures – especially if you are a predatory beast who lacks the ability to empathize with your victim. Hunger is a ruthless, driving force that can and will cause an animal to attack, kill, and eat a human if necessary. If an individual were to find themselves in the path of a carnivorous wild animal with an empty stomach, that individual would be fair game for a meal. Insatiable hunger (caused by lack of natural prey, etc.) can drive a lion or tiger into a village to grab an easy meal of local residents. Hunger is one way a man-eater is made.

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. – Psalm 34:10

This passage seems a bit unusual, jumping straight from the topic of lions to humans; but is it possible that the Lord was pointing out our tendency to become man-eaters? We humans can often resemble a hungry wild feline. We have a gnawing emptiness in us that longs to be filled. We crave interaction with others, because we are a people made for community. Children who crave attention will often seek out negative attention, because they feel it is better than no attention at all. It is common for adults to fall into the same trap. We try to fill our desire for interaction in negative ways, because we think something is better than nothing.

The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. – Proverbs 27:7

It’s human nature. We’d rather have bitter, unhealthy interactions than no interactions at all. When we are starving, we’ll take what we can get.

You there – the one who loves to argue on social media. The one who cuts down others as entertainment. The one who picks fights with their spouse. The one who is always ranting and complaining about something. The one who gossips. I see you. Sometimes, I am you. Sometimes I crave interaction and I go about getting it in all the wrong ways. You know when I do this? When I allow myself to run on empty. When I haven’t been feasting upon spiritual things like I should be. When I haven’t consumed God’s word. When I haven’t hunted after Him. If I want to avoid becoming a man-eater, I have to fill myself up with the right things…Godly things.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger… – John 6:35a

Secondly, H.O.W. a Man-Eater is Made is by…

Intentions often melt in the face of unexpected opportunity. – Shirley Temple Black, Child Star (1988)

In remote villages where the nearest water source is a river or lake, there is always the dread of being met face to face with a crocodile. It would appear that crocodiles are not too picky when it comes to their prey; they will take any opportunity for a kill, be it wildebeest, zebra, or human. Many unfortunate people in foreign lands have lost their lives merely by attempting to bathe themselves or wash their laundry in a seemingly safe body of water. Disturbing the territory of an opportunist such as the crocodile often has fatal consequences. Opportunity is another way a man-eater is made.

For sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. – Romans 7:11 (NASB)

If the devil can’t tempt us through hunger, he will tempt us through opportunity. Perhaps you’re not one to go looking for trouble like the hungry per se, but what about taking an opportunity for aggression when it is available to you? Do you shun the opportunity, or do you invite it?

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. – Ephesians 4:26-27 (NASB) 

If the waiter gets your order wrong, do you choose to explain the mistake with grace, and wait patiently for it to be corrected? Or do you take the opportunity to complain and make him/her feel like a failure? If a driver rudely cuts you off in traffic, do you give the benefit of the doubt and keep your cool? Or do you use the opportunity to sigh, swear, and use obscene gestures? If your husband lets the children do something you are not on board with, do you take it in stride and acknowledge his place as head of the home? Or do you fight him or perhaps give him the silent treatment until he feels he has no choice but to pander to your irrational behavior? How we choose to respond to frustrations in life will often be the deciding factor in whether or not Satan gets a foothold in our lives.

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. – Galatians 5:13 (NASB)

Thirdly, H.O.W. a man-eater is made is by…

I’ve come to know that what we want in life is the greatest indication of who we really are. – Richard Paul Evans, The Gift (2007)

Of all the man-eating animals that have ever walked upon this earth, none is more dangerous than the one who has acquired a taste for human flesh to the point of want. It might be easy enough to avoid a hungry or or opportunistic beast by steering clear of its territory, but what about the animal who keeps coming back for more? The one who relentlessly prowls a village, bent on staying until it finds its next victim? There have been various cases in history of animals getting “hooked on humans”: often the result of scavenging on ill-buried corpses. Whatever the reason, such a predator is not easily prevented without being killed itself. Want is yet another way a man-eater is made.

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. – Ecclesiastes 3:18

Even more reprehensible than man-eating out of hunger and opportunity, is our man-eating out of want. Hunger is a fleshly desire of the soma; opportunity is a social desire of the soul; but want is a devilish desire of the spirit. Like a bloodthirsty man-eater who keeps returning to a village for more, so are we when we seek out aggression for sheer pleasure. The end result is certain death. We tear apart everyone in our path until someone brave enough to stand up to us (God) takes us down.

But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that do count it pleasure to riot in the day time. – 2 Peter 2:12-13

Do you enjoy the thrill of a fight? Does it feel good to rant and rave, letting your wrath be known to all when you have been rattled? Do you care more about being “right” and coming out Alpha, than forgiving and forgetting? Do you shut your conscience down when enraged? Do you justify your temporary insanity as “passion”? Are you always the last to apologize, if at all? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may be getting a taste for blood that will be nigh to impossible to shake if you continue on this dangerous path. Now is the time to repent and trade in the old heart of hatred for a new one of love. If Saul, the murderer, could become Paul, the missionary…you can change your course also.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them…They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain… – Isaiah 11:6,9a

In conclusion…

Hunger + Opportunity + Want = H.O.W. a man-eater is made.

Friends, we humans have a privileged position. We are the only creation on this earth that consist of soma, soul, and spirit. May we never squander these gifts and become like a plant or animal, given to aggressive practices. May we rather glorify God and be a people given to peace, security, and love towards our fellow man.

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. – Isaiah 35:9-10

For God’s Glory,
CA Bolks

Chelsea Bolks is a church of Christ minister’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.

I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.

Many a road and track
That, since the dawn’s first crack,
Up to the forest brink,
Deceived the travellers,
Suddenly now blurs,
And in they sink.

Here love ends,
Despair, ambition ends;
All pleasure and all trouble,
Although most sweet or bitter,
Here ends in sleep that is sweeter
Than tasks most noble.

The first telltale sign of sleep is:

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. – Proverbs 25:28

When our physical selves are sleeping, we often do things that are out of character for us, and yet completely out of our control. We may sleepwalk, sleep talk, snore, flail about, change positions, and hit the snooze button on our alarm clock without any awareness of having done such. When a loved one brings our strange sleep behavior to our attention, we may be shocked. “I did what?!”

What if we act out accidentally in our spirit? If we allow ourselves to lose control of our actions, who knows what kind of strange and sinful behavior we might display next. We might walk to places we shouldn’t, talk in a manner unfit for a Christian, flail about when angry, change our doctrinal positions, and hit the snooze button on God!

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. – Romans 6:12

It seems ludicrous to think of “acting out accidentally”, but it happens easily when we are filled with self rather than His spirit. I’ve often heard the example of a sponge…when squeezed it simply reveals whatever was inside; and it’s the same way with humans. When we are “squeezed” whatever is inside of us will assuredly make its way to the surface.

When someone offends you, do you burst out with sudden rage? When you find someone attractive, do you gawk at them with lust? When you hurt yourself, does a swear word fly out of your mouth? When the preacher is preaching, do your thoughts wander? These are telltale signs that you have fallen asleep. A Christian ought to be in control of their flesh, but too often the flesh is in control of the Christian! Often this is the result of not enough time in God’s word. Scripture has the power to transform our mind, and the more we fill our thoughts with that which is good and true, the less susceptible we will be to sudden outbursts of sin. Let us take control of our actions so we never act out accidentally.

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest by that any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. – 1 Corinthians 9:27

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In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. – John 1:4-5

Physically speaking, when one is sleeping; there is little more obnoxious and intrusive than light shining into the eyes. The darker the room, the worse the light hurts our eyes and the more we want to crawl under the covers and shoo away the culprit who flipped on the light switch.

It is the same way spiritually. When our soul is in deep darkness, we hate for light to shine upon it. It is our nature to “cover” up what is wrong in us, rather than to ‘fess up. We tend to get angry and defensive when someone puts the spotlight on our faults, when what should be doing is opening our eyes and making a change.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, they are wrought in God. – John 3:19-21

If we are of a truthful spirit, we will push through the initial pain of the light shining in our eyes, and adjust our eyes out of the darkness. Just as it is with sleeping in the flesh, it may take a bit to get accustomed to the light after being in darkness for a while, but it won’t be long until the pain is replaced with total acceptance and adjustment. Don’t let a few temporary moments of discomfort keep you from the eternal light of Christ’s love. Humble yourself to see when you are in the wrong, and make a change. True believers do not loathe the light, they love it.

Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. – Ephesians 5:14

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. – Dylan Thomas

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For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God. – Ecclesiastes 5:7 (NASB)

We all know the feeling of waking up after an invigorating dream…just before it ends. So disappointing. No matter how hard we try to fall asleep to finish the scene, the dream will not return. What’s more, as we go on with our day; the dream that was so vivid when we first awoke fades from our senses until it is little more than a fuzzy memory. How we wish we could fall back asleep to relive it, but it slips from our grasp.

Spiritually speaking, it can likewise be tempting to chase after dreams as opposed to reality. Perhaps we stumble across a Bible truth that was foreign to us before, and it rubs us the wrong way. What is our reaction? Do we align ourselves with God’s word anyway? Or do we shun reality in favor of falling back into our more agreeable dream? There are many dreamers out there, who form their beliefs on dreams instead of the truth of God’s word. We must not be grouped among them. Dreams leave us empty and unsatisfied.

It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetitite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. – Isaiah 29:8

We must be very careful with the teachings we allow to enter our hearts; whether they be by way of religious writings such as tracts and devotionals, or televangelists, preachers, friends, family, or any other means. Measure all you take in by the standard of God’s word. If it doesn’t match up, then out it goes. Let us live in the reality of God’s truth, not in a dream of man’s making.

I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. – Jeremiah 23:25-28

To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come – Shakespeare, Hamlet

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In conclusion…

Do you rest from responsibilities? Do you act out accidentally? Do you loathe the light? Do you desire to dream? If so, I’m afraid that you may have fallen asleep on the Christian’s job. It’s time to wake up! Consider this your call, my friend.

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. – 1 Thessalonians 4:5-6

For God’s Glory,
CA Bolks

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Chelsea Bolks is a church of Christ minister’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.