It was Spring Break. We had a great idea to take a road trip to Florida. My friends and I were looking forward to not having to think about exams, studying, gpa’s, and papers.
We were ready and fully intended on taking advantage of all that the southeastern tip of the connected United States had to offer. This included the ocean.
There was talk of some beaches that were so gorgeous it would be like being in a commercial for a Calvin Klein perfume. Water so clear you could see all the way to the bottom like waves of blue glass coming in and out. And mounds of tiny perfectly pure granules of white sand.
This seemed really nice for a kid like me, who previously lived in California right before coming to college, a place where beaches had dump truck loads of brown sand and ocean water that sometimes seemed brown as well with all the kelp and seaweed.
This over populated brown sand and Pacific Ocean is where I learned how to surf. I wasn’t really good but I was able to ride a wave.
One of my friends told me about this private beach in Florida that had glass water and white sand and so we went by ourselves to discover this magical land. It was beautiful I wanted so badly to surf it, the only problem is where we were in Florida, they didn’t have very big waves.
They don’t surf there they do something called skim boarding. It’s kind of like surfing but instead of paddling out on a 6’ board to wait for a wave to ride in- they have a small 45” board without fins called a skim board (sometimes called a potato chip). The idea is to run, throw the skim board down, jump on it and glide across the water's surface to meet an incoming wave and ride it back to shore.
What could go wrong?
After we had purchased our skim board we came to this deserted place of paradise and it was time to experience the Floridian way of catching waves. I remember being a little nervous while studying the motion of the ocean but when the time was right I ran out onto the wet sand chasing the leaving current I threw my board down and watched it glide before I jumped on top of it. I was probably on it for about 2.5 seconds before hitting something (probably a rock) which made the board stop but just as Sir Isaac Newton explains in his first law of motion known as inertia, just because the board stopped doesn’t mean I stopped.
My foot went forward, but my body fell backwards putting an extensive amount of pressure on my ankle. It happened so fast yet it felt like it was in slow motion. As I was falling to my back my ankle felt like a bundle of carrots or stalks of broccoli being snapped in half, there were 3 loud audible pops that echoed through the beach.
There was nothing about this moment that made me thankful or want to rejoice.
Paul has a different outlook on this.
Paul was a man who persecuted Christians until one day he became one. It was so genuine he started planting churches all over eastern Europe and Asia minor. Most of the new testament is made up of letters that Paul wrote to these churches that he planted.
The church at Colossae was planted by a man Apaphras (you can’t make this stuff up) who heard Paul speak in Ephesus and returned to his home to share this gospel that changed his life. This resulted in the birth of the church in Colossae.
Paul was under house arrest in Rome and Apaphras told him about a dangerous teaching that was threatening the church in Colossae. Even though we don’t know for sure we have a pretty good idea what this teaching is.
Most likely someone from within the church had attracted a following and was presenting himself as a Christian spiritual guide. This person probably claimed to have superior insight to Spirituality.
He would’ve taken parts of local Jewish beliefs: Sabbath, Jewish festivals and parts of pagan folk beliefs- calling on angels for help and protection from evil spirits. He would’ve encouraged the wearing of a magical stone amulet around their necks for protection from evil spirits.
When Paul hears of this teaching that devalues Christ and fails to appreciate the new identity of believers he writes this letter of warming and encouragement. He does not minimize the threat presented by the demonic powers but emphasizes the supremacy of Christ over all powers.
Paul says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.”
“I’m going to punch you right in the throat!” This is a sentence my wife said to me this past weekend. Ericka and I take an annual ski trip with my best friend Sam and his fiancé Courtney. Last weekend we went to Christmas Mountain to hit the slopes. I live for this! Last year Ericka and Sam took turns falling down the mountain pretty much all day while Courtney and I take on Black Diamonds.
A weekend like this is filled with things that Ericka loathes… like skiing. At night after skiing is over we eat dinner and stay up half the night playing board games. My wife does not stay up late and she despises board games.
So, on this particular night it was already late and we were playing one of the board games our friends brought. This one was called taboo. You know the one where you have to get your partner to guess the word on your card without using the word itself or the other words listed on the card?
It was Ericka’s turn and I had the buzzer, you know the purple and turquoise device that sounds like a cartoonish electric razor? It’s probably one of the most annoying sounds in the world. When Ericka flips her card over and begins playing a game that she’s not too excited about in the first place… one of the words she says is listed in the ‘can’t say’ category.
And see my moment, my opportunity to shut down my opponent’s efforts to tread enemy territory with confidence, I stick the buzzer right next to her ear and push the button, “You can’t say that”. She stops looks at me and with conviction in her eyes says, “I’m gonna punch you right in the throat.”
I bust out laughing because of the ridiculousness of her reaction. But also, my heart is warmed at the thought I’m reminded of. She doesn’t like skiing, she doesn’t like staying up late, she doesn’t like board games and yet she is suffering right in the middle of all of this and she’s doing it for me.
In the middle of this very violent threat ironically, I’m reminded of just how much my wife loves me.
What is suffering? Is it really skiing and board games?
The greek word is Pathos, it’s a suffering is a pain that impacts your emotions and your identity.
God can be in our suffering and use it for our good and his glory.
When my vegetable-like ankle broke in half my friend ran over he said, “Holy cow! Your ankle is red and purple and the size of a softball!”
The nearest hospital was at least an hour away. He somehow picked me up and carried me all the way back to his jeep. I tore a piece of a towel and bit down on it because the pain seemed to be unbearable, and it stopped my from screaming.
The mom of the family we were staying with just happened to work for an orthopedic surgeon to whom I was rushed straight to for emergency surgery. They put 2 medal plates and 6 screws in to hold my ankle together
I stayed an extra week in Florida for the recovery. I was nursed on the recliner of the family I stayed with. I was heavily drugged. When I would wake up the dad (who worked as an undercover officer on the Bomb squad) would be sitting in an adjacent recliner watching reruns of COPS on tv. He would just look at me and smile, and I would drift back into sleep.
All I could recall when seeing him was a time earlier when he showed me all of his guns that were laid out on a table and when he was threatening to tase me while I was swimming in his pool, I was nervous that he really would.
Getting around was a challenge, even just to go to the bathroom. I got back to school and had crutches for 3 months and I lived in the top floor of my dormitory with no elevator.
Having a broken ankle made some things in life a little difficult. It created this sense of inconvenience and frustration.
Putting my pants on in the morning usually took all of about 3 seconds now it took 17. Putting my shoes on and tying them took 5 seconds now it took 11. I would show up to places 33 seconds late and I would just say (point to ankle).
Now a broken ankle compared to what a lot of you go through is not that big of a deal. But it had a profound effect on me because it caused me to think of people who suffer day after day, for years. My small pathetic injury caused me to sympathize with others. I felt like a small part of me could relate and it changed me.
Lots of people wear crosses, which is an execution device. One scholar says God came into the world and screamed along side us. Interesting picture God screaming along side us. When we go through suffering lots of times our first questions are often directed at the divine- “How could you!? You don’t know what it’s like!”
Perhaps the cross is God’s way of saying “Actually I do.”
“If only you walked a day in these shoes!” Is the cross God’s way of saying, “I have”?
The cross is God’s way of saying, “I know how you feel”
There is something in your suffering if you are willing to look for it.
Michelangelo after completing his masterpiece sculpture David said, “I saw the him in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
There is greatness in you. Courage. Desire. Integrity. Compassion. Love. It’s in there- somewhere. And sometimes it takes suffering to get at it.
We are going to suffer. And it is going to shape us. Somehow, we will become bitter or better, closed or open, more ignorant or more aware, more or less tuned into thousands of gifts we are surrounded with every single day. This will shape you… the only question is how?
Trying to get around with crutches changes you. It made me make closer to people when asking them to carry my books. It made me humble to ask for help.
It even had me sitting in the front row of the lecture hall which ultimately through a series of events led me to start dating Ericka. And we’ve been married for 8 years this year.
I keep surfboard hung on my wall in my office because it reminds me of how God brings beauty out of pain.
Suffering is the difference between the cross having done something for you and the cross having done something in you.
May your eyes be opened to the fact that God is in your suffering.
May you learn from all your surfboards.
May you see how God brings beauty out of pain.