We Get Rocks, Too

Have you ever seen the movie, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"?  I saw that movie for the first time recently, and one of the scenes really stood out to me.  It was the scene where the Peanuts gang is going trick-or-treating.  After every house, they all get together to compare the treat that they recieved.  All poor Charlie Brown said was, "I got a rock."  After every house, his answer was the same.  I must admit that I felt really bad for him, even though he is a cartoon character.  Charlie is forever the pessimist, always seeing the glass half-empty instead of half-full.  I, on the other hand, am one of the world's great optimists.  If there is something good to be found in a situation, I can find it.  However I found myself watching the, "I got a rock" scene and thinking how much I have in common with Charlie Brown.

Yes, I am an optimist.  I love to focus on the good things, the positive reports.  But I will not lie to you.  The ministry that we are doing in Mexico is really hard...and if I can let you in on a secret, sometimes I feel a lot like Charlie Brown.  So much work, so much time investing in people and projects....and at the end of the day, all we have to show for it are lousy rocks.  I started to think (or maybe I am just hoping) that I am not the only one that feels that way.  I try to not let my feelings dictate the way I live my life.  After all, my hope is in Christ, and I am not going to give up.  But there are many times when we don't see the positive results that we hope for.  And we start to feel like Charlie Brown...and all he got were rocks!

So, what do we do when we don't see the results we want to see?  We trust in God.  He is greater than the circumstances, and we have to believe that there is eternal value to all we are doing- even when we can't see it right away.  We recently have seen proof that some of the seeds that we planted years ago are finally starting to sprout roots and shoots...seeds that we thought were already dead.  God sees the big picture, He sees all the components and the invisible things that are happening in the spiritual realm.  We believe that He who is faithful to BEGIN will also be faithful to COMPLETE.  We trust, believe, and persevere, because the One who holds us in His hands also has the situation in His hands.  We press on believing that the next time we get rocks, God will use those rocks to build something greater than we ever imagined!