If You’re Happy and You Know It…

“What if every tow truck ran out of gas?”

“How do bodies get to heaven after they’ve been buried?”

“‘Si usted está contento y usted sabe que aplaudas! That means, ‘If you’re happy and you know it clap you hands!”

It’s not unusual for a period of 15 minutes with Squirts to follow this or some similar line of conversation. Sometimes, it’s like trying to chase popcorn. Just when you think you know where a topic is headed…pop, we’re off in another direction.
If it were written down, you might call it stream of consciousness. When you’re in the middle of it, you might call it confusing. But the best approach would be to call it entertaining.

After all, Squirts is just five. His conversations are no more focused than the rest of him. “Long attention span” and “five-year-old” are phrases rarely used in the same sentence. At least not in a good way.

But recently, I’ve noticed how this toddler-sized attention span can also be beneficial. While the time Squirts dedicates to getting dressed, a topic of conversation, any one game game, a television show, eating his breakfast…well, you get the idea…while his focus on these things sometimes seems to be short-lived, so too does the time Squirts spends pouting, angry, disappointed or unhappy.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the level of energy he puts into his tantrums has in no way diminished. But his anger quickly makes way for whatever new thought pops into his head.

“Arrrggghhh! You’re not my daddy any more! I want a new daddy,” can easily be followed minutes later by, “What’s your favorite pop-tart, daddy? Cinnamon or Ice Cream Sundae?”

In those moments, I envy that five-year-old attention span. How nice would it be to just let go of all the anger, disappointment and hurt in our lives? How wonderful would it be to turn to the party with whom we’ve disagreed and with genuine concern ask, “What’s your favorite pop-tart?”

Recently, I’ve felt that anger, hurt and disappointment begin to boil over in my own life.
There just seems to be so much to be angry about – illness of friends and family, threats of illness, unexpected loss of life, employment worries, rising costs of everything, natural disasters, Charlie Sheen. Sometimes, it just all makes me so mad!

As a result, the anger began to feel like a weight on my shoulders. It kept me from being fully engaged with my family. It sapped any creative energy I had for this blog or other things that are important to me. It made me less effective in my work.

But most of all, it created a barrier in my relationship with God. I found myself angry at God for all the perceived injustices in my life. I questioned God’s faith in me, let alone my faith in God. I began to doubt the full potential of God’s plan for me.

My anger, disappointment, resentment, fear, and hurt stood like a giant, insurmountable wall between me and God.

Last Sunday in worship, Pastor Clifton told about a time when John Wesley, a great theologian and man of faith from the 18th century, began to doubt his own faith. Here Wesley was preaching and extolling the virtues of faith, while in his heart he was questioning his own. When Wesley raised his concern, a mentor suggested that he “Preach faith until you have it. Then you will preach it because you have it.”

Having faith isn’t always easy. If we let it, the bad stuff in life – call it whatever you like – can chip away at our faith until we’re standing there defenseless and alone. Sometimes having faith requires that we act like we believe what we say even when we don’t feel it. Then, one day, we will open our eyes and see how God has been active in our lives every step of the way.

That’s what Pastor’s story reminded me. I’m tired of being angry. I’m tired of feeling disappointed. I’m tired of acting like a victim. So, I decided to start acting like a man of faith again. I told God I was done being angry and I asked God to help me deal with all of these negative feelings I was experiencing. I prayed that God would take away my anger and disappointment and replace them with hope and forgiveness.

Here’s what happened. Not 15 minutes after I made that passionate plea to God, I received an e-mail telling me I wouldn’t be able to do something I’d really hoped to do. It was upsetting and disappointing.

What’s going on here? Was God listening or not!?

Absolutely. In the comforting arms of my wife and the tender touch of my son who kept telling me, “It’s going to be okay Daddy,” I knew God had heard my prayer. I felt God’s presence helping me turn anger and disappointment into hope and forgiveness.

I know it won’t be easy to just forget all that’s going on around me and in the world. But I also know that if I keep saying, keep preaching, keep living like I have the strongest faith possible, I will have the strongest faith possible. And with God’s help, I can do it.

And so can you. What anger do you need to let go of? What forgiveness do you need to offer right now? What disappointment do you need to put into the hands of God right now?

I’ve got faith that with God, we can do it.

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