Contradictory Truths

Tom Landry, the late head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was once quoted as saying something like this:

"I have a job to do that is not very complicated, but it is often difficult: to get a group of men to do what they don't want to do so they can achieve the one thing they have wanted all their lives."

Coach Landry, in that seemingly contradictory statement, described what discipline is all about…doing what we don't want to do so we can accomplish what we've always wanted.

So much of what results in a fulfilled life is really the product of a contradiction. Those who wish to be the best leaders must demonstrate true servant-hood. Those who ultimately are given the oversight of vast regions and broad responsibilities have initially proven themselves faithful in the little things. The most effective form of retaliation is an absence of retaliation . . . leaving all vengeance to God. In doing so, to quote the Scriptures, we "heap burning coals upon the head" of an adversary, which is nothing more than overcoming evil with good—another contradictory truth.

Want a few more?

The way to show yourself wise is not so much by speech but by silence.

The way to stop a loud argument is by a soft-spoken word. The most powerful rebuke is not a loud, negative blast, but a quiet, positive model.

The secret of helping others mature is not more rules and stricter laws but greater trust.

Those who are most respected for their knowledge and the skill of drawing others into it are not those who have all the right answers but rather those who ask the right questions.

Those who give generously have much more than those who hoard.

One lovely flower, personally picked from the garden by tiny hands, can mean much more than two dozen long-stemmed roses ordered from the florist.

A handwritten note of love and affection lingers longer in one's memory than a $3.50 embossed card from Hallmark.

Forgiveness is the key to handling our enemies, not revenge.

A brief, warm, tender embrace with very few words says more to the grieving than an evening's visit full of sympathy talk and long prayers.

Funny, isn't it? God often delivers His best gifts to us through the back door of our lives. In unexpected ways…with surprises inside the wrappings. Somewhat like the therapy He used when Elijah was so low, so terribly disillusioned.

How did the Lord minister to him? By an earthquake? In a whirlwind? Through a scorching fire? You'd expect all the above since Elijah was such a passionate, hard-charging prophet. But no. The story from 1 Kings 19 makes it clear that Jehovah was not in the earthquake or the wind or the fire. Too obvious. Too predictable. That's not the Sovereign's style.

After all the hullabaloo died down, there came "a gentle blowing" and shortly thereafter, ever so softly, "a voice" came to him (vv. 12–13) with words of reassurance and affirmation. Not, "You oughta be ashamed of yourself!" Or "What's a man of your stature doing in a crummy place like this?" None of that. No blame, no shame, no sermon, no name-calling, no blistering rebuke.

In contradiction to the popular idea of confrontation (and surely surprising to Elijah himself), the Lord encouraged His friend to go on from there. He gave him a plan to follow, a promise to remember, and a traveling companion to help him make it through the night.

Another mysterious back-door delivery . . . another victim of despair rescued from the pit. No wonder Paul burst forth in praise of God's wisdom and knowledge by exclaiming:

How unsearchable are His judgments . . . [how] unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33b)

About the time we think we've got the whole picture in finite focus, an infinite hand quickly grabs the camera, changes lenses on us, points in another direction, and has us take an entirely different picture. Yet to our amazement, when everything is developed, we get the one thing we wanted all our lives through a process we would never have chosen.

It's like the anonymous poet's profound admission:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;

I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy;

I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;

I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for,

But everything I had hoped for.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

*** Copyright 2014 by Charles R. Swindoll | Insight for Living Ministries ***

I hope you are blessed. Feel free to share and leave your comments. May the grace of the Lord be with you.

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