Disney’s “Pollyanna” was one of my favorite movies when I was a girl. For those who don’t know the story, it takes place in the early twentieth century. A wealthy heiress takes in her orphaned niece as a matter of duty to her deceased sister, even though she wholeheartedly disapproved of the latter’s marriage to a missionary and feels very uncomfortable around children. When Pollyanna arrives spouting all the things her father used to say, Aunt Polly makes it clear that such topics are not open for discussion in her household. Even under this censor, Pollyanna cannot help spreading her father’s gospel of “gladness” through the small New England town. She explains the rationale for the “glad game” to the town’s pastor – a stereotypical “fire and brimstone” preacher. Her father had read this quote (erroneously attributed to Abraham Lincoln in the movie): “If you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.” Inspired, he vowed to expect to find the good in others. The “glad game” was the effort to discover something to be glad about in every situation, especially life’s difficulties.
Corrie ten Boom applied this principle while in a Nazi concentration camp. The Germans apprehended her and her devoutly Christian family because they had provided a shelter for Jews. In her memoir, The Hiding Place, she notes how they were initially tempted to question God when they contracted lice on top of all their other hardships in the camp. Then she observed that the infestation kept the guards away and thanked God for giving her group more privacy. Later she would say, “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…It’s something we make inside ourselves.”
The ability to find value in tough situations seems to me a trademark of mature faith. It’s never as simple as “looking on the bright side” or “turning lemons into lemonade.” When encountering other people’s problems we naturally need to lead with compassion – to come alongside them to acknowledge and weep for their troubles. Remember Jesus mourning at his friend Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:33-35).
Even within our own lives, God never asks us to renounce our genuine feelings of fear and frustration. Read the lamenting Psalms (for example Psalm 22 – the one Jesus quotes on the cross) and see how honestly God’s people confess their woes. Notice further, however, how the act of baring the soul to the Lord actually effects a change of attitude (in Psalm 22, the transition begins in verses 19-21 and the balance of the Psalm is positive). Finding the good in hard circumstances requires grace. It’s the track that Paul was on when he writes to the Philippians from prison: “I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am” (Philippians 4:12-13).
When I am going through a time of trial, I have found that I can only receive this grace that vaccinates me from despair in small dosages. I ask for a sign at least once a day that God is attending to my misery. A stray piece of kindness from a friend, a stranger – even a parking place in rainy weather, can warm my heart to God’s presence and care. I can remain in tremendous pain over the present heartache, but nonetheless know that God has my back and will redeem this current trouble into something worthwhile.
Looking back on times that I suffered through I realize how fertile they were for the growth of my faith. Though I would never want to repeat those torments, I have been amazed to discover how these excruciating experiences have molded me into a person more capable of connecting with the sorrows of others. It seems uncanny the number of times I have been able to sense anguish in another because he or she is going through something I have recently endured.
God calls us to walk a narrow path: confront life’s hardships and inequities with empathy and honesty, but never with pessimism. God may not exempt us from the consequences of our own or even other people’s sins but nonetheless has real answers – not simple bandaids – to all problems. More than this, the Lord vows to stand beside us and sow seeds of good in the soil of our trouble. As Paul concludes in his letter to the Romans: “We know that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good” (Romans 8:28 NIV).
When we look for the good, expecting to find it, we celebrate the Lord’s amazing grace.
For updates on my book, or more information about me, continue to check back to this blog! I will also be frequently updating my Facebook Author page found here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Katie-Hoyt-McNabb/1473116102939321, as well as my twitter account, @AuthorMcNabb.
