One of the things my Dad used to say when we got hurt on the farm was, “Just rub some dirt on it”. He really didn’t mean it literally, at least I never saw him rub any dirt on his “owies”, it just meant don’t whine about it. So when I get hurt that is what I say, though I have never rubbed any dirt on any of my “owies” either. But sometimes those who hear me say it think I am being literal, and therefore think that I am some kind of nut. A couple of days ago I was working on the roof of my shop with a son and a couple of grandsons. We were taking off the old rusted metal roofing and putting on some 3 tab roofing, and in the process of throwing the metal roofing off of the roof of the shop a piece fell across the back of my hand and cut it pretty good. The tricky part was trying to climb down the ladder with one hand bleeding all over the place, and the other hand holding my coat against the cut to keep it from bleeding any more than it was. Patty and our daughter Sherri got all excited and insisted that I go in and get some stitches in it, but that didn’t sound like much fun to me so I said, “I will just rub some dirt on it!” They both rolled their eyes, so I said. “Lets just pour some hydrogen peroxide on it and tape it up good, and I can go back to work, hydrogen peroxide works almost as good as dirt”. They again rolled their eyes, but taped it up good, and today it had healed up enough so that I preached 2 services and a leadership class with no covering on it. It still looks pretty ugly, but it is much better than it was, so I declared myself healed.

Our bodies are fairly fragile, and get bruised, cut, broken, and infected easily. Some of the accidents we have only results in a bruise and minor soreness, but others can result in casts, crutches, and wheel chairs. The Apostle Paul using the word house for our physical body says that we groan as a result of the pain we experience in life.

2 Corinthians 5:2 For indeed in this house we groan,

Now at the age of 71 I have a lot of pain in a variety of places, in a variety of levels, for a variety of reasons, but it all hurts, and I groan. I also take ibuprofen and other pain killers, which helps a lot, but I still groan. But because of my upbringing I never whine or complain. I have memorized Romans 8:18, and I meditate on it when I get to hurting a lot.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Suffering produces character, the character of Christ in me, and I want that so I choose to say “thank You Jesus” when I am tempted to complain about my “owies”.