Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — )
PROGRAM D-8262
Have you noticed that problems and trials often seem to come in bunches? Our friend, Fran, is having one of those weeks. Yesterday her son Drew broke his wrist playing ball at school, and now his right hand is in a cast for at least six weeks. She manages to get him to school today, and then heads to her office.
“Lord,” she says, “I think Drew is enjoying being an invalid. Wow, what a pain he was this morning, getting him dressed and off to school. I guess he’ll try to get as much mileage out of it as possible. Now I’m behind at work, so let’s hope things go better today,” she says, mostly to herself.
As she arrives at her office, she is deluged with questions about Drew’s condition. Finally, she tackles her workload, trying to catch up.
Mid-morning, her boss, Marilyn, comes into her office. “Fran, we have an emergency situation and you’re the only person who can handle it.”
Fran looks up in bewilderment as Marilyn explains that she must give a presentation tomorrow to several company executives. “But Marilyn, that will take time, and I’m behind as it is,” Fran tries to explain.
“Do what you have to do, Fran,” Marilyn says. “This takes priority over everything else.”
Fran spends the rest of her day trying to pull together a good presentation.
At home that evening, Drew is complaining about the pain in his wrist. She gives him a mild sedative to ease the pain, and finally gets both him and his sister, Alice, in bed.
Exhausted, she plops down on her sofa and, about that time, the phone rings. She decides to let the machine take it, but she hears her friend from church. “Fran, this is Monica. I just wanted to tell you about Joan. She’s back in the hospital and they have found another tumor. . .”
Fran picks up the phone. “Monica, I’m here. Joan is back in the hospital? But they said she was cancer free. What happened?”
“I don’t know too much, Fran,” Monica replies, “but it seems this time there’s not much they can do. The doctor has told her husband that she may have only a month or two more.”
“No, no!” Fran cries. “Not Joan. Her precious children; what will they do?” She and Monica cry and pray together for their friend and her family.
As she finally hangs up the phone, Fran says to Jesus, “Lord, life is too hard. This is not fair. Lord. . . Lord” She buries her head in the sofa and ends up spending the night there, too beat to make the effort to go to bed.
What do you do when you feel like the sky is falling all around you?