David:     A call came last night from a friend asking for our prayers. Around nine o’clock, I think, something like that.

Karen:     Yeah. Someone we’ve known for a long time and really love. And this man’s in a leadership position in Chicago. And he has hundreds of workers who work for him. They put up electrical grids in buildings. And he’s had to furlough people or lay them off. And it’s just killing him. Yeah, he’s a very caring person.

David:     Who knew round of layoffs.

Karen:     Yeah.

David:     He’s getting to the place where these are all, for the most part, individuals he knows. And it’s just tearing him off.

Karen:     And you could hear it in his voice. We could feel his pain and his fear for some who have already caught the virus. Because his workers, when they wear masks on buildings, can’t wear the masks because you can’t see the delicate kind of electrical work you’re doing with instruments, tools. If you have that mask in front of your face, it cuts your vision. So, oh, he was just, he was really hurting.

Intro:      Welcome to the Before We Go Podcast, featuring Dr. David Mains and his wife noted author Karen Mains. Here’s David and Karen Mains.

David:     Karen, I was late at night. I could tell that he wasn’t sitting down. And then we asked him. And he said, “I’m walking the neighborhood.”

Karen:     Miles. He’d been walking miles.

David:     Yeah, so he’s late at night. He’s come home. Now he’s gone out. And he’s walking again. And his mind is troubled.

Karen:     And he calls us on his cell.

David:     In fact, before he even said it, I said, “how can I pray for you?” And there was like, “Oh, thank you.” In fact, he was extremely expressive when he said it. “Thank you so very much. It means so much to me.”

Karen:     So, we had a picture of not only the ones who are suffering the layoffs, but the bosses or the executives who are having to do this, laying off of people. Just a multi-pronged situation of distress and hurt.

David:     Yeah, what do you do when you don’t know what to do?

Karen:     Exactly.

David:     And his emotion as he talked, he must have talked for, I’m guessing, 20 minutes while he was walking. His emotion reminded me of what I was going through that reflects back to this series of messages that I’m doing on our podcast. I was going through absolute; it was like terror. I didn’t know if I would make it through or not. And the truth is the whole ministry collapsed. I was hoping it wouldn’t, but it did. And it was during that time I was giving these messages to college students. And I did the series, What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do?

I can’t rebroadcast those because none of them were recorded. But I’m going through what eventually became a book and chapter by chapter saying this is what helped me at the time. And even as I look at these messages again, I feel the pain of what was going on, just like the pain that many people are feeling during this coronavirus pandemic.

Karen:     And the amazing thing about these messages, they were written 25, 30 years ago. It’s as though they were written for a time such as we’re in right now, doing this coronavirus pandemic. So, you know, that’s the way the word of the Lord works. Even the scripture was written for certain historical times, but it has spoken to us down through this century. So that word seems to come to us when we need it the most.

David:     It’s fascinating, isn’t it? It’s even in addition to my memory bringing these back, that phone call last night brought back all those feelings. And so, I go into another presentation. And as I prepared for this, I asked myself, “Would this really help my friend”? And I’m thinking it would. So, let me share that and then we’ll talk at the far end, okay?

It was such a simple question from a friend. “Hi, how are you doing? What made you come unglued like you did”? Maybe it was because she always looks great, fabulous clothes, money for a hairstylist and manicurist. And you’re pushing like everything just to buy gym shoes for the kids. Or maybe you’re a man who’s behind on house payments. Financial catastrophe seems to be around every corner. It’s like real life has become a game of monopoly in which you don’t own a single property, not even one of the railroads, and you’re down to your last ten bucks.

In high school, you were on top of the heap. What happened to your life? You thought you had great potential, that your future was bright with promise.

Out of shape physically? Yeah. Who has time to exercise? What about spiritually? Ah, out of shape there too. After all, who has time for devotions? Socially? Pretty desperate.

But again, when you don’t feel good about yourself, why make extra efforts to build friendships, practice hospitality, or join a prayer group or Bible study?

How are you doing?

Such a simple question. But when these maze times come, if we’re honest, we answer, “I’m filled with fear, okay”?

Yeah, fear. Fear that I’ll fail. Fear that I’ll disappoint people. Fear I’ll be rejected. Fear I won’t amount to anything. Fear I’ll never become what I was intended to be. Even fear because this stupid world is in such a mess, a bigger mess than anyone can make sense out of. I’m extremely uncertain. I’m sad. I’m growing cynical.

How am I doing? Okay, I’m a Christian, so there’s supposed to be, everything’s going fine, even though it’s not. Life’s really a puzzle. An unsolvable conundrum. A cursed maze I’m lost in.

Living in maze conditions has been my personal experience this excruciating past year. As an honest man, I almost prefer that people not ask me how I’m doing. No, I don’t answer negatively like I’m suggesting. I intentionally practice speaking words that affirm that I’m still an “I believe” person. That’s been a good practice for my soul. But words don’t pay radio bills. Or satisfy station owners who choose to believe what critics write about the Mainses.

I have nevertheless tenaciously held on to the great promises of God’s word. Believe it or not, I’ve told myself. In the process, what has changed most has been my thoughts and my expressions.

Like Job, I have cried out, How I long for the months gone by. For the days when God watched over me; When his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness. Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, When God’s intimate friendship blessed my house; When my path was drenched with cream, and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil. When I went to the gate in the city and took my seat in the public square; and young men saw me and stepped aside, and the old men rose to their feet. Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me.

I thought I will die in my own house, My days as numerous as the grains of sand. My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. But now they block me. Men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep-dogs. Words from Job in the Old Testament. I have also been in the middle of a muddle that won’t end you say. It’s a quagmire, a baffling, confounding, perplexing maze, and I need help to know what to do when I don’t know what to do.

Okay, here then is another scriptural truth that is guiding my behavior. A good thing to do when you don’t know what to do is to take note of the joys that refresh your spirit. Let me explain.

A good thing to do when you don’t know what to do is to take note of the joys that refresh your spirit. Sometimes beleaguered people refuse to smile at all until they’re totally out of the maze. That’s not good, for it could be a long time before freedom is your lot. I found it helpful to chronicle the good things in my journal to look for simple joys believing they are always present even in these difficult days.

December 3. Thanks Lord, for a good evening with my son and daughter-in-law. That play, The Quilters, was a great choice for us in the Japanese restaurant we went to after the performance was delightful.

December 9. Just found out that our new religious TV show you need to know was nominated for television program of the year by the National Religious Broadcasters. What a surprise, we’re one of two finalists. That’s great Lord.

December 14. A will came today for $8,000. That really helps. Bless you Lord and please thank this good person who is now with you so I can’t say thank you to him.

Did you see the popular film, Forest Gump? The main character, Forest Gump, was adept at seeing the good in everything. I would say he is a contemporary holy fool. I think his attraction for an often dissipated and jaded American viewing audience was this capability of positive innocence.

Reading scripture recently I began to picture Ruth as a kind of female Forest Gump. To start with, she doesn’t really know God any more than the film hero does. She’s married to a Jew who dies on her like Forest wife does on him. Remember Gump’s line in the movie? “Mother says dying is part of living. I wish it weren’t.”

When Naomi the older widow decides to return home to who knows what, Ruth’s sister-in-law stays in Moab where she’s always lived. Ruth however clings to Naomi and says, “Where you go, I will go.” Here’s sounding a little out of female Forest Gump. “Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

When the two reach Bethlehem it’s barley harvest time and Ruth gleans with the poor folk behind the professional reapers, and wouldn’t you know it she’s innocently chosen the field of wealthy Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s. Noticing her, a beautiful young stranger, he invites her to share his lunch. “What a nice man”, she tells her mother-in-law who by now has figured out who this powerful landowner is.       When she lies down Naomi instructs her “…note the place and go over and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” “I will do whatever you say”, responds Ruth Gump, or pardon Ruth from Moab. Perhaps for the sake of contemporaneousness, I’m not being fair to this woman whose name appears in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ.

In the middle of a hard time, she has this marvelous quality of always finding what is good. And I want to be like her in the middle of my hard times.

December 16^th. Office Christmas party is wonderful. What a great staff of loyal workers you give me, Lord. And how good to laugh together.

December 18. Enjoy the time at Neff’s open house. Thank you for friends who show love in beautiful ways.

When the going is rough, social occasions can sometimes give us a needed change of pace. This was true in the scriptural passage I want to refer to next.

It’s halfway through the final week of Christ’s life, and he’s aware of everything in the horrific near future. Very soon, you will gather with the twelve to celebrate the Passover one last time. You can feel the pressure building in these historic accounts as Christ orchestrates all events leading to his betrayal, trial, and crucifixion. But a person can only take so much heaviness. Then in today’s terminology, you “max out.”

I thought the Spielberg film, Schindler’s List was masterful. If it had been a documentary, it would have been overwhelming. As it was, there were shining moments of good, which made it tolerable to take in the magnitude of the evil being chronicled. But audience needed breaks from the Holocaust narrative, or it would have been just too much to absorb. Possibly this is what God did for his Son as he faced the final death-defying Jerusalem sequence in Matthew 26. Maybe God the Father provided a respite.

Anyway, once again the person who brought the joy that refreshed was a woman. Jesus is reclining at the table in the home of a friend. When this unnamed lady enters a scene, she has an alabaster jar of expensive perfume. Then she pours it over his head. What an extravagant, fitting, loving act.

Two days before his last Passover, Jesus could have written in his journal, “She poured this marvelous perfume on me beforehand to prepare for my burial. She didn’t even know how significant her ‘I love you’ action was. I told the others in the room that whenever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she did will be told in her memory. Thank you, Father, for this gift of love and tender care. It touched me deeply.”

December 25. Karen hooked there herself fixing Christmas dinner. Dad came and so did my son Randall and his wife and our granddaughter, Caitlin. The other kids were at their in-laws.

December 28 had dinner with friends who were gentle and kind and sensitive.

December 31. Gady’s clothing store says they will give me four suits a year plus ties if I run a credit line at the end of the TV show. That sure helps.

As I speak these words I’m still in the maze. My ministry remains in trouble. Few of my accusers have become silent. I’m still confused about what it got is saying to me. Board members are uneasy and there’s always a meeting looming ahead. But I am determined to keep track of the good. Lord knows I need it.

“Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way” Paul wrote to the Corinthians. “In great endurance, in troubles, hardships, and distresses, in beatings, imprisonment, in riots, in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger, dying and yet we live on, beaten and yet not killed, sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” It’s from 2nd Corinthians 6. Amazing. “Sorrowful yet always rejoicing.”

It’s hard for me to personally identify with the full impact of Paul’s words. But in my travels to other countries, I’ve met numbers of believers who must know firsthand what he’s writing about. My mind recalls a dinner conversation in the semi-darkness of a small hotel restaurant in South India. Several native missionaries have come to this city for a conference and that evening they shared their field experiences with me. Their hearts were on fire to reach the lost. They were passionate about planting churches and villages where such a testimony for Christ had never been before.

The four at the table told me about their stories in broken English. Believe me their sacrifices were far beyond anything I have ever considered offering to the Lord. Most knew the rejection of their Hindi parents when as a young man they became converted to Christ. With no exceptions they told of being threatened in their ministry. Of dodging rocks or being hit by them. Of being tied up and beaten up. They testified about long trips that took them far from those they loved, of often being without funds. Sometimes even eating leaves to somehow alleviate their hunger pangs when it got really bad.

Of course, they also had marvelous stories of God answering their prayers. Of many converts getting congregations started. Church buildings being erected and of the birthing of daughter and granddaughter churches. But all of them knew a friend whose life had been given to advance the cause of Christ. It was a serious night because these native missionaries were wholeheartedly committed to seeing the Lord work in a powerful way in their land and they spoke with the same pervency as Paul the Apostle did to those they had led to the Lord.

Ironically it was also a most pleasurable night as well. The overriding mood was one of joy and optimism and victory. Laughter was not infrequent in spite of the fact that we didn’t always understand each other’s words. Here were determined young workers on special missions for Christ but also men who totally enjoyed what they were doing. They truly viewed their dangers as the least they could expect considering who they served and how for centuries the enemy had opposed what they were now doing.

To my knowledge, none of them saw the evening as out of place and unnecessary diversion. My guess is that they seldom have ever aided a hotel, although by Western standards the building we were in was hardly large enough to merit the term. But I assume they welcomed the opportunity and probably thanked the Lord for it, seeing the time as a brief break from the activities at hand so they could share what God was doing with the minister from the United States.

For me, it was the night I’ll not forget. I can still picture the surroundings, see the faces, hear the voices, and even recapture some of the immense joy that marked that time together.

“Be joyful always”, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16 & 18.

They understood what he had in mind. When the journey is difficult, the mission confusing, the way fraught with dangers, I choose to believe that the Lord will provide items or occasions of refreshment and ministry for me. I must learn to make the most of them.

Not long after I graduated from Wheaton, Tolkien’s trilogy of the Ring came out. Reading the 1,359 pages of these three volumes was like taking a postgraduate course in fantasy adventure literature. Most readers are familiar with the story of the intrepid Band of Nine, including Frodo the Hobbit, who must take the one ring, ruler of all the rings of power, and destroy it in the stronghold of evil Surran. There are so many pages of difficult encounters, long journeys, injuries, confusing twists and turns, and of course frightening battles.

For the reader, it is most refreshing at the end of Book One when the nine adventurers come to Lothlorien, where the elves reign, quoting from the book. “They remain some days in Lothlorien, so far as they could tell or remember, all the while that they dwelt there the sun shone clear, save for a gentle rain that fell at times, and passed away leaving all things fresh and clean. The air was cool and soft, as if it were early spring, yet they felt about them the deep and thoughtful quiet of winter. It seemed to them that they did a little bit eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees, and it was enough. Everyone who journeys through life’s terrible pilgrimages needs such breaks. We have to be refreshed in our arduous passages. Certainly, we must not overlook these delightful provisions or let them slip through our fingers.” Here again is my real world Lothlorien list.

January 2. First workday of the new year. Excellent mail from friends all over the country sending year-end contributions.

January 6. I’ve been sick and my voice gives out doing TV taping. My co-host, Melissa Timberlake, fills in at the last minute and does a great job. I’m so proud of her, my daughter.

January 9. Board meets, but at the last minute three people have to cancel for legitimate reasons. First time in 19 years we don’t have a quarrel. No official meeting is held. Takes the pressure for decisions off for the moment. They’ll try to get together again a month from now. Overall picture should be much better by then. So, praise the Lord.

In Scripture, it’s a terrible day in Israel’s history. A time of lamenting because Jerusalem has fallen. When Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:19-23, “I remember the bitterness in the gall and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed; for his compassion’s never fail. They are new every morning.” That from a man whose country had just been conquered.

Are you yourself in a maze? Can you affirm “God’s compassion is new every morning?” Can you sing the old hymn truly believing? “Great is thy faithfulness. Oh God my father, there is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changes not thy compassion’s they fail not. As thou hast been thou forever wilt be. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me.”

January 16. A letter arrives informing me that we have won the award of 1995 television program of the year by vote of the constituency of the National Religious Broadcasters. The announcement and the trophy will be presented at the opening session of the NRB Convention in Nashville at the Opera Land Auditorium. Wow that’s fabulous news. “Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me.”

Without a doubt I haven’t yet negotiated all the passageways in my present personal maze. I sense I’m getting closer to solving it but in the process, I’m learning about what to do when I don’t know what to do. And again, one important item is to take note of the joys that refresh my spirit. And I heartily commend the practice to you.

No, it’s not an original idea. I’d refer to Jeremiah and to Ruth and to Paul and to many others who have gone before me. Every one of these people would testify that God brings his grace to bear even in the midst of our trials.

Karen:     It’s a beautiful truth. But let me just end by sharing the scripture the Lord gave to me this morning as we’re in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic we’re all, as a nation isolated in our homes were keeping social distancing we’re trying to avoid going out into public.

David:     Some people going through incredible sorrow.

Karen:     Sorrow. Death.

David:     Not as bad.

Karen:     And loss of income bosses who are having to leave off people they love it is an awful time. So, this is what we need to focus on. This is from Psalm 45. “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders that you have done. The things you plan for us, no one can recount to you. Were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.”

David:     Yeah, that’s wonderful. And Karen, I’m thinking that this is a practice that we began long, long ago. I did this as recently as before when the phone call came last night. And it was a good day. You and I have said, “Let’s take advantage of these times that we have and figure out what’s most important in our lives.” And after the meeting with you, you said, what’s important to me is that I write the book on listening, but I’m not sure I can do it on my own. I somehow need help. And we talked and said, “You know, that here’s Dr. Vithan in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and he’s a great neurosurgeon. And he has all the information you need. Maybe you could co-write the book with him.” So, we put the call in.

Karen:     I felt like I needed someone who would work with the brain science of what happens when we listen to one another, when we hear and when we feel understood. So, you gave me push, you called him, and I asked him if he would co-write this with me. And I had broached this before with him and then given him a couple weeks to think about it. And so, he was very eager to be a part of this project, or at least I’m perhaps projecting this.

David:     No, no, he said that. He was very pleased.

Karen:     But this will be a project in our lonely, isolated culture. The suicide rate is mounting. I just hate to see what we find out after this social isolation is all over. We need to write a book into our culture that says, “You know, there are extraordinary things we can do for one another. And one is to learn to hear, and one is to learn to understand. And the other is to be heard and the other is to be understood.” So that’s where we’re going together. It’s a really answer to prayer.

David:     That’s a great joy to you.

Karen:     It was.

David:     I think you smiled all through the evening. That’s just one day. But the Lord does that day after day after day. And if we’re not careful, the sorrow is overwhelming. So, we miss the joys that are there along the way. I’ve written out scriptures again.

Karen:     A help sheet or a meditation sheet.

David:     People say, I’d like to go to scripture, but I’m not sure where to go. So, I picked out five scriptures and then I have five questions for each of these scriptures. They’re not like a duty thing to do. They’re more like encouraging.

Karen:     It’s a mindfulness, you know, meditative mindfulness sort of thing that you put together for people who would like to participate in it.

David:     So, this is just to re-emphasize what has been said as we’ve had this opportunity to speak with friends. So many ways when you begin to think about it, how the Lord is good and how He brings joy into our lives. I’m especially appreciative of the many supporters who have not only continued to be generous, even though their lives have been changed immensely. And we have a lot of older people who support us because we are older people.

Karen:     Who have supported us for decades.

David:     And they’re so incredibly gracious in the way that they’ve stuck with it. And then they not only give a gift, but they write a note and say how they’re praying for us. You know, we are like being lifted up in as we lift up others. So, it’s this incredible body of Christ and we are fortunate to be a part of it. I’m just so grateful.

Anyway, friend, if you’d like to get those verses, there’s no cost involved, obviously, but here’s dear Dean to tell you how to get those.

Outgo:     You may obtain a copy of the handout mentioned in this podcast by pointing your web browser to the following link: grow.beforewego.show. That’s all-lowercase letters. G R O W grow.beforewego.show S H O W.  And if you would like to write to us, please send us an email at the following address hosts@beforewego.show .

You’ve been listening to the Before We Go Podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast please remember to rate, review and share on whatever platform you listen. This podcast is copyright 2020 by Mainstay Ministries, Post Office Box 30, Wheaton, Illinois 60187.