The Realities Of The Christian Life

He said, “...Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

The Psalmist was not the first, and he certainly was not the last person who wished he had wings as a dove so he could fly away.

Illus: We all have felt like the man who went to the bus station and told the clerk, “I want to purchase a ticket.” The clerk said, “Sir, that is what I am here for. Where do you wish to purchase a ticket to?” The man said, “There isn’t a bus I wouldn’t take, no matter where it’s going will be fine!”

This is the way many of us feel at times. We feel just as the Psalmist felt, “...Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

People do not have wings, but that is not keeping them from fleeing. Let me show you what I mean,

I. WHAT ARE WE FLEEING FROM?

A. Some are trying to flee from disagreeable people.

Illus: A man was walking into a business as one of the employees came walking with her hands cupped over her ears. She was saying, “Let me out of here, before I do something I will be sorry about later!”

It was obvious that she had just had a disagreement with one of her co-workers and she had all she could take of that individual. She felt she had better get away from her before she clobbered her.

We all have had similar encounters with people that we have disagreed with. At those times we would rather be anywhere, than to be with that individual.

• Some people have moved out of neighborhoods to keep from being around people that annoyed them.

• Some have transferred out of college to another college to get away from someone who irritated them.

• Some have quit their job to get away from someone that they disliked and disagreed with.

We all know that feeling of knowing someone who irritated us so bad that if we saw that person coming down the street we would want to cross the street just to keep from talking to that one.

Many in our society are fleeing from people they consider to be unreasonable, disagreeable people.

B. Some are trying to flee from disgusting jobs.

There was a time when a young person would get a job when he got out of school and would work there the rest of his life. Then, when he was elderly, and ready to retire, the company he had worked all his life for, presented him with a gold watch for his retirement.

That tradition has almost ceased in our society because people flee from job to job.

Illus: We live in a world today where people, by the time they are thirty, do not have enough fingers to count the jobs they have had. By the time they are forty, they do not have enough fingers and toes to count the jobs they have had.

It used to be that when folks had a problem, they worked at trying to solve the problem. Today when they get disgusted with something at work, they will walk off that job and flee to another one.

Some are fleeing from disgusting jobs.

C. Some are trying to flee from disturbing neighborhoods.

There was a time when folks were born and grew to adulthood in the same neighborhood. Many would live in the same neighborhood all of their lives. Many even lived in the same house until they died. That is not so common today.

Illus: Today, in many neighborhoods, no one knows their next-door neighbors because they have only been there a couple of weeks. People do not bother to establish friends in their neighborhoods because they know that about the time they get to know them to some degree, they will move away and then they have to begin all over again.

Illus: You can drive into any neighborhood and you will see real estate “For Sale” and “For Rent” signs immediately. Why? Because we live in a time when people are very proud. They are so proud that they are having a difficult time finding a neighborhood that is worthy of their presence. Many are trying to flee from disturbing neighborhoods. However, when they move, they are finding the same disturbing problems.

How often we feel like the psalmist who said, “...Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

D. Some are trying to flee from discouraging spouses.

Illus: A detective was inquiring about the strange accidents in a man’s life. The detective asked, “How did your first wife die?” The man replied, “From eating poison mushrooms.” The detective then asked, “How did your second wife die?” He said, “She also died after eating a poison mushroom.” Then the detective asked, “Well, how did your third wife die.” He answered, “She died with a broken neck.” The man said, “How did she get a broken neck?” He said, “She would not eat the poison mushroom!”