Like Clockwork

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 
– Matthew 6:34

During the 1950's and 1960's more than half the wristwatches sold in the United States were made by Timex. Officially known as U.S. Time, the company marketed its dependable timepieces in department stores and pharmacies from coast to coast. And it's no doubt that Timex's popular television commercials helped drive sales. Sometimes running live and in prime-time, the advertisements used extreme demonstrations to prove their product's toughness and reliability. Examples include a Timex watch strapped to a speedboat, abused by a wild gorilla, and run through a dishwasher.

"It takes a licking and keeps on ticking!" proclaimed long-time spokesman John Cameron Swayze. And sure enough, Timex watches usually did just that.

Those old commercials remind us that there are certain things we can trouble. What’s more, our troubles won't suddenly disappear the moment we start following Christ. And we can't expect our faith-journeys to be smooth drives down Easy Street. In fact, our daily struggles may actually intensify once we come to faith because the devil now sees us as a threat. We should always count on hitting bumps and potholes along the road of life:

count on in life: death, taxes, well-made wristwatches — and

"In this world you will have trouble," Jesus promises us. "But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Our Savior may have overcome the world, but there’s a popular notion among some of his followers that God won’t give us more than we can handle. The problem is, this assertion comes at the cost of us understanding our pain, suffering and even the consequences of our sins. And the tendency is for us to give up and turn away when the troubles of everyday life get too big. Instead of relying on the unlimited resources we could access as children of God, we wither from the heat of trials and circumstances. 

Do you keep on ticking after taking a licking? Like the Timex watches in those old school commercials, Christ-followers like you and me can demonstrate reliability and toughness amid adversity — but only when we depend on our Creator to pull us through.