Our Indefatigable God

By Arthur Villanova

Cultivating a relationship with God can help calm the "perfect storms" we sometimes experience in our daily lives. Artwork by Basil Wolverton.

(Ed. – Arthur Villanova is a near middle-aged Credentials Specialist for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) downtown, the second-largest school district in the country. He is also an avid member and motivator for Toastmasters International wherein he holds the title of Area Governor for District 51 where he oversees three clubs in the core of Los Angeles.

On top of that Arthur is a son of a mom with a threatening health condition, a husband, and a father of a very bright and energetic 10-year-old son.

In short, Arthur Villanova is a pretty busy guy, emblematic perhaps of those Angelinos who have to be on the road at 6AM to get to work on time.

Sometimes he is asked to speak in his local church on the weekend. So how does he handle this “perfect storm” of activity, especially working in a spot where special events come up fairly regularly?

That’s what he spoke about on November 15).

Let’s face it, there are times when we get overloaded and overworked. Just this last week I had to take action on certain things happening at work and a “perfect storm” of extra-curricular activities relating to my Toastmaster’s responsibilities.

Winning and Worrying

Experts advise us to ask three hard questions when facing a battery of worries.

First, pinpoint precisely what is the worst that can possibly happen? Second, are you psychologically and spiritually prepared for the worst? Thirdly, can I improve on the worst?

These three guidelines form a very helpful strategic overview but there are some tactics to apply as well. One of them is to ask for help! Often we don’t have to bear all these worries alone. Someone once said, “A trouble shared is a trouble halved.” This is where seeking good counsel is so wise and enjoined in both the Old and New Testaments (Isaiah 11:1-5).

Another point is to use the law of averages to ask, What are the odds against this thing’s happening at all? Remember the old folk wisdom, “I am an old man and suffered from many troubles most of which never happened.

Cooperate with the inevitable. If some thing is out of your power to change it from happening then you have to be accepting. Jesus did this in the Garden of Gethasmane.

Learn ahead of time to organize, supervise and deputize. Learn to streamline routine tasks so you have more energy for the crushing emergency. Often there is lots of help available and we are slow to see it. Woe to her who is alone when she falls.

Count your blessings, not your troubles. There’s a reason why this old song has lasted and its message is relentlessly biblical.

Take effective counteraction when possible. Bad news disturbs us all but if there are tsunamis and earthquakes happening across the world and it stresses us or our children out, then resolve to help out through the many agencies available. That makes you feel like things are moving again in your life. Control is reestablished.

Lastly, cultivate a relationship with God before things explode. That way, you can experience what millions of Christians have learned, “Before I called on him he answered.”

There are 40,000 teachers in the LAUSD, and there are times it seems when each of them is trying to get me on the phone about vital matters relating to teacher credentials. Last week was one of those weeks. We also had a guest speaker at our regular Toastmasters meeting this Thursday, a former past president of Toastmasters International, Mr. George Yen from Taiwan. Mr. Yen was also special guest at a major Friday night gathering of Toastmasters which came the night before my sermon scheduled for all of you here in Glendora church.

What a week.

What’s In a Word?

As it turned out, I chose the word “indefatigable” for my Inspiration talk at Thursday’s club. The definition helped inspire me. Indefatigable is a great word, and words matter to toastmasters. It means “incapable of tiring, tireless, and inexhaustible.”

That sure didn’t describe my mental condition as I looked ahead to last week. But I had a model to follow from my Toastmaster’s years of speech-giving and from hearing church sermons. The model was the career of Britain’s Prime Minister during World War Two, Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965).

My pastor tells me that there is a new Churchill biography put out by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Well might the British reintroduce this remarkable figure to a new audience of younger Britishers. Churchill was famous for his “we shall never surrender” speech flung in the face of Nazi Germany after the British army had been chased off the continent in 1940.

Churchill had his doubtful moments. We know he even suffered from depression.

But he lived by the motto, “Success is going from defeat to defeat without losing your enthusiasm.”

Biblical Models

Churchill displayed that indefatigable attitude almost more than anyone else from secular history. But the Bible mentions the patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32 as he struggled with God to finally come to real repentance. Hosea 12 says Jacob was unusually persevering and even clung on to the Angel he wrestled with when his hip was out of joint.

Ephesians 6:10 says we have to be strong but it says “strong in the Lord.” Ultimately it is God who is the source of all strength. Jesus taught us to come to him when we are burdened or heavy-laden (Matthew 11:28-30). That is also the message of one of the Bible’s most inspiring passages, Isaiah 40, which we seem to read here almost every week.

Spiral galaxy: a tiny part of the vast universe.

Isaiah 40 describes God in verse 26 as “the everlasting God.” For those of us who are privileged to know him that is a message of hope. Our God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He has limitless energy and we need that energy undergirding us all if we are to positively impact others with the gospel – which is our true calling in this life (Acts 1:8).

Verse 30 is quite bold. It says that even the youths shall faint and be weary but God…he goes on forever. This is true. My ten-year old son thinks he is stronger than me, more resilient than me and smarter than me and last week I was almost convinced he was right!

Look at verse 31, which says, “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.” What a promise. What a hope. As I darted around the clogged LA freeways this week getting to work, driving to the workshops, coming home, resting up and trying to prepare this message I was not afraid to ask for help – first from God and then from my pastor. He allowed me to cut back my sermon time and reduce some of the tension.

So here I am. A model of indefatigability after all, but only with the help of God. If I can do it, so can you.