Bret Hammond14 Touko 2023

Fiery Trials; 1 Peter 4:12-19

"Trouble won't kill ya." In his song, "La Vie," Billy Sprague tells the story of his grandmother Myrtle and the trials she had lived through, outlasting two husbands, all of her sisters, brothers, and cousins. Myrtle was left to wonder why she was still alive. I can't help but think of Mom today and all she lived through. She came from a family of nine children, but she buried most of those siblings before her death. She endured a miscarriage, the death of a son by suicide, her husband's descent into dementia, and the challenges of her own weakening body. Still, I think she and Myrtle would have agreed. As Billy Sprague put it, "She smiles and she'll tell ya, 'Trouble won't kill ya,' 'cause if it did, she would have died." The chorus of the song plays between French and English. "Oh, la vie est dure, that much is sure. Mais Dieu est bon si bon." As Dad would say, "Pardon my French" (sometimes I doubt that he actually knew French); the lyrics translate, "Life is hard, but God is good, so good." The chorus concludes, "Through the fire and the rain, I call him by name. And when the night is long, I remember mais Dieu est bon (my God is good)." Grandma Myrtle and my mom each had a simple faith. They didn't have answers to the tough questions, but they endured the fires that burned through their lives. So today at Kansas Christian Church, we turn to 1 Peter 4:12, "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you." Maybe we'll hear something of Myrtle and Marge echoing back, "Trouble won't kill ya." And encouraging us on with, "God is good, so good."

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