Learn About Faith Through Sunburns

I learned a couple thing about being sunburned, thanks to my mistake of getting sunburned at Ocean City.  Funny enough, as painfully and itchy my week has been dealing with a sunburn, it also taught me a little bit about faith.  It’s funny how God can take something horrible and make it as a point of encouragement in other aspects of life.
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First what I learned is the sun is hot enough to burn the skin even with an application of strong sunscreen.  So, always remember to re-apply it, so you don’t have to suffer the agonizing pains of being sunburned.  Also, it was really weird though.  The only parts that got sunburned are the parts that never were exposed to the sun.  So basically, it looks like I have a bright red t-shirt on right now.  But my arms and legs and face, and neck that were tanned from going out fishing, never got sunburned.  So, it brings me to the second thing I learned.

Thanks to Judy Werner, she made me realize that getting a little tan might have been helpful in order to not get burned.  I should have talked to her before I left for Ocean City.  Not too sure what the science behind that is, but possibly the tan on the skin allows the skin to get used to the sun, so it doesn’t feel the sun as something traumatic.  Or possibly the tan gives the skin a natural sunblock.  I really don’t know.  But all I know is that the tanned skin never got sunburned, while the parts that stayed covered up from the sun, suddenly exposed to the sun’s rays got burned. 

So, this is the metaphor I will use to talk about faith.  Number one, always re-apply.  Faith isn’t something that you just get, and the world will suddenly all make sense.  Learning about God, and how God operates in our world today isn’t something that just happens when we are young and we went to Sunday School, learn Jesus Loves Me song, and other warm fuzzy things about God’s love.  We have to keep learning about God, because life is full of situations that can give us headaches and the world is full of complicated issues.  Without, understanding the Bible throughout your life, you will feel stress when life’s rollercoaster ride begins.  Without, going to church, going to Sunday School, or even joining in on fellowship events, we will feel lost in a complex world.  You must always re-apply those things that help you understand faith more, and how every life situation is not just coincidental, but has possible real meaning that can bring you closer to God.  Don’t just go to church once a week, don’t stop coming to Sunday School, don’t just come to event now and then, or when it fits in with your crazy life schedule.   Do these things as a habit in your life; always re-apply.

Second metaphor is that getting tanned is ok.  Life will leave you with bruises, scrapes, cuts, scars, and burns.  That doesn’t mean that life is meaningless, pointless, or always full of pain and sorrow.  It is true; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  We all carry burdens, but we should never think those burdens mean nothing, or that those burdens are going to always weigh you down.  Those burdens can make you stronger.  Sometimes in life we need to get tanned so that when we really face the heat, we will not be burned by it. 

Now that doesn’t mean that we need to go out looking for trouble!  Well, we really shouldn’t because sometimes trouble is just looking for us anyways.  We don’t have perfect lives, but we should think that in those moment of imperfection will help us in the future during another stressful time.  Getting a tan can offer protection for the future. 

So, remember, re-apply, and don’t sweat the scrapes and burdens in life.  And it is possible that through re-applying knowledge of the Bible, companionship with fellow congregation members, and Sunday worship, will help you not get burned, but just give you a nice tanning, so that future stressful situations will feel less traumatic.  God bless you all, I gotta get more aloe, it’s killing me sitting in this office chair.