No Hall of Fame: Finding Water in a Thirsty World

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Imagine the Texas hill country—rolling hills, mesquite trees, and white-tailed deer in the background, a hunter’s dream during deer season. I used to visit a place like this with my dad: a log cabin tucked between two mountain ridges, reached by a rocky road that only a horse or jeep could navigate. Below the cabin, a converted mobile home housed hunters who leased it each season, all hoping for a successful hunt. The property, a mile or two from the main farm roads, relied on water from a spring at the base of the mountain. The water was siphoned off a dripping spring of the side of the mountain into a round stock tank, filtered, and then piped into the cabin and mobile home—clear, fresh, and abundant, just as nature intended. I remember showering and the challenge of making soapy bubbles with my wash rag because of the hard water. But what if that spring ran dry? No water, no showers, nothing. So, when our springs run dry in life, what do we do? Keep searching for a new spring and a source of strength.

Sometimes I think about where others get their strength. How do they muster the will to face daily challenges, bills, work, family, health, and the unpredictable world around them? I grapple with these questions myself, especially as I grow older. I’m grateful for my faith, which helps steady my mind and heart, even as life becomes more complicated. Yet, I wonder how those without faith cope. On the surface, many seem to manage well, but as a disciple striving to follow my path, I still struggle. My faith sustains me, but as Johnson (1971, p. 8) notes in his commentary on Job, no one is immune to pain, no one is vaccinated against experiencing adversity and hurt. So how do we deal with what hurts us?

I’m not talking about everyday mishaps like hitting your thumb with a hammer, twisting your ankle on a run, or stubbing your toe on the edge of your couch. Instead, I’m asking: how do we handle the deeper hurts that simply come with being human? Hurt is part of our existence, so how do we truly deal with it? If experience qualifies us to speak about pain, then everyone is an expert. We have all faced hurt and adversity; none of us is immune. I certainly don’t claim special wisdom; I wrestle with it like anyone else, but find solace in writing about it.

As a clinician, I am conversant, acquainted with, and no stranger to pain. Pain is always subjective; it depends on each person’s life situation, perception, and health (Emanuel, 2018, p. 52). For example, patients with terminal illnesses like cancer report both physical and psychological pain. Physical symptoms can include indigestion, nausea, and vomiting. Emotional pain may involve anxiety about their condition and depressive thoughts about living with illness. We see this with patients at times who have heart conditions as well.

Reflecting on this, I remember times in my life when I was overwhelmed by personal challenges—losing a parent, facing home foreclosure, navigating career changes, and managing complex family dynamics, along with the everyday realities of marriage and parenting. While these struggles may not compare to the severity of a life-threatening illness or heart attack, they still create real, painful experiences both physically and emotionally. Life’s adversity affects us all, even beyond major medical crises. My faith and conscious efforts to focus on gratitude help me find moments of peace and resilience.  From another perspective, Rathmell & Fields (2018, p. 65) clarify that pain is both a physical feeling and a behavioral response. We all know this to be true, no matter our personal experiences.

We can all relate to Job. I don’t believe God has called me to be what Morris A. Inch (1979, p. 29) describes in his commentary on Job as a “spiritually significant” person of influence—someone whose life is recorded alongside the great fathers of faith or whose name appears in a spiritual “hall of fame.” I won’t be remembered like Thomas Aquinas or C.S. Lewis, or as someone who led multitudes to faith. But I’m convinced there are countless Christians like me—living quietly, mostly unknown to others, but deeply known by God. Our relationship with Him is built through prayer, scripture, daily connection, our communities of faith, and our associations with our individual FBOs (faith-based organizations). Each of us carries His Spirit and is used by Him in the ordinary rhythms of life, telling our story not only through words but through how we live—imperfectly, but sincerely.

Drawing from Inch’s insights, I believe spiritual character is forged in the most challenging, bitter, and severe circumstances of life. Inch (1979, p. 29) insists it makes little sense to discuss persons of spiritual significance without first acknowledging the situations and experiences that shape and refine them. As he notes, God could have simply created a perfect, spiritually significant person. Yet, even Jesus—whose spiritual significance is beyond compare—chose not to take advantage of his divine rights, but instead became human and subjected himself to the same adversity, pain, and growth we all experience.

Ultimately, the call is not to avoid hardship, but to embrace it—trusting that adversity can shape us into people of deeper faith, resilience, and compassion. Like Job and Jesus, we are invited to rely more fully on God through our own trials, knowing that such growth is often found in the very midst of life’s challenges.

Together in the struggle,

Brian

References:

Emanuel, E. J. (2018). Palliative and End-of-Life Care.  In J. Larry Jameson & Anthony S. Fauci & Dennis L. Kasper & Stephen L. Hauser & Dan L. Longo & Joseph Loscalzo (20th Eds.,Vol. 1), Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (pp. 47-63). McGraw-Hill Education.

Inch, M. A. (1979). My servant job: A discussion guide on the wisdom of job. Baker Book House. https://archive.org/details/myservantjobdisc0000morr/page/28/mode/2up

Johnson, L. D. (1971). Out of the whirlwind: The major message of job. Broadman Press. https://archive.org/details/outofwhirlwindma0000john/page/8/mode/2up

Rathmell, J. P., & Fields, H. L. (2018). Pain: Pathophysiology and Management.  In J. Larry Jameson & Anthony S. Fauci & Dennis L. Kasper & Stephen L. Hauser & Dan L. Longo & Joseph Loscalzo (20th Eds.,Vol. 1), Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (pp. 65-73). McGraw-Hill Education.