James 1:2-4

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face various trials, consider it all joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.

Years ago, I lived in the middle of the Oklahoma panhandle, serving a church in the community of Texhoma. Not far from Texhoma was a manmade lake called “Lake Optima.” Optima dam was approved and funded in the early 1930s, but it was not constructed until the 1960s. Built by the Corps of Engineers, its purpose was flood control. It was supposed to spare western Oklahoma farmers from the annual havoc of two rampant streams. The idea was to channel both streams into a lake - Lake Optima -- with the hopes of bringing a huge economic boon to the area.
 
But, between the time it was first planned and the time it was actually constructed, things changed. The flooding streams stopped flooding; in fact, they dried up! Few people in the area could remember the last time one of these streams actually had water in it. And one man said he hadn’t seen water running in the streams in over 40 years. Eventually, a $47 million dam was built, but no lake -- only puddles of water here and there. There are boat ramps, picnic areas, playgrounds; all the niceties of a public lake. Just no water in the lake!

Can you imagine the disappointment felt by people in the panhandle who looked forward to water sports and fishing on that lake, but wound up with only a puddle?
 
We’ve all experienced something like that, in one way or another. Best laid plans go astray. Dreams fail to materialize. People let us down. Relationships go bad. High hopes become just little puddles.
 
It would break us, if we didn’t have our faith to draw on.

Prayer for Reflection

Genesis 28:10-19a
Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43