Thank You Sir, May I Have Another? -- The Need for an Attitude Adjustment

When I was in high school, I was in the NJROTC.  For those of you who don’t know, this stands for Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, and is essentially a military based program that allows high school students to experience a taste of what military life would be like.  You can learn how to do military drills, shooting with pellet rifles, and you learn important things like discipline and leadership and working to achieve something.  It’s a great program for any kid, in my opinion, and there’s no obligation for military after high school (as I am obviously not in the military). 

Anyway, one thing that you learn in JROTC is the concept of some sort of punishment when you do something wrong or disrespectful.  The most common form of this is push-ups or other forms of PT (physical training).  If a cadet says something out of turn or says something disrespectful, they might get told to do 5 or 10 push-ups.  This makes the cadet physically stronger, as well as mentally stronger (with the knowledge of how to do what’s right and not what’s wrong) and they can prove that they can endure the punishment.

A common response from a cadet (who isn’t terrified of their commander) is “Thank you sir, may I have another?”  In saying this, the cadet is proving that they can handle the push-ups or whatever they had to do, and even if they didn’t deserve it, they are willing to endure it again if that’s what the commander wants of them.

In my opinion, this should be kind of like what our relationship with God should be like.

Too many people think that once they start a relationship with God, they are never going to have to worry about any kind of trouble or hardships ever again because “God will provide”.  This is untrue.  God absolutely will provide for you, but how He does it may or may not be to your liking at the time.  The difference between believers and non-believers is not that one group faces trials and the other doesn’t; the difference is (or should be) how we deal with those trials.  In many cases, it may be that believers actually get more trials, because God knows we can handle them or that we need them to make us stronger.

When we get trials thrown at us, God is allowing us to go through them because He knows what’s best for us, and he is refining us to make us stronger and more trusting in His protection so that we can rest assured that whatever happens, God’s Will will be done and we needn’t worry about it.

Even those who are spiritual leaders or others that we may consider to be the best among us will be tested with trials.  The Bible says it like this:

“Even gold is tested for genuineness by fire. The purpose of these trials is so that your trust’s genuineness, which is far more valuable than perishable gold, will be judged worthy of praise, glory and honor at the revealing of Yeshua the Messiah.” –1 Peter 1:7

Therefore, we should see the trials that we go through as a great joy.  I know we always hear this in various places like church, but I am of the belief that we actually should.  And I mean not just being fake and telling people that you trust God that He will bring you through it, then complaining about it to every other person who will listen whenever you hit a rough spot.  I mean truly getting down on your knees to thank your Maker for giving you the opportunity to prove your trust and love for Him. 

“Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.” –James1:2-4

We should take up that same attitude of those cadets in JROTC, and when something is thrown in our path or things don’t go the way we planned, we should stand up straight, look it in the eye, take it head on, and say with sincerity; “Thank you Sir, may I have another?”