"It seems like yesterday we had the world our way, but some say...we're heading for destruction."
We beg, question, cry, shout. "Oh God, why? Why this ache? Why this disease? Why me? Why him? Why her?" And we hold the Almighty up with these conditions of, "If you will only"...and, "I will do anything you ask..." as if our words could back up the urgency; as if we believe to keep these empty promises!
I'm so thankful that God keeps his.
I will never leave you nor forsake you...I will never give you anything you cannot handle...
(Hebrews 13:5; Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:13; 2 Peter 1:3-4...)
We seem to think that because things are going wrong, and our situations seem so grim is to say that the presence of God is absent.
It's the 21st century, and as bad as our sicknesses may be, at least we're not dying from the common cold, or a fever. We have medicine for that. There is medicine for everything nowadays. And any given person with a hunger for drugs can easily find it on the streets, or by simply claiming to have a tooth ache. We have even created cures for the diseases we have inflected upon ourselves! (Insomnia,...Anxiety,...); as well as "diseases" which were not even known twenty years ago (Restless leg syndrome...etc)
Drugs are our common currency. But we're so dependent on being "cured" from even our illusional ugliness (plastic surgery in most cases), that we've created this deep, painful hole inside our very beings. It seems to grow larger and larger, too.
Death.
And I'm not referring to the unescapable death when our souls are separated from our earthsuits, the one everyone must at some point face. I speak of the more severe form of death, the one I wish no one would ever have to face. Second death.
It's the 21st Century, and what's true for me, isn't true for the five people down the block; Freedom of speech is full of limitations (thus causing me to question where the "freedom" comes in); Toleration is one-sided; morals are as corrupted as the government which decides what is just; equality is emphasized, but as George Orwell once wrote, "All are equal, but some are more equal than others.."; the mention of God by one is the equivilant of murder;...and the worst part? It will only get worse. It has only gotten worse. Look back years ago at the Romans - They had orgies in churches, a few years after that, corruption with the Catholic church, present day...corruption in current churches, false doctrines, a new "Jesus" every day, and people can choose which to follow according to what suits their lifestyle more appropriately. And forgiveness? Forgiveness means a free-pass to life. "I know it's wrong, but since God is forgiving I'll do as I please and ask for forgiveness later..."
What if later never finds you?
When are we going to stop for just a little, for long enough to feel that ache inside of us that tells us there's something terribly wrong?
We want change, but we do nothing for it.
We want change, but we don't want to chage ourselves.
Change begins in individals, it begins with me. It begins with you. It begins with my family, in my home, it begins with my neighborhood...it begins with living like a real Christian.
The problem with Christianity? Christians. Plain and simple.
I myself claimed I was a Christian for the better portion of my life, without once ever daring to live like I was. Last year changed that dramatically, and yet, last year was one of the worst years as far as "circumstances" are concerned.
But I wouldn't change any of it. Not a single painful moment. God used that year to bring me back to him, to teach me lesson after lesson.
And this misconception that when things go wrong it must be because we've done something wrong isn't right either. God doesn't send cancer your way to judge you, he is soverign, and he uses the circumstances to teach you, to stretch you, grow you, prepare you, strengthen you...the trouble comes when we respond thinking that God must either not exist to allow for things to happen, or be a loveless father.
If Salvation is suppose to be "good news", then why are we so shy to spread it? And when we do spread it, we're not spreading it like the graceful, loving people the bible says we should be. We spread it with condemnation, with judgement, even towards each other. Yes, we should speak it with boldnes and with authority, but not with condemnation.
I'm glad I was a skeptic, I'm glad I was a cynic. I can better understand people who are. God uses everything for good, according to his will - NOT ours.
"We’re breaking off our chains to run to You."
Sickness hurts, hard times hurt...
But comfort...comfort can be so deadly.
That's when we begin to slowly think we've got it altogether, that's when we begin to think we're alright. When we forget about the one who places the breath in our lungs.
I was sick the last week, it wasn't fun. But one thing I gained was that I appreciated breath. I couldn't breathe very well, or speak very well because of congestion and a sore throat. And now, every time I breathe I am filled with not only oxygen, but with thankfulness. Every word I speak, I try to make the most of it, I also try to listen... (Keyword: "Try"; I'm not perfect, but I'm thankful for God's grace)
If we are never crippled, when we will have the opportunity to let God carry us?
If we are never broken, how can God ever make us new?
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
- John 16:33
You carried me, my God
You carried me
