Life's Journey continues and boy oh boy is it full of "curve balls"! I continue to learn how to allow God to take the bat in every circumstance of life, but it isn't that easy. If you are like me, you have preconceived ideas of how to right a problem, find a solution or the steps it will take to make things o.k. again. It is not often I want to just sit back and roll with the punches. No, not me! I must find the answers, search for the solutions and take some control of the situation. If you are truly honest with yourself, I bet there a few of you out there who can relate to what I am saying.
We are the "doers", the ones who get into the game and strive to win at all costs. We do not want to just sit at the sidelines as a spectator. Most of us want to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. We are the ones asked to join the team. We do not sit idle as we see the curve balls of life pass on by. Instead, we are determined to catch the curve ball no matter how difficult it is to catch. We do not easily give up, but welcome the challenge.
We are the ones that have experienced success in finding solutions, whether others notice or not. If by chance someone does notice, it is like a bonus win that cheers you on to do it again. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward to find the answers, the solutions and to never give up.
Personally, I think God loves cheering us on to never give up, to face the trials of this life and to meet each challenge with open arms. Yet, I also believe that there comes a time in life we must surrender and take a backseat. We must face the fact that we do not have all the answers and that sometimes in this life there isn't a solution. We must admit that we are merely human. It is time to let God be the solution, to let Him be the hero and allow Him to bring victory.
During these past years, this is exactly what God is teaching me. He has allowed me to strike out, to miss catching the curve balls of life and to finally realize in my human weakness He is made strong. We all know life is not a game, but we often live it as one. We view the problems and trials of this life as the curve balls of life. We allow ourselves to believe that if we only try harder and keep practicing that we can win over any life's challenge. We don't stop to listen to God still small voice saying, "You don't have to go it alone. You do not need to have all the answers. You can rest in my strength and let me grant the victory."
I am no exception, for as each curve ball has headed my way, I have stretched out my arm with mitt in hand, determined to catch that curve ball and stop it dead in its tracks - never to affect my life again. Other times I have readied myself with a solid bat, determined to hit each ball out of the park. But to my surprise as I looked up to deal with the first curve ball, there before my very eyes was a second curve ball and then a third, a fourth and even a fifth! Soon it looked like a hailstorm of curve balls and my mitt and bat became the only shield to block each balls blow to my head.
Fear over whelmed me as I questioned how I could have the strength to continue to block each curve ball from their blow. No longer was I thinking how to catch them or hit them out of the park as they rocket down from the sky like an intense meteor shower. I felt this was the end. I could see no hope in sight. I had no answers, no solutions or strength to continue at such a pace. I had to look beyond myself and ask for help. I had to reach out to other believers and lend on them for strength, for encouragement and to borrow their hope. I had to say to God, "Here I am, I must trust in you to met my needs, to help me survive this storm."
It was time for me to surrender my mitt and hand over my bat. It was time for me to sit on the side lines, to rest in my saviors arms and let Him have control...trusting fully in Him for the outcome no matter what it may be...To know He does work all things for good for those whom love Him whether or not the storm continues for a time or stops to shine forth a ray of light.
My storm is not yet over, there are more dark clouds ahead as the curve balls continue to fall. Yet, I will not give up, but I also know my in my weakness He is made strong. He will protect me, grant me hope and bring the victory. I must know with Him there are answers and solution, but I must patiently wait, for His timing is perfect. He knows how many curve balls I can handle. He knows that each one serves a purpose and will bring blessing for all those who wait.
So as I sit here with all my bumps and bruises of lessons learned, I patiently wait...God is my strength, my victor and I will hide myself in the shelter of His wings. I will not be afraid of the curve balls ahead, I will not go it alone, but trust in each moment of life God has given me...to count my blessings and to rest in Him, trusting that He has the answers. God is on my side. He is the captain of my team. He has victory over every storm. Aaaah, peace be still...catch some joy and let the curve balls reign for I will not fear...I am journeying on!
Showing posts with label strength. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strength. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Here's the Bat
When life throws us a curve ball it feels impossible to hit it or to even make it to first base, let alone to make a home run. We all want to succeed in life. We want to be ready for the curve balls in life. We want to win.
God has given me plenty of new opportunities to trust Him. There have been many times to practice hitting the curve balls of life. I wish I could say that I have always succeeded, but I have missed the ball and struck out many times. I wish I could say I consistently and fully trusted God each step of the way, but I haven't - I have missed the mark. The fact is, I had to learn it is because I was relying upon myself and not pulling my full trust in God. I was pushing away all those He sent to help me. They were sent as a part of the body of Christ to bless me but, I wanted to prove I was strong and I could win on my own. I didn't allow others to help me and be the hands and feet of Christ.
But the fact is, I have been scared, uncertain, and at times, very anxious. I knew many times I could not do it on my own. I knew I needed to trust God with health, healing, finances, my well-being, my relationships and the everyday journey of life. But I had much to learn. I had to strike out many times before this stubborn brain of mine would stop and listen to reason. Interestingly enough, all along the way, God has been faithful, as He patiently waited for me to acknowledge His present and keep on asking His help. Yes, although, I took life into my own hands, He remained trustworthy and ready to step in to assist me. He journeyed beside me even when I did not acknowledge Him.
It is humbling to realize you are in need of help and to have the full realization that you are not strong enough to make it on your own. You get discouraged when answers do not come quickly. Other times you wonder if God is even listening to your plead. Yet, His truth reigns, "...for in our weakness He is made strong." He is faithful and desires to answer our prayers. The question is, am I willing to to place my life in His hands, to give Him the bat, to take full control once I place make my need known? Can I trust fully in Him. Is He really cheering for me to win? Can I believe His word? Will He truly answer my prayer? Is He really listening?
Amazingly enough, God is a God of integrity. He does not lie. He is the Promiser who keeps His promises! It matters not how long you try it on your own, He is always there ready and waiting for you to stop and acknowledge Him and simply ask for His help. He as our heavenly Father wants to provide our needs. He wants us to feel and know His great love. He is a God of infinite strength. His ability to pass all abilities. There is none like Him. He is the Creator of the universe and rules over all, yet He allows us to choose. We can choose not to ask for His help in our lives. We can ignore His Word and the words He gave us to encourage our heart. He communicates through His Word and in His still small voice if we only stop to listen. He is faithful in all He does. He WILL answer our prayers in His time. However, why is it so hard for us to believe these truths? In our humanness we linger our suffering by choosing to ignore the fact God is right there waiting to lean a hand. It must hurt Him to see us suffer needlessly. I can hear Him say, "My child, I am here for you...just reach out and I will help you...just ask me...My child I am here, I will wait, I will remain here for as long as it takes...I love you."
So as life journeys on, I strive to hear God still small voice, to remember He is here to help me if only I call upon Him. I must ask for His help and let my needs be known. Still, I am learning to trust Him and let Him take control...for I may not be able to see what is coming at me in life, but I know I have a faithful, capable and trustworthy team leader. One who has a keen eye, a steady hand and knows all the angles. I can trust Him know matter what lies ahead. He WILL answer in due time, so I cannot give up! As His word says, "Ask and it will be given to you!"
As I seek to continue this journey in life, there will be plenty of opportunities to trust God anew. So what about you? Can you take that chance to place your life in the hands of God? Can you trust Him to know the next move? Are you willing to ask Him for your needs and not give up?
Though I don't know fully the plans that God has for me, I am learning to step out in faith. For He does know the plan and I can TRUST HIM every plan of my life. For He has said, "For I know the plans I have for you," declare the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
So for now, I ask God to join the team, teach me the swing of the bat to trust His keen eye and know His heart is alway cheering for me. He will answer my prayers and guide my life. Can you let yourself hear His cheers? Will you give Him the bat? Come on, I know you can do it...TOGETHER, with God we will WIN the game, for in Christ we are victorious throughout eternity! OK, I am asking...I am ready - Here is the bat God, I am ready to never give up! Let's play ball!
God has given me plenty of new opportunities to trust Him. There have been many times to practice hitting the curve balls of life. I wish I could say that I have always succeeded, but I have missed the ball and struck out many times. I wish I could say I consistently and fully trusted God each step of the way, but I haven't - I have missed the mark. The fact is, I had to learn it is because I was relying upon myself and not pulling my full trust in God. I was pushing away all those He sent to help me. They were sent as a part of the body of Christ to bless me but, I wanted to prove I was strong and I could win on my own. I didn't allow others to help me and be the hands and feet of Christ.
But the fact is, I have been scared, uncertain, and at times, very anxious. I knew many times I could not do it on my own. I knew I needed to trust God with health, healing, finances, my well-being, my relationships and the everyday journey of life. But I had much to learn. I had to strike out many times before this stubborn brain of mine would stop and listen to reason. Interestingly enough, all along the way, God has been faithful, as He patiently waited for me to acknowledge His present and keep on asking His help. Yes, although, I took life into my own hands, He remained trustworthy and ready to step in to assist me. He journeyed beside me even when I did not acknowledge Him.
It is humbling to realize you are in need of help and to have the full realization that you are not strong enough to make it on your own. You get discouraged when answers do not come quickly. Other times you wonder if God is even listening to your plead. Yet, His truth reigns, "...for in our weakness He is made strong." He is faithful and desires to answer our prayers. The question is, am I willing to to place my life in His hands, to give Him the bat, to take full control once I place make my need known? Can I trust fully in Him. Is He really cheering for me to win? Can I believe His word? Will He truly answer my prayer? Is He really listening?
Amazingly enough, God is a God of integrity. He does not lie. He is the Promiser who keeps His promises! It matters not how long you try it on your own, He is always there ready and waiting for you to stop and acknowledge Him and simply ask for His help. He as our heavenly Father wants to provide our needs. He wants us to feel and know His great love. He is a God of infinite strength. His ability to pass all abilities. There is none like Him. He is the Creator of the universe and rules over all, yet He allows us to choose. We can choose not to ask for His help in our lives. We can ignore His Word and the words He gave us to encourage our heart. He communicates through His Word and in His still small voice if we only stop to listen. He is faithful in all He does. He WILL answer our prayers in His time. However, why is it so hard for us to believe these truths? In our humanness we linger our suffering by choosing to ignore the fact God is right there waiting to lean a hand. It must hurt Him to see us suffer needlessly. I can hear Him say, "My child, I am here for you...just reach out and I will help you...just ask me...My child I am here, I will wait, I will remain here for as long as it takes...I love you."
So as life journeys on, I strive to hear God still small voice, to remember He is here to help me if only I call upon Him. I must ask for His help and let my needs be known. Still, I am learning to trust Him and let Him take control...for I may not be able to see what is coming at me in life, but I know I have a faithful, capable and trustworthy team leader. One who has a keen eye, a steady hand and knows all the angles. I can trust Him know matter what lies ahead. He WILL answer in due time, so I cannot give up! As His word says, "Ask and it will be given to you!"
As I seek to continue this journey in life, there will be plenty of opportunities to trust God anew. So what about you? Can you take that chance to place your life in the hands of God? Can you trust Him to know the next move? Are you willing to ask Him for your needs and not give up?
Though I don't know fully the plans that God has for me, I am learning to step out in faith. For He does know the plan and I can TRUST HIM every plan of my life. For He has said, "For I know the plans I have for you," declare the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
So for now, I ask God to join the team, teach me the swing of the bat to trust His keen eye and know His heart is alway cheering for me. He will answer my prayers and guide my life. Can you let yourself hear His cheers? Will you give Him the bat? Come on, I know you can do it...TOGETHER, with God we will WIN the game, for in Christ we are victorious throughout eternity! OK, I am asking...I am ready - Here is the bat God, I am ready to never give up! Let's play ball!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
So Much in Life Leaves Us Wondering...
There is so much in life that can leave us wondering. There is so much pain in life, so many injustices and so many situations that leave us questioning, is there really a God? How can a God of love let all of this go on? If He loves me why do I hurt so much? Why do I see so many suffer? Yes, it all leaves us wondering...especially in this economic situation that is bringing about more suffering for so many.
There is no getting around the fact everyone suffers, some more than others. But "why" is a good question. In fact, "why" is one of the most important questions a person can ever ask in their life. Most of us question "why" when we are in the face of extreme hardship or constant pain. In response a college professor wrote in his book: "Our questioning is not really from a desire to know the particular meaning of the particular event. More importantly, it is from a desire to be assured that it has any meaning at all." In other words, does my suffering serve some purpose? Is there meaning behind it? Or rather is it pointless and arbitrary? Is it simply another random occurrence in this mixed up hurting world? Bottom line does suffering serve a real purpose?
According to one cultural view of "Why do pain and suffering exist?" It has been estimated that more than 300 million people adhere to Buddhism, embracing what they describe as The Four Noble Truths:
1. All is suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by desire/attachment.
3. If one can eliminate desire/attachment, one can eliminate suffering.
4. The Noble Eight-Fold Path can eliminate desire.
The proper Buddhist response to suffering is to attempt to eliminate desire by pursuing The Noble Eight-Fold Path: right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Hence, if one can control his own mind and behavior, circumstances need not change in order for the individual to overcome suffering.
Please understand, I am not a Buddhist but I certainly understand their logic. So hang in there with me to see where I am going with this thought. The Path, it seems, was designed with the intention of eliminating the emotions related to desire and those ignited by detachment from the object of desire. As for me, I have often been encouraged by fellow Christians to follow a similar path with statements of their guidance such as:
"You shouldn't feel that way, we are all called to suffer."
"Don't be angry, you are letting the situation get the best of you."
"Just let it go. God will take care of it!"
The fact is Christians are not perfect. Sometimes they say things that are roadblocks to our healing. God in His Word does tell us we can renew our minds, (...and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ( Ephesians 4:22-24) for He has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:6-8) He says, :" When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. (Psalm 94:18-20)
For all of us, whether Christian or not our mind gets the best of us. It can control much of our emotions and the outcomes in our life. As a Christian, we can lean on Christ and trust in His Words to give us strength and encouragement. This gives us more strength, an outlet; something to lean on in hard times.
It is a fact, we can allow our emotions to get the best of us in hard situations, (even if we are Christians) and as a result, we sink into despair and often feel stuck in our situation with no way out. It happened to many in God's word as they doubted in their circumstances, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper..."(Romans 1:27-29) They allow the things of this world trap them. The stress discouraged their hearts and minds and they shut God out of their lives. As a result, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." (Romans 8:4-6) "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:5-7)
God does have purpose in our sufferings. Thus, He wants us to renew our minds. So we will continually look to Him. He encourages us by saying, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." God promises, "...and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him..."(Colossians 3:9-11) The fact is, you see, God will use our sufferings as we renew our minds to help others. For as we have been comforted us ourselves; we will then be able to comfort others through the knowledge God has given us.
Yet, as humans we will continue to ask "why" whether we are comforted or not. Even in our renewed mind, we will want answers. It is just human nature. We want to understand. The word says, "The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." (Proverbs 18:14-16) "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;" (Proverbs 22:16-18)
However, God reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways not our ways. In our humanness, we cannot understand fully why God allows the things He does. Have you ever stopped to think, if we did understand "all" we would become God ourselves.
God does want us to question and to cry out to Him, especially in our time of need. He wants to know our hearts and all the emotions we carry inside. In crying out to Him we learn to trust and let go of what is troubling us inside. Just look at David in the Psalms, he didn't hold back. He spilled his guts out to God. In turn, God placed praise and thankfulness upon his heart. Holding “it” in, gets us nowhere, yet dwelling on “it” gets us stuck!
We can choose to dwell on the negatives of our life or on the hurts of the lives of others, but how will that help us in the long run? Even the Bible speaks to this, "All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt." (Ecclesiastes 8:8-10) We can seek revenge for the hurt we have encountered or try to find a way to make things right in our own eyes, but in the long run we will not find peace. The fact is, unless we fully set our mind on God; to rest in Him and trust Him with everything in our lives we will never have true peace.
God promises, "I will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on me, because he trusts in God."(Isaiah 26:2-4) "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-8) This is not an easy task. It takes practice. It is like the story a dear elderly friend once told me. She said, "Honey, when we turn things over to God and not worry we fully let go. You see, it is like writing a letter to God expressing all that is on our heart and mind, then we fold it, put it in an envelope, seal and stamp, but then when we take it to the mailbox we must let go. If we hang on to even one corner it will NEVER get mailed. When it doesn't get mailed we take the burden back and worry surrounds us." So I ask, are we letting go and letting God?
The Word says, "But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31) Often when I am overwhelmed with worry or overcome with the stresses of this life I feel weary. I do not have the strength or motivation for the tasks at hand each day. I may find myself continuing to question God. I may even begin doubting Him and feel He is not hearing me. But God promises to be our strength in the time of need. He says He knows our need before we even ask. All we need to do it to call out to Him. He promises to hear our call. He wants to demonstrate love to His child...we are all His children and He loves us more than we can comprehend.
We are not alone in our wonderings. We are not alone in our "whys" for even in God's word we find those who questioned. In Jeremiah 12 It asks, "Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?" You see, when we get stuck in the "whys" and allow worry and depression to overtake our mind we cannot bare good fruit. We feel stuck, as if we are frozen in our situation. At that time, it is difficult for us to put any good into action. God says, "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." (Jeremiah 17:9-11) Amazingly, we will find if we push ourselves outside of our situation and take action to believe God's Word, we begin to “do good” and in doing good we begin to feel better inside. It is quite the principal God has set up, give it a try; it is life changing, but it doesn't mean we will never struggle again.
The fact is many of us have struggled more than we care to recall. We may have searched for answers in this world. We may have trusted God at times, while other times we floundered. It is during these hard circumstances God wants us to remember the times He has pulled us through. He wants to encourage our hearts and give us hope. It is at these times, we must push our mind to recall what is good and to remember what God has done for us. "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope." (Lamentations 3:20-22)
The evil one however, knows our minds can be weak. In fact, he knows our every weakness and so that is the place he will attack. In our humanness, we may not at first recognize that is what is happening, but with practice we can learn to protect our minds. God's Word tells us to call Satan on his lies and demand he leave us alone! "... “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:22-24)
You must know the evil one will not give up easily. He will continue his attack to try to get us to wear down, especially when times are tough. Satan doesn't want us to trust God for all our needs and rest in Him for the answers to every situation. The evil one wants us to doubt God and not believe His word, especially when finances are tight and everything seems to be going wrong. But God tells us, “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind." (Luke 12:28-30) It is true, at these times it can be so hard to put our trust in Him and not feel anxious, especially when troubles are mounting!
He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?" (Luke 24:37-39) It is so human to be troubled and to let the evil one attack our minds. He wants us to fail, to doubt and to suffer. I encourage you to look up to Christ; lean on Him in these times. Don't be like the verse of unbelievers, "They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand." (Isaiah 44:17-19) Don't allow yourself to fall into that trap. Don't allow the evil one to win! And for goodness sake, don't down yourself when this happens; instead see it for what it is or the evil one will gloat in your face. Work to renew your mind and lean on God. Ask for His help. Call out to Him and He will hear your cry. It is time to give the evil one a "kick in the butt" and don't fall into the trap of his schemes. God will work all what Satan has meant for bad and change it for good. He will use these trials to strengthen us and build strong character in us so we can use it for good.
So again, I encourage each of us to look to God. For it is He who will give us comfort and lead us to understanding. He doesn't promise we will understand everything on this earth, but He will give us peace. We can be sure His Word will comfort us and help us through the hard times. God tells us, "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." (Colossians 3:1-3)
As I stated before, we can't begin to understand the things of this earth. In our humanness, we can't fully know the "whys" of our circumstances, but we can have the assurance that God is here for us every step of the way. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Luke 24:44-46) He has promised, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid." (John 14:26-28) Oh that we might know such peace! He tells us if we seek it we shall find it.
You may ask, how can we know such peace? How can we make it through these difficult times? What can we hang on to in this world? The fact is, this world shall pass away and material things will someday have no value, but what is in the heart will remain. God word tells us, "Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:36-38)
"And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment."
(Mark 12:29-31)
"So he answered and said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:26-28)
So you see, to have true peace we must humble ourselves and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. At that point we can begin to learn what it means to love Him with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind and as a result we will have perfect peace.
But it doesn’t stop there, once we are in Christ, God provides us extra help to make it through the rough times. He tells us that His Spirit intercedes for us. "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."(Romans 8:26-28) So at that point, we will find we are a new creation, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." God will direct our paths and help transform our minds. He will help us find the blessing in each day, even when everything seems bleak. He will encourage our hearts. He will help us see more clearly and become all we can become in spite of our questionings, in spite of our wonderings and in spite of our doubts.
For as His children, "...as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—these things God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:8-10) You see, we may wonder and question all sorts of things in this life. As humans, we will continue to ask "why" and have our doubts. But yet we can be encouraged because there is hope! There is an answer to all this suffering in this world. All we have to do is believe!
For it is true those in this world will disappoint us and let us down. They will hurt us and discourage us, even while circumstances will weigh upon us and leave us with no hope. There will be little peace and rest for our souls. But remember, God is always with us cheering us on. He calls each of us to be encouragers too. He calls us to love one another through the good and bad times. So “brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind; live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:10-12)
“Finally, may all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; “ (1 Peter 3:7-9) Encourage one another in these hard times. Share the message of hope. Lift one another up. For "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:1-3) For He has overcome the world! He is our hope! He is our strength! It is in our weakness He is made strong; thus it is then He holds us up and carries us. So rest in Him and have peace for today and all your tomorrows, for someday, we will have all the answers to all our "whys" and our wonderings.
There is no getting around the fact everyone suffers, some more than others. But "why" is a good question. In fact, "why" is one of the most important questions a person can ever ask in their life. Most of us question "why" when we are in the face of extreme hardship or constant pain. In response a college professor wrote in his book: "Our questioning is not really from a desire to know the particular meaning of the particular event. More importantly, it is from a desire to be assured that it has any meaning at all." In other words, does my suffering serve some purpose? Is there meaning behind it? Or rather is it pointless and arbitrary? Is it simply another random occurrence in this mixed up hurting world? Bottom line does suffering serve a real purpose?
According to one cultural view of "Why do pain and suffering exist?" It has been estimated that more than 300 million people adhere to Buddhism, embracing what they describe as The Four Noble Truths:
1. All is suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by desire/attachment.
3. If one can eliminate desire/attachment, one can eliminate suffering.
4. The Noble Eight-Fold Path can eliminate desire.
The proper Buddhist response to suffering is to attempt to eliminate desire by pursuing The Noble Eight-Fold Path: right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Hence, if one can control his own mind and behavior, circumstances need not change in order for the individual to overcome suffering.
Please understand, I am not a Buddhist but I certainly understand their logic. So hang in there with me to see where I am going with this thought. The Path, it seems, was designed with the intention of eliminating the emotions related to desire and those ignited by detachment from the object of desire. As for me, I have often been encouraged by fellow Christians to follow a similar path with statements of their guidance such as:
"You shouldn't feel that way, we are all called to suffer."
"Don't be angry, you are letting the situation get the best of you."
"Just let it go. God will take care of it!"
The fact is Christians are not perfect. Sometimes they say things that are roadblocks to our healing. God in His Word does tell us we can renew our minds, (...and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ( Ephesians 4:22-24) for He has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:6-8) He says, :" When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. (Psalm 94:18-20)
For all of us, whether Christian or not our mind gets the best of us. It can control much of our emotions and the outcomes in our life. As a Christian, we can lean on Christ and trust in His Words to give us strength and encouragement. This gives us more strength, an outlet; something to lean on in hard times.
It is a fact, we can allow our emotions to get the best of us in hard situations, (even if we are Christians) and as a result, we sink into despair and often feel stuck in our situation with no way out. It happened to many in God's word as they doubted in their circumstances, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper..."(Romans 1:27-29) They allow the things of this world trap them. The stress discouraged their hearts and minds and they shut God out of their lives. As a result, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." (Romans 8:4-6) "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:5-7)
God does have purpose in our sufferings. Thus, He wants us to renew our minds. So we will continually look to Him. He encourages us by saying, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." God promises, "...and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him..."(Colossians 3:9-11) The fact is, you see, God will use our sufferings as we renew our minds to help others. For as we have been comforted us ourselves; we will then be able to comfort others through the knowledge God has given us.
Yet, as humans we will continue to ask "why" whether we are comforted or not. Even in our renewed mind, we will want answers. It is just human nature. We want to understand. The word says, "The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." (Proverbs 18:14-16) "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;" (Proverbs 22:16-18)
However, God reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways not our ways. In our humanness, we cannot understand fully why God allows the things He does. Have you ever stopped to think, if we did understand "all" we would become God ourselves.
God does want us to question and to cry out to Him, especially in our time of need. He wants to know our hearts and all the emotions we carry inside. In crying out to Him we learn to trust and let go of what is troubling us inside. Just look at David in the Psalms, he didn't hold back. He spilled his guts out to God. In turn, God placed praise and thankfulness upon his heart. Holding “it” in, gets us nowhere, yet dwelling on “it” gets us stuck!
We can choose to dwell on the negatives of our life or on the hurts of the lives of others, but how will that help us in the long run? Even the Bible speaks to this, "All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt." (Ecclesiastes 8:8-10) We can seek revenge for the hurt we have encountered or try to find a way to make things right in our own eyes, but in the long run we will not find peace. The fact is, unless we fully set our mind on God; to rest in Him and trust Him with everything in our lives we will never have true peace.
God promises, "I will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on me, because he trusts in God."(Isaiah 26:2-4) "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-8) This is not an easy task. It takes practice. It is like the story a dear elderly friend once told me. She said, "Honey, when we turn things over to God and not worry we fully let go. You see, it is like writing a letter to God expressing all that is on our heart and mind, then we fold it, put it in an envelope, seal and stamp, but then when we take it to the mailbox we must let go. If we hang on to even one corner it will NEVER get mailed. When it doesn't get mailed we take the burden back and worry surrounds us." So I ask, are we letting go and letting God?
The Word says, "But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31) Often when I am overwhelmed with worry or overcome with the stresses of this life I feel weary. I do not have the strength or motivation for the tasks at hand each day. I may find myself continuing to question God. I may even begin doubting Him and feel He is not hearing me. But God promises to be our strength in the time of need. He says He knows our need before we even ask. All we need to do it to call out to Him. He promises to hear our call. He wants to demonstrate love to His child...we are all His children and He loves us more than we can comprehend.
We are not alone in our wonderings. We are not alone in our "whys" for even in God's word we find those who questioned. In Jeremiah 12 It asks, "Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?" You see, when we get stuck in the "whys" and allow worry and depression to overtake our mind we cannot bare good fruit. We feel stuck, as if we are frozen in our situation. At that time, it is difficult for us to put any good into action. God says, "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." (Jeremiah 17:9-11) Amazingly, we will find if we push ourselves outside of our situation and take action to believe God's Word, we begin to “do good” and in doing good we begin to feel better inside. It is quite the principal God has set up, give it a try; it is life changing, but it doesn't mean we will never struggle again.
The fact is many of us have struggled more than we care to recall. We may have searched for answers in this world. We may have trusted God at times, while other times we floundered. It is during these hard circumstances God wants us to remember the times He has pulled us through. He wants to encourage our hearts and give us hope. It is at these times, we must push our mind to recall what is good and to remember what God has done for us. "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope." (Lamentations 3:20-22)
The evil one however, knows our minds can be weak. In fact, he knows our every weakness and so that is the place he will attack. In our humanness, we may not at first recognize that is what is happening, but with practice we can learn to protect our minds. God's Word tells us to call Satan on his lies and demand he leave us alone! "... “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:22-24)
You must know the evil one will not give up easily. He will continue his attack to try to get us to wear down, especially when times are tough. Satan doesn't want us to trust God for all our needs and rest in Him for the answers to every situation. The evil one wants us to doubt God and not believe His word, especially when finances are tight and everything seems to be going wrong. But God tells us, “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind." (Luke 12:28-30) It is true, at these times it can be so hard to put our trust in Him and not feel anxious, especially when troubles are mounting!
He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?" (Luke 24:37-39) It is so human to be troubled and to let the evil one attack our minds. He wants us to fail, to doubt and to suffer. I encourage you to look up to Christ; lean on Him in these times. Don't be like the verse of unbelievers, "They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand." (Isaiah 44:17-19) Don't allow yourself to fall into that trap. Don't allow the evil one to win! And for goodness sake, don't down yourself when this happens; instead see it for what it is or the evil one will gloat in your face. Work to renew your mind and lean on God. Ask for His help. Call out to Him and He will hear your cry. It is time to give the evil one a "kick in the butt" and don't fall into the trap of his schemes. God will work all what Satan has meant for bad and change it for good. He will use these trials to strengthen us and build strong character in us so we can use it for good.
So again, I encourage each of us to look to God. For it is He who will give us comfort and lead us to understanding. He doesn't promise we will understand everything on this earth, but He will give us peace. We can be sure His Word will comfort us and help us through the hard times. God tells us, "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." (Colossians 3:1-3)
As I stated before, we can't begin to understand the things of this earth. In our humanness, we can't fully know the "whys" of our circumstances, but we can have the assurance that God is here for us every step of the way. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Luke 24:44-46) He has promised, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid." (John 14:26-28) Oh that we might know such peace! He tells us if we seek it we shall find it.
You may ask, how can we know such peace? How can we make it through these difficult times? What can we hang on to in this world? The fact is, this world shall pass away and material things will someday have no value, but what is in the heart will remain. God word tells us, "Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:36-38)
"And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment."
(Mark 12:29-31)
"So he answered and said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:26-28)
So you see, to have true peace we must humble ourselves and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. At that point we can begin to learn what it means to love Him with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind and as a result we will have perfect peace.
But it doesn’t stop there, once we are in Christ, God provides us extra help to make it through the rough times. He tells us that His Spirit intercedes for us. "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."(Romans 8:26-28) So at that point, we will find we are a new creation, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." God will direct our paths and help transform our minds. He will help us find the blessing in each day, even when everything seems bleak. He will encourage our hearts. He will help us see more clearly and become all we can become in spite of our questionings, in spite of our wonderings and in spite of our doubts.
For as His children, "...as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—these things God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:8-10) You see, we may wonder and question all sorts of things in this life. As humans, we will continue to ask "why" and have our doubts. But yet we can be encouraged because there is hope! There is an answer to all this suffering in this world. All we have to do is believe!
For it is true those in this world will disappoint us and let us down. They will hurt us and discourage us, even while circumstances will weigh upon us and leave us with no hope. There will be little peace and rest for our souls. But remember, God is always with us cheering us on. He calls each of us to be encouragers too. He calls us to love one another through the good and bad times. So “brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind; live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:10-12)
“Finally, may all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; “ (1 Peter 3:7-9) Encourage one another in these hard times. Share the message of hope. Lift one another up. For "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:1-3) For He has overcome the world! He is our hope! He is our strength! It is in our weakness He is made strong; thus it is then He holds us up and carries us. So rest in Him and have peace for today and all your tomorrows, for someday, we will have all the answers to all our "whys" and our wonderings.
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