Life vs. Fairytale

Once upon a time there was a princess. At her birth she was destined to die. When the day of her forthcoming death arrived, by the cunning of some fairies she did not die, but rather slept for 100 years. When she awoke all evil was passed and she lived happily ever after. The end.

Like Sleeping Beauty, I just want to sleep, to abandon reality, to sleep until all troubles are gone. But such is not a possibility. Life with all its heartaches and trials continues on. In this my comfort rests: God is still on His throne!

“When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.”

This past month and a half or so has in many ways been the most trying month of my life. One thing after another after another after another. I am tired, I want to sleep, I want to go home, I want to depart from reality. But I cannot and I know God is in control.

“He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me,
His faithful follower I would be for by His hand He leadeth me.”

May God continue to work in these various situations to bring about His glory in amazing ways that I can in no wise fathom! May He be glorified in and through it all and may I ever glorify Him even when my heart aches and when I cannot see what possible good could come!

“To God be the glory, great things He hath done!”

May the Lord grant me grace to stand firm and strong. Not to doubt or fail. May He give me the words to say to bring comfort to those hurting more than I.

“I need no other argument, I need no other plea; it is enough that
Jesus died and that He died for me!”

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and your
minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Trying Times

Would that it were possible to escape reality! Unfortunately it is not; God has not designed it so. Of course here I should not say unfortunately because God makes no mistakes... and yet from my limited perspective and at this point in time it surely feels unfortunate.

No matter how far one runs, no matter how one tries to escape, reality ultimately remains the same. And yet I want to run; I want to hide; I want to disappear... I cannot even begin to tell you how much I want to go home... and how good grad school begins to look (because it is far away from here). Yet regardless of whether I stay or go, reality remains the same; the circumstance from which I would be running remains the same... there is no escape. Jonah tried to escape, to run from reality... he succeeded, but only for three days (in most uncomfortable conditions) and he had to face reality once again. In the end there is truly no escape.

My heart is breaking (but before you all jump to conclusions and think that I had a boyfriend or an almost boyfriend or anything like that you are way off-base); my soul is burdened and heavy; tears flow freely. I am confused and disheartened. I want to go home... to flee... to escape...

Yet in the Lord remains my trust and my hope. He is my stronghold and my fortress. I will cling to Him and face what He has called me to face. I will turn over my trials, my concerns, my fears, my dreads, and my tears to Him in prayer. I will trust in His sovereignty and in His perfect plan. I will trust that He knows best even though I don't see how. I will choose to rely on Him and His wisdom even though I do not understand.

P.S. Please don't ask; I am not going to tell, not now anyway, maybe never. Just pray; God will understand. Thanks.

When All Else Is Gone...

Have you ever noticed that simple concepts though often well-known and even thoroughly discussed and examined from every angle possible, are often thoroughly ignored? At least in practice?

Hebrews 13:5-6

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." So that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

I was reading this passage the other day and one of these simple yet profound concepts suddenly stood out to me.

The book of Hebrews is a wonderful book and even though the author of the book is unknown, we can rest assured that it is God's Word and as such is true and trustworthy. In this passage the author first states a command, "let your conversation be without covetousness." Depending on which version of the Bible you are using, you will find words such as "life" and "character" and "conduct" in place of "conversation;" the author is refering not just to our speech (though our speech is a major part of it) but our entire life and lifestyle. Even our character (character can be defined as who we are and what we do/think when no one else is watching).

The author then states another command "and be content with such things as ye have." This command is quite simple, "be content" yet it is so often very difficult to carry out. This command is not conditional upon what we have, it is not conditional upon what our neighbors have, it is not conditional upon what we don't have. Most people have so much more than they could ever need and yet how often we are discontent with what they have because they do not have the latest version or model, or because it is too big or too small or not mobile enough, not new enough, not old enough, not fancy enough or not plain enough.

But then comes the profound part; why are we to be content? Why are we not to be covetous? Because God has promised that He will always be with us; He will never leave us nor will He forsake us!!! Because of this I am to be content: Jesus is all I ever need. He is the completion of life! Because of this promise we can then say that the Lord is our helper and we do not have to fear men and whatever they may do to us. Mocking, being made fun of, torture, death, being ignored, being overlooked for job promotions, whatever it may be I do not have to fear for God is with me; whatever the cost I must be content, not looking to what other people have and being incontent; whatever the cost it is worth it for I have Christ! Without Christ life is hopeless and meaningless; with Christ it has all the meaning in the world and there is hope for the future.

The question is, when all else is gone is Christ enough? Everything else will fade away, is Christ enough? When I don't get what I want, is Christ enough? When I pay a price for my faith, is Christ enough? Is all else, occupation, things, food, even family secondary to Christ?

The answer to all of these questions is emphatically "YES!!!"

The real question then is, "Do I truly live that way?" The answer to that question is difficult; unfortunately I cannot say that I always do.

Do you truly live that way? In contentment, recognizing that Christ is all that truly matters; when all else is gone, is Christ enough?