I have a personal tendency to look on the dark side of things.
I’m not exactly proud of that, but it's just the truth.
Whenever something bad happens, or when something is more difficult than I had anticipated, or I fail at something, I tend to despair and say to myself, "Oh it’s just too hard. I’ll never get it right. It'll never get better.”
Again, I’m not proud of it; it's just the truth. Just trying to be honest with you here.
This is especially frustrating because as a Christian, I know that I should have hope for the future. I should have faith that God will work out all things for my good as Romans 8:28 says. I should remember the promise of Jeremiah 29:11, that the Lord has good plans for me, to give me a hope and a future.
And this is easy to do when the sun is shining, and all is right with the world. Well, it’s easiER.
In more personal terms: It’s easier to do when no one is fighting, and nothing is boiling over on the stove, and a huge mound of dirty laundry isn’t staring me in the face even though I JUST FOLDED AND PUT AWAY LIKE FIVE LOADS!
You’re probably thinking, “WHAT? Is that all your problem is? It THAT what makes you feel despairing? LAUNDRY?! Lady, your life must be easy-peasy!”
And maybe you’re right. But again, I’m being honest. It’s not the big crises that throw me into despair. The big crises are when I can have faith, and pray and know that God always pulls through for me.
I’m not exactly proud of that, but it's just the truth.
Whenever something bad happens, or when something is more difficult than I had anticipated, or I fail at something, I tend to despair and say to myself, "Oh it’s just too hard. I’ll never get it right. It'll never get better.”
Again, I’m not proud of it; it's just the truth. Just trying to be honest with you here.
This is especially frustrating because as a Christian, I know that I should have hope for the future. I should have faith that God will work out all things for my good as Romans 8:28 says. I should remember the promise of Jeremiah 29:11, that the Lord has good plans for me, to give me a hope and a future.
And this is easy to do when the sun is shining, and all is right with the world. Well, it’s easiER.
In more personal terms: It’s easier to do when no one is fighting, and nothing is boiling over on the stove, and a huge mound of dirty laundry isn’t staring me in the face even though I JUST FOLDED AND PUT AWAY LIKE FIVE LOADS!
You’re probably thinking, “WHAT? Is that all your problem is? It THAT what makes you feel despairing? LAUNDRY?! Lady, your life must be easy-peasy!”
And maybe you’re right. But again, I’m being honest. It’s not the big crises that throw me into despair. The big crises are when I can have faith, and pray and know that God always pulls through for me.
It’s the little annoying things that get me down. Like that Francesca Battistelli song, the one where she loses her keys and can‘t find her phone: “This is the stuff that drives me crazy…In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I’m blessed.”
It’s the millionth time a day I’ve broken up a fight over the “good” spot in front of the TV. It’s the we’re-late-let’s-go-walk-out-the-door-why-can’t-you-find your-SHOES?! It’s the broken back window on my car, just when I already had two other unexpected expenses this month.
So that’s when it gets hard for me. Because for me, it’s easier to trust God in the big things that in the small things.
On Sunday I heard an Easter message. The pastor said, “Every time we choose hope over despair, Easter happens again.” At least I think that‘s what she said. It sounded better when she said it. I probably should have written it down.
That phrase really hit me. The “every time” part. It’s not a one-time choice, like the decision to become a Christian. It’s a daily decision.
I thought of Joshua 24:15, “Choose THIS DAY whom you will serve.”
And of Deuteronomy 30:19, “THIS DAY.. I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life!”
So the Bible clearly says you must choose daily. I must make a conscious decision EVERY DAY if I‘m going to serve God or serve myself, if I’m going to hold onto hope or bow down to despair.
And some days I make the right choice…and some days I don’t.
But every day I get a new chance to choose, for His mercies are new every morning.
Every day we all get the chance to say, “THIS DAY I choose life! THIS DAY I choose hope! THIS DAY I choose to serve the Lord!”
It’s the millionth time a day I’ve broken up a fight over the “good” spot in front of the TV. It’s the we’re-late-let’s-go-walk-out-the-door-why-can’t-you-find your-SHOES?! It’s the broken back window on my car, just when I already had two other unexpected expenses this month.
So that’s when it gets hard for me. Because for me, it’s easier to trust God in the big things that in the small things.
On Sunday I heard an Easter message. The pastor said, “Every time we choose hope over despair, Easter happens again.” At least I think that‘s what she said. It sounded better when she said it. I probably should have written it down.
That phrase really hit me. The “every time” part. It’s not a one-time choice, like the decision to become a Christian. It’s a daily decision.
I thought of Joshua 24:15, “Choose THIS DAY whom you will serve.”
And of Deuteronomy 30:19, “THIS DAY.. I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life!”
So the Bible clearly says you must choose daily. I must make a conscious decision EVERY DAY if I‘m going to serve God or serve myself, if I’m going to hold onto hope or bow down to despair.
And some days I make the right choice…and some days I don’t.
But every day I get a new chance to choose, for His mercies are new every morning.
Every day we all get the chance to say, “THIS DAY I choose life! THIS DAY I choose hope! THIS DAY I choose to serve the Lord!”
Above images from the CD's "This is the Stuff" and "Disarming the Darkness"
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