Numbers 14:2: "All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, If only we had died in Egypt! Or in the desert!"
Job 3:3: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, A boy is born."
Ecclesiastes 1:2: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
Well now, arent you encouraged by the above verses! The reality is that they all cry out of despair. And unfortunately there are times in our Christian walk when we are in that attitude.
Let me read to you something Thomas Merton wrote in Seeds of Contemplation: "Despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a man deliberately turns his back on all help from anyone else in order to taste the rotten luxury of knowing himself to be lost." When it is all boiled down, would we feel in despair just because we have cut ourselves off from the Living Source of Life. We may know we are going to heaven, and we may even in our minds understand that God has a plan for us, but something has disconnected us from the reality of the joy He wants to give.
Meditate On This!
God will never leave you nor forsake you. However, maybe you have left Him, or moved Him down on your list of priorities in life. This is not a guilt trip today, but rather a realization of how you can get out of this mode of desperation. Although much of the New Testament tells us how to live our lives before God, I challenge you today to think about the attributes of God, how good He is, and what He has done in, and for you. Today maybe you have become more inward than looking upward. God has given you breath this day for a reason. This week, put the focus on Him and look for others to whom you might be a reflector of His love.
Numbers 14:2: "All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, If only we had died in Egypt! Or in the desert!"
Job 3:3: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, A boy is born."
Ecclesiastes 1:2: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
Well now, arent you encouraged by the above verses! The reality is that they all cry out of despair. And unfortunately there are times in our Christian walk when we are in that attitude.
Let me read to you something Thomas Merton wrote in Seeds of Contemplation: "Despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a man deliberately turns his back on all help from anyone else in order to taste the rotten luxury of knowing himself to be lost." When it is all boiled down, would we feel in despair just because we have cut ourselves off from the Living Source of Life. We may know we are going to heaven, and we may even in our minds understand that God has a plan for us, but something has disconnected us from the reality of the joy He wants to give.
Meditate On This!
God will never leave you nor forsake you. However, maybe you have left Him, or moved Him down on your list of priorities in life. This is not a guilt trip today, but rather a realization of how you can get out of this mode of desperation. Although much of the New Testament tells us how to live our lives before God, I challenge you today to think about the attributes of God, how good He is, and what He has done in, and for you. Today maybe you have become more inward than looking upward. God has given you breath this day for a reason. This week, put the focus on Him and look for others to whom you might be a reflector of His love.
I Thessalonians 3:2-3: "We sent Timothy, who is our brother and Gods fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them."
Occasionally I will meet a professional baseball player who had no idea of what it would take to get to the Big Leagues. In fact, I met one who thought he would go immediately to the Majors. Eventually after several years in the Minors, he did play a number of years in the Major League. Reality is that there are many lessons to be learned at the Minor League level. There are discouragements. There are trials. There are times to see just what your emotional, as well as your physical, makeup is. These are all part of the game.
Hence as we look at the term "unsettled" in the verses above, we can all understand the meaning. We all know what it means to be shaken in a life situation at times. Believers are to expect troubles and difficulties because they are "appointed to this." The encouragement and comfort of a fellow Christian during such trials can be an especially welcome source of strength to ones faith.
Meditate On This!
Somewhere around you, someone is struggling. Perhaps all it would take would be for you to contact him to maybe give him perspective. I know you are busy - we all are. How about today, however, getting on your knees and asking the Holy Spirit to show you someone who needs a visit, and then ask Him what to say and how to say it.
