The past few months I’ve been able to say, “Life is hard,
but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.”
Still, some days the hard is louder than the good. These are the days I have to talk and pray
myself out of bed. A song came to mind
as I was praying this morning, “And neither life nor death shall separate us
from the love of God.” Neither life nor
death. I have heard that verse often but
never particularly thought about the “life” part. It’s from Romans 8:38,39 – that list of
things none of which, “shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”
Life. The chaos,
struggle, bad days, craziness.
Life. The difficulties, trials, problems, temptations.
Life. The calm, successes, good days, peace.
Life. The blessings, gifts, joys, overcoming.
Life. The difficulties, trials, problems, temptations.
Life. The calm, successes, good days, peace.
Life. The blessings, gifts, joys, overcoming.
All of that and none of it can keep God’s love from us.
Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord!Any of life hard for you lately? May I pray for you? Any encouragements that have come up in the midst of life you’d like to share?
Oh, friend, I'm glad you're back. :) Lots of thoughts, but I'm having a really hard time articulating them right now (plus I'd be here all day!).
ReplyDeleteFirst, OH boy, do I hear you. It's so discouraging when I start comparing my hard to the pain of others, and wow, is that a recipe for disaster for my over-thinking brain. I hope that someday God can explain to me why some people have it easy and some have it so hard, but for now all I can do is try to keep my eyes on the path in front of me. God's given me this THIS life, not someone else's. (And that means I can't let myself feel bad about my small hard.)
I just recently noticed the "life" part of Romans 8:38 too. Funny how on the one hand there are some big, scary things in that verse (death, demons, etc), but sometimes it's just the day-to-day living stuff that tries to keep us from God. How encouraging that even the times I'm my own worst enemy can't separate me from his love. :)
Finally (maybe I should have started with this) I want to give you a hug! You've had a hard winter w/ lots of sick kids…I think you're allowed to cut yourself some slack. (It's so much easier to give OTHERS permission to take it easy, isn't it?) I keep reading that winter is supposed to be a time when we slow down and retreat, and that's what I'm trying to remind myself when I'm discouraged by the never-conquered to-do list. SPRING IS COMING! (and I can only pray I'll be feeling more productive then!)
Oh Asta K Pasta!!! That is a fantastic sign in name! Great big smile every time I see it (and visions of Marylyn ;)
DeleteThank you so much, it's nice to be back (and very nice to have a comment!) Personally, I think you articulated your thoughts quite well.
It's a difficult balance to keep sometimes, not to over wallow in our struggles, but also not to dismiss them because they aren't as "bad" as someone else's. Either extreme can limit how God uses us. But being honest about our journey on our path - small or big challenges, times of ease - and how we cope, helps us be an honest representation of Christ.
I think that list gets to be such a glib recitation that we don't notice the details (until we need them perhaps) and just hang onto the "nothing can separate" part. Neat that you've noticed it in a similar way recently ;) Oh so true, "being my own worst enemy", I do that so much!
You know, I actually felt like we had done a lot better this year than last as far as sick kids go: once last fall (I think) as opposed to what seemed like every month last year. This last month and a half has been a bit of a doozy though. So thanks for the hug, and yes, Spring is coming!
Sam,
ReplyDeleteI was just looking for you on facebook because I posted a picture of WotW and wanted to tag you. I was kind of surprised that we weren't "friends". But I found your page through Jason's and I read your note about not using FB and the link to here. Great post by the way. I'm always amazed at people who can communicate through writing and verbalize things that seem to only make sense in my head.
I had never noticed the 'life' part of that verse in Romans before and it makes perfect sense. I think that is also a struggle for me. To look past the daily upsets, disappointments, and mistakes and be able to focus on Him and know that all this (no matter how small) matters to Him.
Anyway, I'm so glad that I found you here. I pray that your 'hard' will get much easier soon.
Blessings,
Jared
Jared! Hi! I'm stunned! - in a good sort of way ;) It is wonderful to hear from you; and I have so much to say that I don't know where to start.
DeleteFirst, the stunned is mostly because you actually read that note AND ended up here. As far as I know you're one of three who's read it and the only one that's come here because of it. I worry a bit that it sounds rude, but it's an honest evaluation of myself because I know I would easily be overwhelmed by the unnecessary amount of information that would come of having hundreds of FB friends. That being said, it's up to you if you want to "friend" me there or not ;)
You're timing for making it here was interesting since it's my first post in about a year and a half. Much as I prefer writing here it does take more time and energy than FB and that becomes scarce for me during pregnancy and having a newborn (with two other kids around ;)
Second, I just realized that your sign in name had a blog address with it, so I went and visited (seemed only fair). It's neat to get a small view of what you and Leica are doing - I'm really impressed because that takes so much commitment and joy in what you do to continue doing it. We have people from our church doing something similar and they have to be careful with certain things online (I'm not sure what all) - do I need to take care with what I comment to you?
Third, you added an extra perspective that I appreciate - that what we do matters to Him. How tedious it would be if we only thought it wouldn't keep us from Him; how much joy that He cares!
I too am glad you found me here ;) Thanks for the prayer, I'm currently holding out for the first week of June as far as the long run goes - some things will have changed by then, some will change then; in the short run there are good, relatively easy days that come in the mix. From your blog it sounds like you've got some hard things in life at the moment too, I'll keep you and yours in prayer for that.
No profound thoughts, but thankful to connect with you (and maybe Asta, too!) in this way. Just learning over here to ask for help when I need it, and give myself slack when I need it, too. And thinking we have a whole lifetime to really figure this out (thank God).
ReplyDeleteHello dear friend, it's good to hear from you, and definitely nice to connect! Don't worry about profound thoughts, all kinds are welcome here - frivolities, profundities, and everything in between - it makes for great conversation and I'm grateful (mine are certainly not often in the profund realm ;)
DeleteI think I'm not too good at the asking for help and giving myself slack at present. You and Asta both have given me much to add to a line of thought I've been pursuing lately.
A lifetime we surely need; and grateful He does not leave us where we are but gives us - and challenges us with - so much to learn.