I’ve been working on a side project that has me a little down. I’m not ready to reveal the nature of the project. Only that its been hard on me emotionally. But I do think it will worth it. When dark times come just have faith that God is still operating. His grace is shining down on your life even if you don’t really know it. The storm will break. The clouds will part eventually. And, light will return to the world.
Tag: encouragement
A Promise
Every storm should end with a rainbow. The Bible says that God gave us the rainbow as a sign that he would never flood the entire world again. When times get dark and stressful we should look for the promise that things are not going to be tough forever. The storms will eventually pass.
The Summerville Lighthouse
As I sat down to write to write tonight’s post the wind is howling on the ridge above my home. I can hear the wind chimes ring loudly in the front porch. There’s a storm on the way. That’s the reason why I chose the picture of our local lighthouse. Lighthouses are the iconic representation of hope in the storm. I can’t look at a lighthouse without having a sense of peace and security. (That’s why I incorporated a lighthouse in my business logo.) Finding peace during a storm one of life’s necessities. It helps to have a lighthouse to provide a fixed point to focus on. Metaphorically speaking, we know that there will multiple storms in our lives. We will need that beacon of hope to focus on and guide us through the fog and blinding rain. For me, Christ is my lighthouse. That doesn’t mean that there’s never a storm. But it does mean that I have a fixed point to focus on and find that peace again.
Course Corrections
A few days ago I wrote about The Unknown Destiny. I indicated that God has a plan for our lives. But that doesn’t mean that I’m a fatalist. I do believe that God gave us the gift and the right of free will. (Which he will not violate but that’s a topic for another day. ) As beings of free will we have a great potential. . . to make mistakes. Now, there’s an endless list of errors and pitfalls that we can examine. They can all be broken down into two groups.
1. Mistakes made due to bad information or a lack of knowledge.
2. Mistakes made due to a failure to accept good information or gaining knowledge.
On my day job I often joke that erroneous was the ancient god of blunders and that any mistake on my paperwork was due to his mischief. But ultimately we all must take responsibility for our own actions.
So if mistakes can be lumped into two main categories then what about resolutions?
I say there’s two types resolutions as well.
1. Immediate & 2. Delayed.
The advantage of the immediate resolution should be obvious. The sooner an error is uncovered the less energy it takes to correct the problem.
The results of the delayed resolution then would mean expending more time and energy to bring things back into balance. But, there’s a compound problem with the delayed resolution. Human nature is , well…lazy. Because of our limited energy we tend to not want to accept a mistake that takes great effort to resolve. We ignore the problem. We misplace blame. We will do anything it takes to avoid expending the energy it takes to break down the error and start over. The whole time these errors gain more energy and momentum and become harder to resolve.
What does that have to with my photo above? Let’s take a second look at it.
It looks as though the road leads to the mountain and the sunbeam in the background. That’s because I created the illusion that it does with forced perspectives. In reality, the road curves off to the right and makes a circle back to place where I am standing with my camera. If we assumed we could follow the road and reach the mountain we would make a bad choice based on a lack of knowledge. But, if we follow the road and refused to accept truth when we reach the curve we would go around in circles until we give up on our goal or collapse from exhaustion. The sooner we accept the need for a course correction the easier it is to get to our goal.
Life More Abundantly
John 10:10
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
King James Version (KJV)
If we simply define abundant life as living forever we are cheating ourselves out of blessings. Abundant defined as existing or available in large quantities; plentiful. But how do you define life? There’s a scientific definition. “organisms maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt to their environment, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. …“. But that cold laboratory life is merely biology. It can apply just as equally to a slime which has no dreams and ambitions. Life is energy in action. A dynamic flow body, mind and spirit. Science defines energy as the ability to do work. By implication abundant life from God is the ability to do work for God. Like batteries we fill up and release our energy into the world. Like a battery we must recharge on a daily basis. Our energy supply is plentiful and always available.
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