Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Life Versus Me


I love this gif.
 


Just seeing the dog’s tail whack that poor cat over and over and over...

Yes, one can say it exemplifies life itself.

Whack.

“Ouch!”

Whack.

“Ouch!”

Whack.

“Ouch!”

Unfortunately, yes, pain in life is inevitable. And often, so is our typical “woe is me” response.

Just like kitty.

As much as each one of us may feel we’re “the only one,” in truth, we are not.

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. “

 

Ecclesiastes 9:11

 

God does not cause pain; our fallen world does that.

 

However, God has firmly decided, even in spite of our circumstances, what He wants us to experience...

 

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

 

Jeremiah 29:11

 

And one other thing. There is a difference in suffering also...

“For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.”

1 Peter 3:17

I mention this little reality check because, so often, mired in our whacked kitty self-pity (yes, I know, that rhymes), we often fail to assess if we are dealing with the negative consequences of a poor choice we made. Often, that is the situation.

And what if it is not? What if we are whacked by Poochie’s tail for no good reason?

Well, there is this...

“For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”

1 Peter 2:20

And there is, once again, this perspective as well...

“... time and chance happeneth to them all. “

 

Ecclesiastes 9:11

 

No one is immune from life’s tail whacks. We all get a dose sooner or later. So 1 Peter 2:20 is a significant challenge.

But it is doable.

Right where we are, tail whack or no tail whack, let’s determine to do something agreeable with that scripture.

It is not Life versus Me. It is simply life and it does, indeed, happen to us all.

Copyright © 2016 by Sheryle Cruse

 

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