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.

“Ouch!”

Whack.

“Ouch!”

Whack.

“Ouch!”

Whack.

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 life and it does, indeed, happen to us all.

Copyright © 2016 by Sheryle Cruse

 

Current Mood...

And now, a kitten lying on a potato...

Makes complete sense.

"Thank you" is so important...

Better "Rules" For Guys...

Beware...

Memories: Ouch!

 

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Psalm 51:12

Autumn floods me with childhood memories of locusts inhabiting our farm and caterpillars on twigs, kept in mason jars, just waiting to become monarch butterflies.

And, with that flooding, often comes the tinged bittersweet feelings that accompany a childhood innocence of long ago.

I recently caught a funny post on the internet. It read: “Memories: Ouch!”

They say humor is humor because it is unflinching truth. And that certainly was the case with this post.

With all there is to recover from in life- death, loss, illness, abuse and addiction- perhaps, one of the most painful things is that of memories, being either the good or the bad kind.

It can be argued which one of those is the more painful to remember. “Bad” memories, like abuse, death and loss, are the understandably challenging memories to overcome.

But, perhaps, the more painful are the happy ones, the “good times.” For they represent the faint promise of life having an “all is well,” security blanket, comforting us with love, laughter and security. Therefore, it is usually during times when we perceive our lives to have those things lost or absent when these happiness memories are the rusted knife turning clockwise into souls. We can take on the attitude of Job:

“My spirit is broken,
    my days are cut short,
    the grave awaits me.”

Job 17:1

Trust me, Chapter 17 does not get much cheerier.

So, yes, often times, memories: ouch!

In this mindset, therefore, it’s a beacon of light to take solace in God’s restoration concerning our memories, such as they are.

“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

Psalm 23:3

 “‘For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds,’ saith the LORD...

Jeremiah 30:17

Easier said than done, I know.

Nevertheless, God has a much bigger, restored version of our lives, of who we are…

“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

 “…I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure… yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”

Isaiah 46:9-11

 “But as it is written, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.’”

1 Corinthians 2:9

What are your memories? What are the painful ones? What are the haunting ones? What are the ones you do everything you can to suppress or escape from?

As the seasons change, how do you view your memories? How healed are you in conjunction of them?

Right now, this autumn, endeavor to view your memories for what they are: the locusts and transitioning caterpillars.

“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm...”

Joel 2:25

See these memories as flowing to a better end; God has promised it to you.

 “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

“Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Psalms 40:5

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

Psalms 139:17

And, as much as God knows His thoughts, how much more does He know ours?

“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”

Psalm 139:2

God does- and will- heal. It’s already in motion.

And, even more than that, is His constant love…

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, ‘Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.’”

                                                             Jeremiah 31:3             

Therefore, allow Him to heal you through that love now. Apply His Love to your memories.

Copyright © 2016 by Sheryle Cruse