All Things Work Together

My energy level was up today!  Sometimes I feel like I'm on a roller coaster with this project.

This evening a friend came over to visit.

It's so good to share the ups and downs of life with others who get it.  None of us are perfect.  All of us have done things for which we are ashamed.  But listening to the stories of others and sharing our stories with others helps us to see that we are not alone.

It reminds me of this video by the Skit Guys.

Every mistake that we make, God can and will redeem.  Which leads me to one of my favorite verses:

All things.

All things includes the good and the bad.  No God doesn't make the bad things happen, but He does use them...for good.

How can that be?  How can some of the rotten things that I've done ever be used for good?  

Just trust in Him and sit back and watch.  One day you'll see.

Seeing this over and over again in my life has proven to be a great comfort when facing loss, hurt, pain, shame, etc.  Knowing that God will redeem it all, as long as I am trusting in and living for Him, helps me see things from an eternal perspective (rather than my own limited self-abasing perspective).

We wonder...How could God love me after this?  I am undeserving.  I've done too many bad things.  

This brings me to my very favorite couple of verses which also come from Paul's letter to the people of Rome.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Nothing.

Cold Shoulder

First...I'm grouchy and hungry.  I just want to go to bed right now.  My arms and legs are sore from walking and playing 18 holes of golf last night.  I just finished my homework.  And I suffered through my family's lunch at my favorite Mexican food place as well as serving them up German chocolate cake with ice cream this evening.

I also realized that I missed a homework deadline on Friday.  How did I manage to do that?  Grrrr...

I feel angry.  I know that doesn't make sense, but I do.  And I want to cry.  Won't that make me feel better?

Even knowing this is temporary and self-imposed doesn't provide me with comfort.  I feel helpless and hopeless.  Can I imagine a lifetime of being hungry?  The fatigue, difficulty in concentration, yearning for food, hopelessness, and ANGER...until death?

But, wait!  I have a comfy bed.  I have a supportive and helpful husband and healthy children.  I have clean water and even ice cubes at my disposal whenever I want them.  I am guaranteed a serving of food (through Numana) each and every day without fear that it will not be there tomorrow.  I have a car and a job and technology and a climate-controlled home!

No.  I don't get it.  Even after a year I won't be able to comprehend the lives of those in other cultures who are living in constant hunger.  Just rereading my whining above makes me realize what a spoiled baby I am.  Suck it up, cupcake!

Look at them.  Look at them!

What can I do?  What can we do?  Why are the vast majority of us doing nothing?  Do our beds, healthy families, clean water, food, cars, jobs, technology, and homes provide wonderful blinders to the realities of the world?

Open your eyes, people!  This world is full of evil and hurt.  And raving about how wonderful our lives are is ridiculous in the grand scheme of things.  (I'm guilty of this just like you are.)

If our lives are so darn good, we aren't doing enough to help those whose lives are a living hell.