Job 14:22

Indeed,

   The flesh knows only its own pain,

      The soul mourns only itself.

 

I stalled out here. I had big plans to finish 37, the Old Testament, and this all on the same day before vacation. Vacation is gone and I am just now getting back to this. I seem to struggle making plans and more so keeping them. With my now known issues, I think I need to start putting more things into place to help me be the me I want and/or simplify my life.

‘Flesh’ was also ‘their own bodies’ or something equally selfish. ‘Knows’ was also ‘feels’, ‘has’, and the like. There was a feel for ‘the flesh only knows pain’, but it seemed off the mark.

‘Soul’ was also ‘self’, ‘spirit’, and ‘being’. Again, there was a feel for ‘the soul only knows mouring’.

We did some volunteer work this past weekend and one stop included an apartment complex that had all the elements of somewhere no one wants to live if they have a choice. ‘I smelled that same smell we kept smelling in New York’ was how the youngest kid described it. We saw people who would love to have some of the furniture from my in-laws house that we were unable to sell. All the more drive to get my kids the best education they can and pray God has good jobs ahead for their future.

Without digging to much back in the memory banks for context, this verse shows that the life the world promises is full of pain and sorrow. Our blessings from living on earth as Christians is not so much that we avoid pain and suffering, but that we find joy outside the things of this world. I was reading Matthew 5 this morning and beyond the comfort of reading the familiar words of Christ, I was left with the joy of knowing my life is not defined by success in the world. I will not build a world famous company or be a leader of the free world, but I will continue to follow the every day steps of trying to bring glory to God through my small actions.

The most recent election results show that next year will bring in a government with one party having control of the Presidency, the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court. Certain people fear the outcome as this particular party’s platform does not align with their world view. Others fear it because it does not align with their religious view. Some fear that it will bring so much power lust, that nothing will get done as they fight amongst themselves. I’d like to say I have no fear because God is in control, but I have matured to the point I only expect God’s promise to overcome to apply to my final salvation and not necessarily on any worldly level.

I have some worldly expectation to look forward to next year being better than this one, but I also know that I need to look at today for how to love and find joy for what is left before hitting the sack. My goal to put structure and aids in place may end up with a better long-term plan and trajectory, but I want to have it focus on the short term. As much as one of the plays we saw in New York inspired me to not overlook the relentless push of evil leaders, it reminded me that my circle of influence needs to march along regardless of the country’s leaders party affiliation.

Written 11/11/24, Posted 12/8/24, Job 340