“The World is Against Me” – “Harmony, with the Hurting” – “His Will is Good” – “Tongue and Temper” – Do All for Thee” – “Resurrected” – “Financial Diligence”
Over Spring Break, I did not write, and I did not post. Then I wrote a lot more than I posted, then I posted more than I wrote. So today, I am writing and will post immediately. At some point that was the ideal, but my typing is horrible, and I know I need that extra look to catch stupidity leaking out. So, forgive any issues.
Today I read a little about Jeremiah and his woes reminded me of Job. Job is the poster child, but Jeremiah and the rest of the Jews seemed to have their share of miserable lives in the Old Testament. The phrase of the topic is “The World is Against Me”. Also reading today Moses warned the Jews this would happen when they turned from God. Following the world is one of Satan’s deceiving attractions and is in stark contrast to God’s will. We must know the world is against us and remind ourselves often.
“Must” vs. “Have to”. I seem to never us must and wonder why. The mental pictures seem the same, but I picture “have to” as a choice to make and must as no option. I must pay taxes, but I “have to” watch my money. “Financial Diligence” is something I chose, so I think of “have to.” I paid the bills last night and I have what seem like an overwhelming number of accounts with small amounts of money in them to help me track which money is allotted to which task. One for little d, one for Big D, one for their college, one for season tickets I do not have any more, one for sales of baseball cards that never seem to happen, and on and on. It takes effort to keep track of them, but I think that is what financial diligence requires.
I have a friend who just got over COVID yesterday to find out his wife now has it. “Harmony, with the Hurting” rings in my mind as I want to see them again, but it is obviously not an option right now. Praying for them, texting them, calling them all seems like not enough. The gap for me is that I forget that everyone to some extent is struggling with emotional or mental hurting and I am called to be in harmony with them as well.
“Tongue and Temper” is something we all struggle with. My temper got overloaded yesterday and I was not pleased with my behavior. I did not hold my tongue and once my anger subsided (at myself) I was embarrassed for the word that came out of my mouth. Next to the computer I seem to get mad at myself more than everyone else combined. I fall short and I get mad. I am generally good about holding my tongue in public, but in my mind or alone, I am not as good. I actually stopped watching a movie the other day that had too many bad words in it. Maybe not hearing them so much will help me.
A friend was relaying his uncertainty about his future after a layoff. I told him my story that ended in learning God’s Will for me while reading a lunchroom bulletin board. I have made many decisions that from a worldly perspective were not he best, but “His Will is Good” and I try my best to leave the big decisions to Him and ask that it be clearly revealed to me.
Heart, Soul, and Strength was in the chapter I read this morning. It reminded me I am to “Do All for Thee”. I have avoided having a “single” thing in my daily routine beyond the Lord’s Prayer, but I may add this verse to it to remind me daily who I live for. “Resurrected” was the focus of Easter, but in a follow up I saw that my life has been resurrected from the pit of misery that it could have been, and I need to not only follow God because I am obeying, but because I am thankful for having been saved. Life in the world is hard. It is meant to be. It is only living through Christ that is supposed to be peaceful.