In the midst of trying times, I find it always helpful to start by admitting the truth. I am just a human being. I am trying to be better on a daily basis, but at the end of the day, I am human. I am prone to making mistakes. I am prone to the weaknesses that are endemic to the human condition.
I speak when I should be silent. At times my brain is closed, when it should be open. I fly off at the mouth in boastful speech, when I should listen. I am far from the strong all knowing man I wish myself to be. And I am a sinner.
In saying all of those things, I do not say them lightly. I do not boast in my weakness, far from it. It is not an excuse to not do what I should. It is in admitting the existing state, that I can take stock of who I am, and what I am capable of.
It is in the place of a ruthless form of honesty that I can understand my incapacity, and my lack that can only be fulfilled in my relationship with God. Anything other than this geography leads me to think more highly of myself than I ought. Anything that supplants this place of my weakness fulfilled in Christ, is not from on high. Anything else leads me away from the path I should traverse.
I believe that God is good. On good days, God is good. On bad days, God is good. On the many days in between, God is still good. Admitting this truth is pivotal for me as well, because it helps me understand the source of good in my life, and my role in its presence.
I am reminded in moments like these that the path laid out before in broken glass, is good and the direct result of the implicit will of the one for whom good is the primary nature. I am reminded that good has nothing to do with circumstance. It has nothing to do with emotions. It has nothing to do with a bank account, or material things.
Good is defined by the one who is good. Good is not hate. It is not anger. It is not prideful. Good proceeds from love, and in that love perfection and harmony reside. Good is defined largely by the love it proceeds from and the nature of its impact upon the intended.
I am not one that has a vast storehouse of answers on this subject. I myself struggle in difficult times. In the moments in which my character is revealed to me, and my soul is tried, I am reminded that it is good. And it came from the one that is good. It does not make me happy by any means, especially in the circumstances that I am powerless to do much more than advise and consent. (For those that don't know me well, allow me admit, I don't handle situations in which I am utterly powerless well.)
And somehow the end of all of this comes back to, my God is good. God is my source. He directs me. I sometimes fail to follow the direction. My failure to follow is not his fault by any means. The truth is this, I live a life in the place of my planting by the one who tends the garden. It is in grasping this truth, that I find a clear understanding of my purpose, and my destiny such as it is.
I speak when I should be silent. At times my brain is closed, when it should be open. I fly off at the mouth in boastful speech, when I should listen. I am far from the strong all knowing man I wish myself to be. And I am a sinner.
In saying all of those things, I do not say them lightly. I do not boast in my weakness, far from it. It is not an excuse to not do what I should. It is in admitting the existing state, that I can take stock of who I am, and what I am capable of.
It is in the place of a ruthless form of honesty that I can understand my incapacity, and my lack that can only be fulfilled in my relationship with God. Anything other than this geography leads me to think more highly of myself than I ought. Anything that supplants this place of my weakness fulfilled in Christ, is not from on high. Anything else leads me away from the path I should traverse.
I believe that God is good. On good days, God is good. On bad days, God is good. On the many days in between, God is still good. Admitting this truth is pivotal for me as well, because it helps me understand the source of good in my life, and my role in its presence.
I am reminded in moments like these that the path laid out before in broken glass, is good and the direct result of the implicit will of the one for whom good is the primary nature. I am reminded that good has nothing to do with circumstance. It has nothing to do with emotions. It has nothing to do with a bank account, or material things.
Good is defined by the one who is good. Good is not hate. It is not anger. It is not prideful. Good proceeds from love, and in that love perfection and harmony reside. Good is defined largely by the love it proceeds from and the nature of its impact upon the intended.
I am not one that has a vast storehouse of answers on this subject. I myself struggle in difficult times. In the moments in which my character is revealed to me, and my soul is tried, I am reminded that it is good. And it came from the one that is good. It does not make me happy by any means, especially in the circumstances that I am powerless to do much more than advise and consent. (For those that don't know me well, allow me admit, I don't handle situations in which I am utterly powerless well.)
And somehow the end of all of this comes back to, my God is good. God is my source. He directs me. I sometimes fail to follow the direction. My failure to follow is not his fault by any means. The truth is this, I live a life in the place of my planting by the one who tends the garden. It is in grasping this truth, that I find a clear understanding of my purpose, and my destiny such as it is.