Trusting God

Yesterday I would have given anything to just be able to crawl into a hole and die. I had received some bad news and was very depressed over it. I was praying last night and was reminded of my life verse, Habakkuk 3:17-19 (which I'll not put here as it is so long), and I was reminded that no matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, I can call on the Lord and He will be there for me. I'm still not particularly thrilled about everything that happened yesterday, but I feel so much better knowing that God will help me through it, I just need to trust in Him.

Faith

Why is it that what God wants from us most happens to be the hardest thing to give? Our faith. Why is it we can say we have all the faith in God, until we hit a problem. As soon as things go wrong, isn't it in our nature to lose faith? To try to handle things ourselves, rather than hand them up to God, having faith that He will handle them?

Now, I admit I have problems in this department myself. When things get hard, my first instinct is to handle the situation myself. I will try to find every crack to examine, trying to get myself out of whatever it is I've gotten into. Let's just say, this isn't a good idea. I have fallen flat on my face more often than I would like to admit, because I didn't want to let God help me. Not just that I didn't WANT to let God help me, but I didn't BELIEVE He would. I didn't have FAITH in His abilities to save me, get me out of whatever I was in.

Some of the things we have trouble handing to God are small, virtually nothing (at least to Him). So here's the question: If we can't have faith God will take care of the small things, how can we have faith in the big things?

Just a thought.

Rejoice

When things in life are going wonderfully we are joyful. But, when something goes wrong, suddenly everything is dark and dreary. Shouldn't we be joyful in that too? Yeah, I know, it's not easy to be joyful when you recieve bad news, or slam you fingers in a door, but shouldn't we always try to be joyful, and to rejoice in life, regardless of what is happening? "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice" Shouldn't we be thinking that? Sometimes bad and depressing things happen, but regardless of that, shouldn't we rejoice in the Lord?

Just a thought.

My Sister

So there is this amazing little (well, not so little) person in my life. Her name is Tiffany and she is my little sister. Tiff is, as far as people go, my everything. I absolutely adore her, more than pretty much anything, other than Christ our Savior. She is a firey red-head with spirit and gumption. She is able to make me laugh when I am down. Whenever anything goes wrong she is always there. We've shared many a time together. We've shared laughs, we've shared tears. I absolutely love her more than anything on this earth.

Different People

It's amazing, really, how different people are. We are all made of the same stuff, and yet we are totally different. Just look at how many different races of people there are, the different colors of our skin, our different languages. It truly amazes me, because after the initial skin-deep appearances, we are all the same. We're all made by God, and all in His image. And yet, we all are unique. We all have different personalities, different likes and dislikes, different views. I must say, the human race really fascinates me.

This Time of Year

Another Christmas has come and gone, and New Year's is nearly here. I love this time of year, but not because of fun presents and stuff like that. No, I love that this time of year means family. My brother and sister are home (haven't seen brother since October), and we do things as a family again. None of the cheesy holiday traditions I myself dread, but fun stuff. We have an annual Christmas Eve party that we all take part in, one way or another. We have certain games we enjoy playing as a family when we are all around (hello poker!!) and we watch certain movies such as "Holiday Inn" and "Santa Clause the Movie" (not "The Santa Clause" with Tim Allen). We also get to catch up on what's going on in each other's lives, in detail. Doesn't always happen over the phone. I love this time of year because I love my family.

Why College Degrees?

What is it with our society that we put so much store into college degrees? Why is it like that, really? We seem to feel that in order to achieve "greatness" we need to go to college. Well, I disagree with society on this subject. People now turn their noses up to what we classify as blue-collar jobs. Well, guess what, those jobs, those people in those jobs, are the backbone of our nation. We would fall apart without them. And you know what, it doesn't take a college degree to keep them running. The most you need is vocational school. That's what it takes to be a welder, or a pharmacy or x-ray technician, or for jobs as court reporters or transcriptionist's. I myself am doing vocational school for office administration.

The thing is, if God wants you to do "great" things, He will provide you with the means. However, serving God doesn't require a college degree. Whatever He wants for you He will provide the means to do it. All you need is faith in Him and absolute willingness to do what He calls you to do. It doesn't take a college degree to work in a ministry.

I'll admit, I have a desire to go to college and get that degree. I know that for what I want to do it would be a helpful thing to have. Well, God has other plans, apparently. I now find myself in a situation where I cannot go back to college when I would like. At first I was a little upset, then I began to pray about it. As I said, to do what I want to do, a college degree would be helpful; However, it is no necessary. I feel that my life goal is something God put there for me, and I know He will get me there in His own way.

So why does our society put so much store in a college degree? I have no idea, but I do know that if you are willing to serve God wholeheartedly, it isn't necessary unless He says it is.