For so long, I have not felt peace. Life gets so terribly hard sometimes. I find it so amazing how the choices I make change my life dramatically and change the lives of those around me. I felt a strong pull today to really start pursuing wisdom, and understanding of what is really going on around me and what the point of it all is. If we live a life without intention, allowing things to simply float in and around and by us, without much thought, we become foolish. I want to intentionally become stronger and wiser. Kind of like a Boxer would prepare and train. I want to train myself in wisdom and become stronger and more prepared to deal with the difficult issues that are bound to come. Over and Over again.
I have been asking myself some pretty important questions. Like, do I exploit Gods goodness by being lazy with my morals? Or my speech? Or my attitudes? Am I discontentedly complaining? Oh, God! Forgive me!
And this: Is what I am doing helpful, profitable or constructive to my character?
That leads me back to wisdom. Seek wisdom and be RULED by wisdom. Train ourselves to be able to discern between good and evil. There is so much out there that does NOT belong in our souls.
And my last thought for the day:
Live as though your life is at stake and the enemy is waiting to outwit you! Then you will have PEACE because wisdom rules your heart!
I agreeeee! Life needs purpose or it will be a waste. Good blog, Jenn. I shall follow it religiously and will bug you for new posts if you slack!! ;-)
ReplyDelete-Sazaran
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteJust got back from Ghana and had an incredibly fruitful time. I saw peace from a different view: I saw beggars without legs and gave them $20 US dollars only to see them nearly cry for joy...I saw children with smiles but never saw toys anywhere in any of the hamlets or homes...I saw tin-roofed homes made of two rooms with cement floors, no running water, no kitchen, and the rooms smaller than backyard storage sheds where we keep our garden hoses and lawnmowers, but the people were content...I saw people walking with heavy loads to their destinations that were miles away and they never asked for rides...I prayed for lepers who limped along with distorted faces and missing body parts but they only asked for love; people dying of AIDS who asked for food and a hug; children infected with parasites but in bliss having no idea of their demise; Liberians with bullets in them from 14 years ago who accepted their fate; and parents begging in the hospitals for their children's lives to be treated against malaria that cost little more than a few dollars (which we paid). Then I came home. I saw ads on TV selling vacuums, solicitations for lawsuits over medications, Rachel Ray making meals in 30 minutes, American crushing their clunkers, Botox treatment ads and Bare Minerals for a cleaner younger looking face. In America I've never seen a legless beggar scooting along the pavement in traffic; or people walking in filthy soiled rags they used clothes to retain their dignity against nakedness; or children taking baths in the running water sewers of any city. I had peace that I would be coming home to America, but restless in wondering how much of my life is saturated in vanity and how much of my peace is predicated on materialism.
I’ve been to Ghana now over 40 times. I go for the love of Christ; for the love of people to share what little I have to bring them money for food, medications, laptops for career training, wheelchairs, and Bibles. I go to remind me that my worst days are incomparably better than almost all the nation of Ghana residents or for that matter any nation in Africa. In America I become dulled in my senses, over-focused on myself, driven in the pursuit of ease and pleasure, and try to define my Christianity along the externals of blessings rather than the peace that passes the understanding found only in Christ. I get upset when my battery is low in my digital camera, or when my computer runs at a slower speed, or if the fast-food lines take two minutes longer than it should. I am guilty of much, far less thankful than I should be, selfish in my pursuits of life for self-gain in various ways, less sensitive to the needs of others than I should be, and in all, I daily look to the Blood of Jesus as my only hope. I have discovered that my American Christianity is far from the standard of anything I want to present to the world. I have no compulsion to be a self-abasing monk in defiance of the world. I only pray for the Lord's grace, that if possible, my life can be given to others for their needs while imparting the hope of Christ to those passing through my intersections of life.
Don
www.courseinmiracles.com
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