Believe, Hope, and Endure

So funny, for this past week I have struggled to get my blogs posted.  There have been obstacles after obstacles.  Power outages, no internet service, I have been really sick, my photoshop quit working so I could not do all my graphic work, a camera did not work for some reason, had visitors for one week straight which kept me very busy cooking and visiting, and another site dedicated to making fun of people found my blog and had a hay day (oh the fun they had making fun of me).   Seems like I should quit blogging and not press on here but that leads me to 1 Corinthians again.

Charity “believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”  1 Corinthians 13:7

Believeth all things:

I actually am one of those naïve people that just believes people are good.  I figure people would just be nice because it is nice to be nice.  I trust people.  I believe people’s intentions are honorable.  Here the bible tells me that I am practicing charity to do this.  Yet most people tell me I should trust no man-because people are inherently evil.  They lie to get ahead, they cheat, they steal, they use, they love to tear people apart with their words, they judge and condemn, they are selfish and only care about what benefits them.  And yet, I believe the best in people.  And if I believe and am let down, that is okay.  I do not have to answer for what others do.

When I think of how people are not nice, I think of a flock of chickens.  When there is a small hen that is weak, the others will peck it and try to dominate it.  They prey on the weak.  People sometimes act no different than a bunch of chickens as they prey on the ones that are vulnerable and transparent-the ones that trust and believe.  They want to crush that hope and destroy their joy for some reason.  I could never begin to understand why people thrive on negativity and cruelty.  I wont even try.  I won’t.  I do not have to understand because I am not their judge.  They won’t have to answer to me, they will have to answer to the only one who can understand their heart and judge justly.  And that is God.  So I will continue to do my part-LOVE THEM.

I believe  “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28
In believing this, I know that life brings things that are not always good and pretty.  But as I endure the things that are difficult it makes me appreciate when things go better.  It makes me trust God more through it because I do not understand and I need him so much more in those times.  God always give so much grace for every difficult thing.  I am stronger for it.  Maybe even more useful to God because I can comfort those with the same comfort I have received from him.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going”

That is an old saying.  But it is true. Victory only comes to those that determine to finish the course.  When obstacles come, it is easy to quit.

I believe I am supposed to help people.  Even when I do not understand the injustice out there, even when I am so sick that I can barely move out of my bed, I write because I know someone out there is listening.  Someone that God has put there in front of a computer screen that morning who is discouraged and who is searching for hope.  In life we may never know what impact our actions make to the good of others.

Hopeth all things:

I know I have failed much in my life.  I also believe God is bigger than my failings.  He has always been big enough to lift me out of my pit and help me overcome.  I have a hope that does not shrink in the presence of tribulation and defeat.  The only reason I overcome is because I know Christ has overcome and I place my hope in that passage of the bible,

“Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

Christ’s spirit is with me, always.  I have power to overcome in all things.  Only because of what He did.  I place my hope in that which never fails.

Endureth all things:

I have made a commitment to share my brokenness and bear my soul to others.  It is not for my benefit.  I can endure the scorn it may sometimes bring, knowing that my purpose is not to be loved by all but to be a voice of hope for the hopeless.  I did not start this to help the people who already have life figured out.  I started this to reach out to the other people out there that struggle.  I can endure the shame of bearing my failures and sins to others, literally bringing my reputation here on earth to an open shame, in order that my victory in Christ can be made known.

So whether I write to my own shame, or weather what I write brings the scorn of the prideful, it makes no difference to me as long as God is glorified through it.  If His light can shine out through all my many cracks, I know it is worth it.  If I can be a shame and scorn for Christ, I will do that.  It is the least I can do after all He gave to save my soul.  Christ endured scorn and shame of His own people for ME.  He promises I will endure the same, so it is of no surprise.  I will write anyway because I believe it is what I need to do.   Even if no one cares to read anymore, I will still write because I want to give glory to God.  I have no other purpose than to love and share the hope I have in Christ.

Life can be discouraging at times when you get bogged down with many obstacles.  My intent was to encourage others to not give up-keep believing, keep hoping, and keep enduring.  To keep pressing on in what ever is difficult for you this day knowing that whatever you do endure it is not in vain.