Sometimes when we experience serious hurt, we double down with anxiety and occasionally depression. The mind does not seem to switch off from the nagging problem. Sitting down at home and mulling over the hurt, could turn the hurt or problem into bigger hurts. How to switch off from the worries becomes cumbersome.
A person who lost her job was so worried about how to get another job. The thought of joblessness gnawed at her day and night. I have lost a job, she thought, next, I will lose my apartment and perhaps at some point, will have my car repossessed for lack of repayment. The final nail will be running out of money to feed, which could lead to eventual death. Although she did not stop looking for another job, and above all praying to God to help sustain her, she went ahead to retrain and obtain more job skills.
Another person was bothered by the illness of a spouse, who developed some disease and had been going through series of tests before a final diagnoses would be made. The mere thought of the deteriorating condition of the spouse, and final reality that she could wind up losing her life partner, was one big burden to carry on one single shoulder. Sleeping at night became such a huge problem. This was compounded with racing thoughts on how she would cope raising the kids alone, if the worst happens.
I personally have gone through periods in my life, when I worked in a company where my job was threatened because of consistent retrenchment. During that time, I lived a shadow of myself with the fear of how my family could cope if I lost my job. My worries escalated to the point that it was about to rule my life. How did I cope during such a period? I learnt over time that regardless of my worries, that there are other people out there who have their own worries too. I realized I was not just to look for ways to solve my problems, but to immerse myself into other positive things that would fill up my life.
My number one decision was to beef up my prayer life. I realized that any thing you do, without first bringing it to God in prayer, is a mere waste of time. This is because it is in "vain do you work, and in vain do you wake up, for a builder builds in vain, if the Lord does not build. In vain do we go to bed late and wake up early". This much the Bible tells us. It didn't work when I started applying it, but it did eventually. Some will start taking their hurts to God in prayer for a short time, and expect an immediate miracle. They wait for a couple of days, or months and skid off, if they don't experience immediate relief. It does not work that way. Building a relationship with God takes time, and it is usually a life time of dedication that we commit to, regardless of whatever outcome we are expecting.
Another thing I did to combat my hurt and alleviate my worries was to extend myself towards helping others. Helping others with joy and enthusiasm is an extension of prayers. How can we help others? In several ways.There are lots of opportunities that abound out there. Many sick people in hospitals and nursing homes need daily visitors. Many homeless shelters need volunteers to donate food and help out. Many charities exist out there; there is the Catholic Charities, that of the Salvation Army and a host of others. What of your sick neighbors, helping out poor families to put food on the table?When you do these and more, it helps fill up your life. By the end of the day, you are so exhausted. Occupying yourself with the hurts of others help shove yours to the back burner. This alleviates your personal worries. You know what, by the time you know it, God helps solve your own hurt. Even when you overcome your worries, continue helping others because that is what we are all called to do, for we are meant to break free from our cocoons, to avoid living sterile and selfish lives.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Friday, March 10, 2017
Does God exist?
There is such unusual order in the universe as it exists. One wakes up every day to view the trees. One gets up every day and the sky is still in place. It has not dislodged from its fixture. So does the sun unfailingly rise and set daily. Every time the sun unleashes its scourge, nature suffers, likewise, every time it rains, the Earth gets replenished. winter and summer come and go as do the other seasons. People continue to be born, as some older ones die off. So does vegetation rebirth itself.
Such order is not organized by man, for most things man makes crumble at some point. At some stage, the fabricator of such ephemeral things, man himself, succumbs to death. From all indications, it is obvious that some force or power of the invisible, bigger than man must be in existence. That force is indestructible. It continues to work day and night to keep the cosmos in place. This powerful spirit is not created because it was in being before the world existed. For in Genesis 1, it was explained that God existed before the world was made. Out of nothingness, God created land and separated it from the bodies of water. He also made night and day, and vegetation. He made the moon and the stars, the animals and us humans, when according to the Bible, He said, "Let us make man in our own image and likeness." Thus, we came to be. The firmaments He created are still in place and quite functional.
How do we know He exists? Through His goodness, His creation, through the account of all the holy souls who encountered Jesus, the later of whom God sent into the world to die on the cross to redeem us. God's son Jesus also told us through the Bible, that "My Father and I are one".We know God exists because during his creation, He had breathed His life into us to give us spirit. Besides, we encounter Him through the strength He gives us to combat our daily struggles. Above all, we believe God exists through faith. for in the Bible, Jesus told Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, but yet believed". To an unbeliever, an atheist, the lukewarm, start asking God to help replace your unbelief with belief, so whenever the clarion call comes, we have no option but to meet our God and maker in the world beyond..
If you choose not to believe He exists in this world, how will we be prepared to meet Him when we die? "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father" -Jesus said in the Bible. If you do not believe He exists, start believing now, even if at the moment you do so in a lukewarm manner, and continue to appeal to God to grow your unbelief. By the time you know it, He will show you the way, "for with God, all things are possible." The time to follow Him is now, my brothers and sisters; do not tarry because the train is now in the station, and you know what, it will depart at the least expected time. The clock sure is ticking. Better believe for "the world and all that is in it is passing away." Where are you in your spiritual life? Do you go to worship and adore God in the worship place-the church? If you don't, go and do so. May God bless you.
Such order is not organized by man, for most things man makes crumble at some point. At some stage, the fabricator of such ephemeral things, man himself, succumbs to death. From all indications, it is obvious that some force or power of the invisible, bigger than man must be in existence. That force is indestructible. It continues to work day and night to keep the cosmos in place. This powerful spirit is not created because it was in being before the world existed. For in Genesis 1, it was explained that God existed before the world was made. Out of nothingness, God created land and separated it from the bodies of water. He also made night and day, and vegetation. He made the moon and the stars, the animals and us humans, when according to the Bible, He said, "Let us make man in our own image and likeness." Thus, we came to be. The firmaments He created are still in place and quite functional.
How do we know He exists? Through His goodness, His creation, through the account of all the holy souls who encountered Jesus, the later of whom God sent into the world to die on the cross to redeem us. God's son Jesus also told us through the Bible, that "My Father and I are one".We know God exists because during his creation, He had breathed His life into us to give us spirit. Besides, we encounter Him through the strength He gives us to combat our daily struggles. Above all, we believe God exists through faith. for in the Bible, Jesus told Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, but yet believed". To an unbeliever, an atheist, the lukewarm, start asking God to help replace your unbelief with belief, so whenever the clarion call comes, we have no option but to meet our God and maker in the world beyond..
If you choose not to believe He exists in this world, how will we be prepared to meet Him when we die? "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father" -Jesus said in the Bible. If you do not believe He exists, start believing now, even if at the moment you do so in a lukewarm manner, and continue to appeal to God to grow your unbelief. By the time you know it, He will show you the way, "for with God, all things are possible." The time to follow Him is now, my brothers and sisters; do not tarry because the train is now in the station, and you know what, it will depart at the least expected time. The clock sure is ticking. Better believe for "the world and all that is in it is passing away." Where are you in your spiritual life? Do you go to worship and adore God in the worship place-the church? If you don't, go and do so. May God bless you.
Friday, March 3, 2017
It will be okay
There are days when one wakes up to find one pressing problem he/she needs to solve. One can run around the entire day to solve this problem, and every effort comes to naught. The addition of this problem, to some others one is already carrying, seems so impossible to bear. The cumulative effect of all these burdens become one heavy load to log around.
One of such problems that we bear could be unemployment that could come knocking, and when one spends years to locate this one job, two years later, the company declares bankruptcy and everyone is laid off. It is back again to a job search. A similar cycle that would throw one into unemployment could repeat itself over and over again. Another problem could be that one badly wants to get married and some of the efforts one makes to locate a good marital partner keeps hitting a dead end. You meet a guy today and he seems to be Mr Right, couple of weeks later, you find out he is some lion in sheep's clothing. You meet another, he turns out to be a cheat, yet another, and he is a free loader, and one feels like cringing in fear of what other options lie out there. Many times, in frustration, we decide to stop looking and just retreat into our cocoon.
What of someone who is looking for the fruit of the womb? Year one, two, three and even twelve and beyond, no sign of a pregnancy. Hm, one's spirit begins to sink until it gets trapped into years of frustration and despair. Think of an orphan, who has been tossed from one adoption home to the other, and in certain places, he gets abused, dehumanized and sometimes rejected. The thought of going through life in this manner becomes more and more discouraging and at some point, one would be thinking of whether life will ever have any better deal to offer. The truth of the matter is that it cannot continue to be out of control, because at some point, no matter how long it takes, something gives, that would gradually put that stress under control.
At other times, it could be that one is raising a very difficult child and the more the parent gives, the more the kid demands. The more the parent offers love, the more the child takes advantage of this. This child could even drift away, or in some cases would drop out of school. In other circumstances, they can even resort to drugs. It is not just children that do resort to drugs, sometimes it could a parent who can't get his/her acts together, and would move in and out of one drug rehab center to the other, and in such cases, the kids become the parents of these parents. There are other tons of problems that we face on a daily basis, and which could turn one's life into a living hell. However, if it happens to feel like hell over time, the consolation is that at a certain turn, that hell fire will gradually begin to dwindle, and consequently would quench completely, and then we find ourselves whole again.
One thing we should know when we are being bombarded by these upheavals, is that it is going to be okay at some point. I have found myself some days overwhelmed by the events of the day that at the end of that day, when I lower myself into my bed, I wish tomorrow gets delayed in coming, so I can muster enough energy to face a new day. At such point before I go to bed, I simply pray to God to take over my concerns and surprisingly, when I wake up the next day, some of the previous burdens appear lighter, not so serious as I thought they were. Other times, one or two of such burdens get solved, or I make inroads into solving them. Never let your burdens, or life's challenges crush you. Behind you is the hand of your creator, and He never gives us what we cannot handle. "Do not worry over what you will eat, or drink, or where you will live, think of the birds of the air----------, if God takes care of them, talk less of us made after His image and likeness." Cast over your burdens to Him through daily prayers and His grace will you see you through. Regardless of what outcome you experience over time, in the long run, you will finally realize that life is after all worth living.
One of such problems that we bear could be unemployment that could come knocking, and when one spends years to locate this one job, two years later, the company declares bankruptcy and everyone is laid off. It is back again to a job search. A similar cycle that would throw one into unemployment could repeat itself over and over again. Another problem could be that one badly wants to get married and some of the efforts one makes to locate a good marital partner keeps hitting a dead end. You meet a guy today and he seems to be Mr Right, couple of weeks later, you find out he is some lion in sheep's clothing. You meet another, he turns out to be a cheat, yet another, and he is a free loader, and one feels like cringing in fear of what other options lie out there. Many times, in frustration, we decide to stop looking and just retreat into our cocoon.
What of someone who is looking for the fruit of the womb? Year one, two, three and even twelve and beyond, no sign of a pregnancy. Hm, one's spirit begins to sink until it gets trapped into years of frustration and despair. Think of an orphan, who has been tossed from one adoption home to the other, and in certain places, he gets abused, dehumanized and sometimes rejected. The thought of going through life in this manner becomes more and more discouraging and at some point, one would be thinking of whether life will ever have any better deal to offer. The truth of the matter is that it cannot continue to be out of control, because at some point, no matter how long it takes, something gives, that would gradually put that stress under control.
At other times, it could be that one is raising a very difficult child and the more the parent gives, the more the kid demands. The more the parent offers love, the more the child takes advantage of this. This child could even drift away, or in some cases would drop out of school. In other circumstances, they can even resort to drugs. It is not just children that do resort to drugs, sometimes it could a parent who can't get his/her acts together, and would move in and out of one drug rehab center to the other, and in such cases, the kids become the parents of these parents. There are other tons of problems that we face on a daily basis, and which could turn one's life into a living hell. However, if it happens to feel like hell over time, the consolation is that at a certain turn, that hell fire will gradually begin to dwindle, and consequently would quench completely, and then we find ourselves whole again.
One thing we should know when we are being bombarded by these upheavals, is that it is going to be okay at some point. I have found myself some days overwhelmed by the events of the day that at the end of that day, when I lower myself into my bed, I wish tomorrow gets delayed in coming, so I can muster enough energy to face a new day. At such point before I go to bed, I simply pray to God to take over my concerns and surprisingly, when I wake up the next day, some of the previous burdens appear lighter, not so serious as I thought they were. Other times, one or two of such burdens get solved, or I make inroads into solving them. Never let your burdens, or life's challenges crush you. Behind you is the hand of your creator, and He never gives us what we cannot handle. "Do not worry over what you will eat, or drink, or where you will live, think of the birds of the air----------, if God takes care of them, talk less of us made after His image and likeness." Cast over your burdens to Him through daily prayers and His grace will you see you through. Regardless of what outcome you experience over time, in the long run, you will finally realize that life is after all worth living.
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