Absolutely Terrifying Beauty

I'm part of a small group/Bible study for high school girls in my church, and as we were talking about having positive self-talk last night, my mom, one of our leaders, was responding to another comment that was made, and she said "Sometimes, faith is just having the courage to keep going." and for whatever reason, it has stuck with me.

Actually, I know the reason. It's because of how true it is. There are moments when the only two options that we have are to keep trying, or to quit, and in most of those situations, quitting would be so much easier. It's like life is some sort of maze, with wonders and terrors strewn through.

Sometimes it would be more fun, easier, to sit down right were we are in the maze and say, "Nope. Not anymore, God. I quit. I don't know what's coming next, and if it's anything like what's come before, I don't want it. It isn't worth it." We refuse to listen to God, and we sit stubbornly right in the middle of that maze. All we see when we look back at where we've been are the monsters that have tried to tear us apart, but what we're forgetting is that we've picked up those gorgeous gardens along the way, and keep them in our pocket right with us. So we quit. We've all been there before. I know that I sure have.

But then, there are times when we don't quit, when we trust God, and walk through this maze. We widen our eyes at ourselves, and shake our heads, in disbelief that we're actually choosing to continue on, but still we know that God has amazing things planned for us. This maze has twice as many wonders as terrors, and even more in disguise.

Sometimes it seems as though we're walking through the maze alone, or blindly, but truly, I tell you, both are lies. We are never alone, never. God does not leave our sides, not in the good times, and most definitely not in the bad times. He's no fair-weather-friend, this amazing God of ours. And best of all, not only is He with us, but God is leading us through it. If only we would let Him, He'll take our hands in His and lead us through the twists and turns. It's only when we stray from Him that we get lost and hit these dead ends, but eventually we'll find that He's following right behind us, just waiting for us to turn around and fall into His loving arms.

There's nothing more beautiful than the love of Jesus Christ, and there's nothing more terrifying than living the life that He has for you. But when you put it together you aren't left with monsters and horrors. What you're left with is absolutely terrifying beauty. And there isn't anything more amazing than that.

So, yeah, doing God's work in the world takes an explicit amount of faith, but sometimes just continuing on takes even more. You'll see, though, that He never fails, never ever, and if you just turn around in this maze, you'll see Jesus waiting with arms outstretched to hold you and love you. So answer me this, will you turn around and let Him carry you?

The Worst Way to Get in Shape

Whenever I'm stressed out, worried, or angry, the muscles in my stomach tighten. I'll walk around for days, sometimes even weeks, with my stomach muscles clenched. You can imagine how this ends up hurting after a while, though I suppose that it is actually really good for my muscles.

The point here is that my internal emotions venture outside of my head and into the physical part of me, even if it's only a little thing causing me to worry. I obsess over even the smallest issue until it's come to a conclusion. And I know that it goes too far when I have to literally try to loosen my muscles.

It's in those moments when I'm trying to force my muscles to let go that I hear God, as odd as it sounds. God tells me that it's okay to worry about things, but not to let them take control of my life. I can't constantly think about issues. Matthew 6:27 says "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" So as I struggle to loosen the muscles in my stomach, I tell myself that whatever I'm worried about won't last forever, and worrying about it won't do any good, anyway.

I don't know why I worry about things so much, whether it's a personality trait, or something that must be fixed, but either way it isn't good. And though it helps to work my stomach muscles, I'm sure there are much more conventional ways to get in shape than constantly obsessing over issues.

Troubles Aren't Always Tests

Sometimes our lives can be easy-breazy, and pure bliss, and other times we find that we are going through a horrific challenge. Up until now I thought that these challenges were always tests, or lessons, at least, from God, but now I'm beginning to think that there is a third option.

During these happy, blissful easy times in our lives, we are being built up. Life is easy, and there is plenty of time to learn and to focus on who we are as a person. We're being taught lessons of love and acceptance, we're given momentary gifts of happiness. And then when it all comes crashing down we don't realize that maybe, just maybe, God hasn't done all of this to test us, or to teach us more, but maybe, God has done this because it is our turn the be the teachers.

Now it's our turn to go out into the world, and to teach others what it's like to know God, to give the gift of bliss to the next person, and eventually, you'll find more happiness in this than you've ever known before. We can't blame God for taking away what we've taken for granted. When we lose people we love, or people change, we can't spend so much time wondering why, but spending our time being that type of person that people don't want to lose.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. In difficult times, don't spend forever grieving, go out and make those wonderful times for others. Eventually it'll come back around to you, and it'll be there to stay.