OUR HANDS IN THE LORD'S

My friend (won't tell her name) bemoans the difficult life she lives. To her it seems like life is nothing but one struggle after another. She eats trials for breakfast... strife for lunch... and misery for dinner. She's up to here with the turbulence of a misery blotched existence. To quote her.

Gosh, that does sound so gloomy and depressing. I sat there listening to all her woes; she needed to get it off her system or I would guess she would explode. But she's still here standing and waking up every morning maybe without the smile that we should be giving the start of the day.. but she's up just the same. To face her battles once more I suppose.

That's courage, whether she knows it or not. And maybe somewhere there inside her small frame is a tiny spark of hope... maybe still believing that someday she will find relief to all her troubles. She won't tell me,  but when I see her look out afar with her sad eyes I can sense the faint ripple of hope in those otherwise sweet brown eyes.

Because she believes in God. She prays maybe harder than we do. Probably shedding buckets of tears alongside it. But she prays.  I love her for that, admire her even more.

This brings to mind a beautiful song by songwriter Thomas A. Dorsey in 1932....

"Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand;
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home."

You know in truth, we're all so much like my friend at some point or another.

May I request you to include a tiny prayer for her... and for every person on this planet who is going through the same challenges and troubles of life... for us all...  to put their hands and our hands in the Lord's --- "The God Of All Comfort".

Blessings and do have a blessed day.

WHO DO YOU HAVE BESIDE YOU?

Here's something I have learned from an interesting interview on the radio today....

hardwork
honoring parents and the elderly
good deeds
positive thinking
prayer

All these in essence are good guides to a good life. These are simple things which need no further explanation. We're quite familiar with each. Yet we unfortunately can claim only one or two on that list while the rest have to be relearned over and over... again and again.

Anyway...

At the start of the new year so much have been said about good luck and bad luck. I'm not a fan. You see, even while in our mothers' wombs, already God had our respective lives all figured out.... Everything down pat to our joys and sorrows... the challenges to face... the people to meet.... and the roads to travel. Even our myriad and diversity of successes and failures. I believe that everything in it in that long journey happens for a reason by God's design. And this I believe too... that whatever the trials there is not meant to destroy us in the end as what most would think after going through tough and tougher times most of their lives (as they perceive it to be). If that happens I think that it is more of our ignorance and not because of God's neglect.

Don't get me wrong, life has not been easy for me too and I just like you have struggled with my own fears and doubts, frustrations and disappointments, hurt and pain. I may have been oblivious to its merits then because when you are in something like that you see nothing, understand nothing. But you know what, in retrospect, that was the best thing or things that ever happened to me. Nope I didn't fight back, threw no rocks, punched no face (although it was indeed a big temptation). Why? God took control of my life while I sat humbly learning at His feet. All I did was to bring them all to His care. I just sat there learning from the Master. Through it all I earned my spurs .. of maturity and wisdom. Indeed HE's the GREAT TEACHER.

There is no such thing as good luck or bad luck. But there is such a thing as having the will to --- let go and let GOD --- as you go about the business of living by God's design. Blessings will come far beyond measure -- far beyond your wildest hopes and dreams. You don't need feng shui for that.

You can never go wrong believing ... GOD.
You gotta believe this, that HE will take care of everything -- if you let HIM.