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When You Can't, He Can

5/1/2013

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In the aftermath of any life-altering event, it’s challenging to think or hear clearly in the never- ending din of society; when the return to life-as-normal has to be resumed though your soul cringes at the merest thought of it and huddles in a corner while it whimpers
that it isn’t ready to face reality just yet.  Even so, you gradually unwind from your huddled position and slowly begin to press onward as you go through the motions of taking care of routine business matters: bill-paying, grocery shopping, yard work, etc.  All the while, you share a half-hearted shallow discourse with others who cross your path, using pat, non-committal phrases as you ensure yet another well-meaning soul that you are doing ‘okay.’  (Doesn’t that word speak volumes?!)  You return to work only when you have to and thankfully end up losing yourself in the many familiar details of your job.  Here
at work, people cannot see the numbing pain that is masked by your smile and your diligent – though rote - productivity, yet they could see it if they chose to look closely into your eyes.  

Resuming life-as-normal is a daunting task after any traumatic event.  Life was already challenging to deal with when it did not contain a life-altering event. Inundated with high emotions and stress, we look to have our life made easier by the electronic products that
we have grown accustomed to.  Yet the more our lives have been flooded with them and all the knowledge that comes with it, the more our vision has been clouded to the point where life feels more complicated and overwhelming than ever.  The technology we look to every day that was meant to give us more free time and greater ease of living while supplying us with the means to draw the world-wide community closer to us has instead made us a society rife with pseudo relationships, enslaved us to apps and social networks, and created a Pavlovian response in each of us so that we immediately reach for our phone whenever we hear a ding, or bell, or some other (usually annoying) sound announcing that we have been sent a text, an email, or a push notification relating to a breaking story, all the while hoping that it’s someone reaching out to us in this turbulent season of life who will lend us comfort or supply at least one answer to the many questions we have.  For all of our communication capabilities, we struggle to find even one person to turn to in time of need and wonder if anyone anywhere cares that we are struggling each day to simply survive.

When you can’t deal with life in all of its craziness, what should you do?    Return to the basics and begin by trusting in the One who will not disappoint.

When you can’t find where you fit into life, Jesus will never reject you when you come to Him.

John 6:37 (AMP)
“All whom My Father gives (entrusts) to Me [Jesus] will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, no never, reject one of them who comes to Me].”

When you can’t find inner contentment or tranquility, set your mind on Christ.

Isaiah 26:3 (AMP)
“You [God] will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

When you can’t clearly see the direction to take or the decisions to make, He will guide you.

Isaiah 42:16 [NIV]
“I [God] will lead the blind by ways they have no known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.  These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

When you can’t see how you can pay the bills or supply clothes and food for you and your family, He will provide.

Philippians 4:19 [AMP]
“And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

And when you can’t calm the anxious thoughts that race through your mind, share them with Him.

1 Peter 5:7 [AMP]
“Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him [Jesus], for He cares for you affectionately and cares
about you watchfully.”


When you can’t see how sense can be made of this mess, He will make it all work out, somehow and in His time.

Romans 8:28 (NIV)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”   

Trust in the One who will never leave you to handle this life on your own.

Deuteronomy 31:8
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

When you can’t, He can.  The choice is yours.  He’s waiting for you.


 (For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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The Story Behind the Headline

3/5/2013

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We are surrounded by news reports.   Practically everywhere we go newspapers, televisions and electronic
devices broadcast streaming news headlines 24 hours every day to keep us updated on both local and worldwide events.   While it’s important to know what’s going on in the world, the consistent, steady exposure to the many accounts of horrific events has left us inured to it.    
  
“Mother; 3 children missing”
         
“Body found”
         
“Massive pile-up on highway”

“Budget cuts”
     
“Major storm”

Headlines  such as these have become commonplace to us; so much so that we are either no longer moved or moved very little by the words we read and hear.   Unable to have our emotions stirred, we are unable to feel any compassion for the victims or the victim’s family members, and as a result give little thought as to the extent this life-altering event has had on them.   Truth be told, it’s more common for people now to grow tired of hearing a news story that remains at the forefront of reporting agencies for too many consecutive days.  We want to hear something else – something new – as we struggle to deal with the pains and tiredness in our own existence.

Both bad news and the weariness of the constant barrage of it are not modern day inventions. 
Think about the following in comparison to our own current day society and see if you can’t notice some similarities.

In Jerusalem around the time of Christ, Jews had to pay 50% or more of their income to the government in taxes; slavery was common, with slaves either born into it, forced into it as a prisoner of war, or else they sold themselves into it to pay off debts; there were riots and uprisings against the establishment; rich people comprised roughly 5-7% of the population while around 70% of the population struggled to survive as they lived in poverty conditions.  
 
Politicians tried to side-step tough issues or uncomfortable situations and opted to take the easier path (for them, at least and usually only for the short term), or else would detour it altogether by turning the responsibility over to someone else, who would in turn either return it to the initiator by refusing to accept it, or else pass it along to another (usually lesser-in-rank) politician to deal with it.  Finally, they would grudgingly implement an act when they were forced into it by a well-timed threat of being reported (usually to a higher political authority) and would invariably accompany their decision by placing the blame and the repercussions for the act onto the heads of those who had demanded it in the first place.  (Read about Pilate in Matthew 27 to see this process played out.)  

For all of our technological advances, society surely has not changed much in the last two thousand years.    And yet in the midst of all of this poverty, oppression and hopelessness, something new did happen that changed the face of mankind forever.

Luke 2:10
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

What was this good news?   Christ, the Messiah, was sent to free us, to heal us, to release us from subjugation, and to show us the way of salvation.

Luke 4:18-19 (AMP)
“The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].”

Talk about good news!  You would think that such incredible news would be widely and  enthusiastically embraced by this hurting and hopeless population, yet that was not the case.  While there were those who did eagerly accept it, there were many more people who did not.  Some refused to accept a Messiah who did not come as a conquering warrior with His legions of soldiers to rout the Romans who had oppressed them for so long so that a new kingdom – a Godly kingdom – could be set up in place of Roman rule.  Others who had only known a life full of hardships could not believe that they truly could be free, and instead chose to ignore this message of hope as they continued on in their life of never-ending despair and drudgery.  And still others, who were used to the religious traditions with its many hundreds of laws and rules that must be followed, could not believe that salvation could come to them as easily as believing on the Christ.  These individuals could not see the story behind the headline and missed out on the “great joy” the angel spoke of that is for all of us.

Colossians 1:19-20
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Christ], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Peace; hope; healing; freedom; salvation.  God, through Christ, offers us all of this and so much more than we could ever imagine.

John 10:10 (KJV)
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I [Jesus] am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

This Good News story will never grow old and is available to us all.  The choice is yours.   He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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    Welcome to my site!  My name is Robin. I'm a Christian writer with a heart-desire to share how I have found (and continue to find) God in the everyday.  Thank you for joining me on this adventure!

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