Darkness, But Lighter

I See the Crazy World

Painting by Myra Alibrando “Cold Blue”

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Separate 99-second nature audio regarding Life is Relationship (bonus)

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That Hole Sucking Me In

There is so much bad news and so much deception everywhere in our world. When I keep looking at it, I feel myself falling into that dark hole of hopelessness but, thanks to decades of embracing Biblical advice, I remind myself of God's commandments to focus on the good things.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

God is not some optimistic airhead who refuses to see the bad and solve problems. He is the God promising to ultimately destroy death as the last enemy. 

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death

In Psalms, David reminded me that fretting only leads to evil or harm.

Psalm 37:8 Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.

The world is cursed and marinating in rebellion against God, His commandments, and His people. What hope can I expect from the world?

My Favorite Things, All from God

It is creation (nature) and love and hope that causes me to cherish this life.

James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Fighting and Winning

But God also calls us to overcome. Overcome what? Bad people? Oh, I have my hands full just wrestling with and overcoming my own shortcomings I know about. That doesn't include the consequences of foolishness and error in me that are complete blind spots. 

Beginning with overcoming fretting about all the evil in the world. When my fretting accumulates to the point of starting to lose hope, it is kind of telling God I am losing confidence in all His promises. I am also acting like His advice about focusing on the wonderful realities of life right in front of me, is advice that’s OK to ignore. What am I thinking?

Is This Possible?

God has so much good news for us.  The good news and blessings are also overwhelming, but on the good side. There are too many to count.

The promises alone don't cheer me up unless I truly believe those promises are real, true, and apply to me. It is a yes on all three! So all I have to do is turn my attention there, and for years, it puts me in a much better frame of mind. 

Another promise is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) is all kinds of good stuff including love, but not sad love. There’s joy. There’s peace. What? Even kindness and patience.

I Share and Have More

In that positive state of mind, my negativity is not contagious and my ability to benefit others becomes possible. Suddenly, instead of looking at all the people who are threats or reason for me to complain: compromising, naive, lazy, or don't care about me - I see them as vulnerable. In my world, are they being crushed like me? Me crushed, even though I have all of these spiritual weapons. What do they have? They have bills. They have fears. They have problems. They hear all the same bad news. They hear the propaganda. They are vulnerable to so many lies about themselves and who they really are. They truly need encouragement. What can I do? There are too many in need. 

Unimportant, Except to Some

I can help one. I cannot always help that one, but sometimes I can help. I can probably help more than one person a day and maybe in different ways. The help I bring may not be the solution for them, but at least I don't darken their world and can potentially be a light, something good in their day. 

In a strange way, when I think about easing the burden of others, it seems like my own burden is lifted, or not as heavy. I wonder if that's God.

Have a great week.

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