There are days that I encounter difficult situations and trials of various kinds, get pressed from all sides, yet in all of this, I make it through somehow. A guitar cannot produce good sound without the strings pulled taut. A rose petal releases the best fragrance when it is crushed. Being pulled taut and feeling crushed is not a pleasant experience, but those trials will cause someone else’s life to smell better, will bring beautiful music and inspiration to their lives – not because they take pleasure in what you’ve been through, but because you will have the battle scars to show where you’ve been and a life-changing story of how you conquered.
Often people ask “where is God in all of this?”, “why do bad things to happen to good people?”, “why God, why?” Well, what I know is that we have free will, the ability to choose what to do, what to wear, what to say, how to live. A gentleman will never impose or force himself on you. Likewise, God, much as He wants to relate and connect to human beings, will never force Himself on us. We can choose Him or, as we do already, shun Him and only think about Him when we suffer tragedy or go through difficulty.
Isn’t it strange that we human beings make really poor choices and bad decisions and bring so much death and destruction on ourselves and others, then blame God for the terrible results of our decisions, and question Him tirelessly about it?
Maybe we just need to accept that the one who murders made that choice, the one who rapes made that choice, the one who gossips made that choice, the one who is a thorn in your flesh, chose to be that way towards you. One day those who make poor choices will suffer the consequences of them and will pay accordingly. I say this not out of any kind of vindictiveness, but from a place of understanding that every decision and choice I make today will affect tomorrow. If I decide to murder someone, chances are I’ll end up in jail. It’s that simple.
The next time you feel crushed, pressed, or even stressed, think about the way you respond – your words, actions and the general vibe you give out – when hardships come and life gets very challenging. The next time you’re tempted to steal, cheat, gossip, murder, or whatever it is that you and I are challenged to do, let’s make sure to think them through, think about the consequences and how the decisions we make might affect those around us.
As humanity, maybe it’s time we dealt with the reality that a great number of our sorrows come from us having turned away from God’s love and from the principles by which He intended for us to live. A domino effect followed which affected us in more ways than we ever could have imagined. Fortunately, there is hope through Jesus Christ. We no longer need to live life in a way that feels doomed, condemned or hopeless. Though life will still have its fair share of rough and painful moments, at least now we can be assured of a brighter day. Please click on the banner below and let us share more with you and invite you on a journey of discovery with us.
