Did You Know

Think about this, did you know 20 years ago where you would be today in your life, how about a week ago, or even two days ago?

Things happen so quickly; circumstances and situations change things rapidly.  Think about the weather and how it can alter the course of a person’s life almost instantly. You can be happy as a lark one day and devastated the next. There are things that happen in our lives that we can’t control. What I am trying to say is we are not infallible and we are not in control of many things that take place in our lives.

How many people have lost their jobs because of the economy and how many have lost their homes. There are many people living in the streets that never thought it could, or would, ever happen. When the stock market went down, people lost all kinds of money and they were devastated, not believing what had happened to them. Many people had beautiful homes and in a second a tornado struck and their house and most everything they owned was wiped out in minutes. All the things that people had their hopes and dreams tied up in were gone before they could comprehend it.

We tend to hang on to the things we own like they are our only hope. It seems like we accumulate more and more stuff. We have bought into the "keep up with the Jones’" mentality. It is like we think we can take all this stuff we accumulate with us. Let me ask you this, have you ever seen a U-Haul Truck following a hearse? Unless you are buying to resell, give to someone else or to use yourself you don’t need it.

Question: do you buy things just to make you happy? If you depend on things to make you happy you will probably end up being a hoarder and never be satisfied or happy with what you have.

I am not writing these things to condemn anyone I have experienced some of these things myself. When you have been around as long as I have you learn that there are many things that happen to you that you can’t control and many things happen because you bring them on yourself!

Another thing I learned is that nothing I possess can ever bring me true and lasting happiness. I have learned that only the Lord can give you the peace, love and joy that can last forever.

Did you know what happened to Job? He lost his kids, most of his servants and all his animals, and what did he say? "I came naked from my mother’s womb and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything that I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" After he had lost all those things he was stricken in his health. He had boils from head to toe and his wife told him to curse God and die and this was his answer, "You talk like a godless woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?"

How could he respond like he did? I think in the midst of it all God’s peace was with him. He couldn’t understand it all, but he trusted God in the situation. I hope that we will never experience what Job went through.

One of the things I have learned is, we all have a cross to carry. Crosses were not meant to be easy, just ask the Lord.  He knew what He would suffer when it came to the cross.  It was not only heavy but it was rough and very painful.  Did you know that the cross Jesus bore was our cross and the pain He felt was our pain. For Jesus, when He said, "it was finished," it was like the song said, "It is finished the battle is over, it is finished there would be no more war, it is finished the end of the conflict, it is finished and Jesus is Lord."

He went to the grave victorious and rose victorious because He overcame the sting of death and the grave couldn’t hold Him. So when your circumstances and situations seem to be more than you can bear I hope you remember what Jesus did in your place. Then think about what Job went through. In the end Jesus brought forgiveness to the whole human race and became the Savior to all who would believe in Him and Job overcame and was blessed mightily for his faithfulness.

And if we faithfully carry our cross I know that the Lord will bless us also. Did you know things always look darker just before the dawn? So hang in there and in the end victory will be yours! Praise the Lord.

Have a great day and God bless.