Perspective Suffering

showering
thinking of annoying stings facing me
facing another day

I have my
weaknesses
failings
sufferings
times when i cannot see

so do we
so do we all
so do we

inside my hall
a woman
clings to her cigarette
outside my walls
a man
telling his wife he got canned
again

working
annoying tasks keep me busier
then i would like to be
waiting for her to tell me how she feels
patiently
feel
how can I keep up
facing another day

I have my
weaknesses
failings
sufferings
times when i cannot see

so do we
so do we all
so do we

down the street
a single mother
holding her baby girl
wondering
how she gonna be
in the city
a troubled man
making his box his home

planning my life
my debts are not
disappearing
sins keep appearing
crushing in
i have my shit and its real

I have my
weaknesses
failings
sufferings
times when i cannot see

so do we
so do we all
so do we

nationwide
families divide
divorces splitting lives
worldwide
starving life
abuses running wild
children crying
wailing

so do we
so do we all
so do we

How to be a friend

Read awesome Post:  What if I am Never Healed? by Brittany Bettger.

Oh, the painful words of those who assume it is OUR LACK OF FAITH that prevents God from "healing us".  How we box God in! I think of Job's friends who came to him in his distress. At first they had compassion on him, but soon they blamed Job for his own suffering. What was God's reaction?

"After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: 'I am angry with you and with your two friends, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was.'"  

Job was right. His suffering was largely unexplainable. It did not make human sense. But God allowed it still. Why? Perhaps for a similar reason that Jesus gave for the blind man:

"His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'  'Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.'" (John 9:2)

Can it be that praise might be give to God because of Job's faithfulness in the midst of suffering? Cannot the process of suffering as well as the healing glorify God? I just rediscovered this verse:

"We give great honor to those who endure under suffering.  Job is an example of a man who endured patiently. From his experience we see how the Lord's plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy." (James 5:11)

Job never got the answer to his "WHY GOD?"  But God did answer.  He answered with Himself.  Job grew closer to God through his suffering.  His Faith grew stronger.  And I bet from that time on, he became a very compassionate and understanding friend able to comfort others in their distress. What's the rest of the story.

And So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning." (Job 42:12)

Let us remember too, as Paul says in Romans, that our second half of life (an eternal second half) will be full of infinite blessing:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will  be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

Perhaps then, even the bitter moments may have a taste of sweetness.  If nothing, if we allow them, our sufferings can make us  more understanding and loving of our fellow sufferers.  

Single Advice FAIL

This was a "How To" I stumbled upon on Valentine's Day. It made me laugh!:)

The how-to site had a "How to Enjoy Being Single" article featured. The ads however were all about finding dating partners, fixing romantic relationships, meeting singles . . . ..

Click to see larger picture.

God's transformation in my life.

Today, I stand transformed by God. I used to be a shy, anxious, frightened, lost, awkward, and sickeningly nice person. I was a young man without a backbone. I had eyes, but no vision. And I doubted everything from life's meaning to my own salvation. I was desperate for love and acceptance, because I did not know how to accept that unconditional love that God bestows on us everyday.

I am confident, not in myself, but in God working through me. I'm confident because he created me (and all of us), with unique abilities and gifts so that we might share his love and truth in a specific and God-inspired way. I'm created by God's design and that gives me unbelievable confidence.

I am content, not because I am rich, which I'm not, or because I have great friends, which I do, but because I know that my worth comes not from people or possessions, but from God. Not only did he create me (and you), but he died for me ( and you). I'm worth that much. You're worth that much.

I know I'm loved, not because people say they love me, or need me, or think that I am great, but because God's love is unconditional and everlasting. No matter how much I screw up and fall flat on my face (which I do often, sometimes literally), I know God still loves me. His word says so.

I do not doubt my salvation, because like the great hymn says "I need no other argument,
I need no other plea, it is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word, The written Word of God, salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through His blood. I do not have a righteousness of my own, but a righteousness that is a gift of God and is by faith.

God has taught me so much through his Word and through many tough life lessons. Through times in the desert, seasons of despair, pain and hardship, hours of joy, moments of truth, and the faithful prayer of Christians, God has truly transformed my life. And the great thing about it all: the transformation is not complete. Like Paul says in Philippians 3: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.