Though the storm rages, and the wind roars
I am not afraid. Though the tears well and the pain is crippling, I am not afraid. Though the sadness overwhelms, and the fear invades I am not afraid. My God is magnificent. He is louder than the storm; His voice can be heard over the howl of the wind. He is softer than the tears; His hand touches my pain, and brings me peace. He is wiser than the sadness; His words calm my fear and quell my restless spirit. My God is magnificent; And I am not afraid.
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I would like to take the time to address an issue that I have seen and experienced first hand in the virtual world that has begun to weigh heavily on my heart.
I have noticed that there is an increasing feeling of anonymity on the Internet and social media that is causing sinful people to act just like that- like sinful people. This would be an unnecessary observation, but the increasing amount of young teens that have a presence online and the heightened emotions that are prevalent at such an age are cause for attention. Teens especially seem to be reaching out for attention and affirmation, and are finding instead that they are more often than not ridiculed and even urged to harm themselves for their comments. These teens get online and they comment on a particular band or brand of clothing, or hairstyle, and if their opinion differs from the opinion of someone else, the first teen is taunted, bashed, and hated on. In some cases, I have seen offenders tell the accused to "Go kill yourself," or "Go cut yourself some where else."* This is unacceptable behavior. And before you tell me that social media platforms have safeguards in place where one can report such incidents, I know. I can report every horrifying comment I see until my fingers fall off, but for every comment I report, fifteen more spring up in its place. Let me just say that it is never EVER acceptable to tell anyone to "kill themselves, harm themselves, or harm another person" in any way shape or form. It is NEVER an okay thing to do. You have no idea where this person is spiritually, you don't know what they could be struggling with. No matter what your opinion of their post, picture, life event, or anything they put on social media, you have no right to tell them to kill themselves. If you don't agree/don't like/etc with what you see, you have two options. If you know the person well enough to have a face-to-face conversation, you can respectfully share your opinion and ask them why they believe what they do. If you do not know the person well enough to have a face-to-face conversation, you are better off ignoring the information altogether and moving on with your life. If you wouldn't walk up to that person and say what you're typing, you have no reason to type it. I wish there was a class on this for middle school/high school students. So many teens don't realize the impact of their words until much, much later, long after the damage is done. If I could, I would march into every high school and middle school and speak about how dangerous and deadly people's comments via the Internet can be. The next time you want to comment on a post you don't agree with, do it with kindness. And if you feel the need to comment on a picture of someone, do it with kindness. If you cannot find anything kind to say, do not say it. Thank you if you read all of that! :) I don't know how I feel about the direction my country is taking in regard to racism and the problem that it is.
I think it is widely disproportional and not accurately addressed. There is a problem with racism in our country, but it is not a problem of race. I would agree that there is a problem with our country, but that the main problem, the underlying issue, is not "blacks vs. whites" or "white privilege." It is a problem of man's sin nature. This is not something that can be "solved" or "magically erased" or "Worked away." This goes far deeper than racial prejudice or hatred. This is deep-rooted in a history of sin that began at the moment of the Fall. I can't understand why people are so fired up about racism, but with the same breath they use to shout their "EQUALITY!" They scream "Down with the Christian, Down with Jesus, Down with the One True Way." I simply refuse to comply. I refuse to act. I refuse to see until you are no longer blind. I will, however, do everything in my power to get you to see. I wonder if we realize how much we would face to lose if God decided to stop protecting us from everything He keeps us from for just one day. I wonder, if God gave us one day where He didn't keep us from anything, didn't stop any of the harm that was meant to come our way- how much we would actually understand about His protective power.
I wonder, if God allowed us to live one day in Job's shoes, would we then see how much He guides and directs our paths? I wonder, if God let Satan loose in our lives, just for one day, would we then understand how essential He is to our very existence? Would it change the way we look at the world? Would it alter the way we view our circumstances? Would we want to live differently because of it? Just a thought. -p.s. Happy Finals to everyone experiencing the college grind right now- drink lots of tea and spend lots of time with your friends! They will help you stay sane when you want to rip your hair out from stress! "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God." Phil 4:6 What do you do when you don't know what to do?
You pray. For the first time since I began liking One Direction, I knowingly did not watch one of their interviews/livestreams. I knowingly did not participate. I don't know how I feel about it. My heart kind of hurts, but at the same time I feel like I'm growing for the better.
Right now you all are probably thinking that I'm insane, and that my petty little problems are of no concern. You're right. But this is (albeit small) a milestone in my life, and I'm choosing to lay it out before you. Do with it what you will, but know that I am trusting you with a piece of myself, and that is all I am doing. I just want you to know that I'm growing. I'm trying to move past some things that have been stunting my growth, and even though it's painful, I'm doing it. I'm purposefully giving up the things that brought me earthly happiness, in order to make room for the things that with bring me lasting joy. I hope you can see past the silliness and to the bigger picture within this post. It is a story of change, and loss, and discovery of true happiness in something more important than myself and my own selfish desires. I have finally broken free. I am free from the chains that have kept me bound within the confines of legalism and despair for over ten years.
I had been physically free of these chains for two years, but the mental and emotional bondage remained in my life, suffocating the happiness and joy I longed to feel right out of me. For so long my joy had been repressed, my creativity stifled, that although I was free from the repression, I subconsciously imposed that same restraint upon myself. I unknowingly enforced upon myself the same restrictions I had been trying to be free of. When I reached college, that began to change. I began to see myself the way God wanted me to be seen. I began to understand that legalism is not all there is to life, and that "being Christ-like" has nothing to do with what you're wearing or how you behave; it has everything to do with who you are in Him. Where your heart is, the way you treat others, the way you love others. Being Christ-like is living for Christ when nobody's watching, taking risks for Him, His way. It took me a while to see that, but gradually I came to the realization that I was holding myself back from the potential God had for me. So I started living God's way. I started to learn how to love others His way, to treat others His way. I learned to not lean so heavily on rules and standards and appearances, but to judge myself first. I adopted the phrase "you do you," which basically means to focus on yourself and your own shortcomings before attempting to address the issues of others. I learned to stop judging others. Period. I still struggle with it, but I try to turn off that part of my brain when it comes to someone's appearance or way of speaking. I have made many more friends and built dozens of relationships since I have started this new way of life, and I can't tell you how much happier I am. God blessed me with the courage to undo my own self-imposed chains, and I have let go of the inhibitions that come with legalism. I got a tattoo on the 30th of September, and I couldn't be happier knowing that I glorify my God in all that I do. He is greater than my highest of highs and my lowest of lows, God is greater than my deepest joy and my most suffocating sadness. He is my end and my beginning, my only true Love. It brings me joy to mark His name on my heart. If any of you are into the news at all, you've probably heard about a woman named Brittany Maynard. Brittany is terminally ill, and she decided that she wanted to end her life on her own terms, with drugs prescribed by her doctor for with the sole purpose of euthanizing her.
I don't know that I could do that. I'm not here to demean her suffering, or to condemn her in judgment, because I have no right. I want to share my thoughts. First, I cannot imagine allowing someone to take my life before I've fully lived it, because even if I check every item off of my bucket list, what if I wake up the next morning and think of something I haven't done yet but would like to do? Second, what if God had something incredible in mind for me, but because I had the free will to choose to leave my imperfect life, I miss out on the biggest earthly blessing He had in store for me? Finally, why would I try to control the outcome of my life to the point of death? Why should I feel the need to control my life to that extent? Why am I not content to cling to the protection and comfort of God's promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me, and that there is no place I can go that I am outside of His reach? Once again, I am not condemning Brittany, I am simply trying to think through some of the questions she could possibly be having. Also, I'm trying to understand the complexity of this conundrum. There are some things in life that you just absolutely CANNOT do, and SHOULD NOT even attempt to do, because it will only cause you grief.
1.) You CANNOT please everyone. Period. 2.) You CANNOT comfort every hurt person you encounter. Some people just do not want to be helped. And that is perfectly fine. Let God do His thing in their life, okay? 3.) You CANNOT be exactly what every person needs you to be, all the time. If you could, God would not exist. And everyone would be a lot happier with you. 4.) You CANNOT be right 100% of the time. If you were, you'd be rich and all of the world would hate you because you ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, UGH. 5.) You CANNOT give everyone your full attention every second of every day. You would be up for hours if that were the case. 6.) You CANNOT save every friend from heartache, even if you try. Sadly. 7.) You CANNOT scoop that last serving of peanut butter out of the jar. It has been proven scientifically impossible. Really. 8.) You CANNOT accomplish all of your life goals in a single moment- even if you win the lottery. It just won't happen, because you are constantly inventing new goals for yourself. It's a great cycle, isn't it? 9.) You CANNOT adopt every single pet in the humane society, no matter how much you want to. And trust me, you don't REALLY want to. Imagine how much poop you'd be scooping if you actually did adopt all five hundred puppies, kittens, and turtles in that place. YUCK. 10.) You CANNOT live life with regrets. Well, with this one, you can, but you will be a very unhappy person and you wouldn't really be truly living if you allowed yourself to wallow in regrets. So don't wallow. Learn from your mistakes, move on, and resolve to do things differently in the future. That is the only way to grow. Okay, well this has been fun, but I have some sleeping in to do, so PRAISE THE LORD FOR FALL BREAK WOOOOOOO God says, "Be patient; I am planning great things for you."
God says, "Do not be anxious, do not worry; I have better things in mind for you." God says, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but I look at your heart." God asks, "Are you still with me? Are you really trusting Me with everything?" God asks, "Do you really love Me as much as you say you do, or is your love superficial?" God says, "Let your love be genuine, stay far away from evil. Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo each other in showing honor. I am calling you to a life of servitude, will you answer Me?" God says, "This life I have blessed you with, be a wise steward of it. Do not waste your minutes and your hours on things that do not glorify Me or bring honor to My Name." --These are some of the things He has been laying on my heart recently. :) |
JessI'm generally not that exciting, but on occasion I am known to 'rock the boat'. |