There are somethings that we are meant to feel pain about I think.
I've been going through a lot of changes recently and my journal is too far away to go grab so I thought I write a censored version of my thoughts here, so bear with me.
When a baby goes to sleep, he isn't thinking about the pain in the world, he's not thinking about the bill he has to pay or the fight he just had with his sisters a moment before he fell asleep. A baby goes to sleep with peace of mind.
The more I step into adulthood the more I see that reality of being "unburdened" slip the grasp of my fingers. It seems that every day I hear worse and worse news both on the news and in my personal life.
I'm definitely not trying to be a Debby Downer or anything like that. I'm just being honest. Life gets harder as we get older and that is okay.
It's okay to say you're struggling, it's okay to not know what to do. Sometimes, when I am confronted with so much pain around me -- my default response is numbness. It's like I can't take in one more story of pain because as a human, I've only a limited amount of compassion and sadness I can handle on my own strength.
I watched the movie "The Good Dinosaur" today, and I am pretty sure the crying I was doing falls more towards the category of weeping than it does movie crying.
Alro, the main character was born afraid (as we all are) and [SPOILER] his adventures bring him to a point of decision. He must decide between fear and love.
Fear and love can not coexist. I'll be honest and say that God has been convicting me of this lately.
I've allowed fear to have the final word more often than not and because of it I'm missing out on the fullness that God has for me.
Arlo's papa said something to him in the middle of the movie that hit me so deeply (cue tears). It was a response to his son's overwhelming fear -- "I'm not like you, Papa".
Before I spill the beans on this new motto for life courtesy of Papa Dinosaur, we need to talk about comparison.
There are plenty of quotes about comparison that I think we gloss over. We need to take a moment a zero in on these. Comparison destroys joy. It's the key to unlocking an unhappy and unproductive life because it takes the focus off of what's actually happening in reality to what my mind or your mind can project onto people.
That's a lot to talk about so I'll save deeper discussions for personal face to face conversations.
After Arlo emphatically tried to make his dad understand why he wasn't good enough for this and that based off of his own fear-based perception of reality -- Papa reminded Arlo "You are me and more".
I can't tell you exactly why this struck me so deeply, but it reminded me of the verse where Jesus tells his disciples that greater [works] than these you will do. That might be out of context but I think the point still stands: we are made for great things and fear + comparison (aka satan) keep us from it.
Now, what is it that brings us to a point where we could be like Jesus so much that greater miracles than even He performed would be seen on the earth?
I think the answer lies in pain. Not fully of course, not everything requires pain to be considered worthwhile change. But, all in all -- I've noticed some of the best things come from a process that is filled with pain. And maybe pain is just a result of the fall of mankind and we aren't even supposed to have that experience. Yet, how good is God that he can use even the darkest and most trying circumstances to bring about joy and beauty.
I know this isn't a full blog, and it might not have been easy to read (English wise), but I wanted to remind you all that because of God's mercy and compassion the pain you experience in life isn't for nothing. Comparison will seem closer than a brother at first but in the end it will take everything from you if you let it. You are more than you could ever imagine, and if you'll say yes to God, He will lead you there step by step, day by day.
Love you all. Feel free to post your thoughts as well.
PS. I promise I'll start writing more, eventually. Give me grace as I learn to be me without comparison.
I've been going through a lot of changes recently and my journal is too far away to go grab so I thought I write a censored version of my thoughts here, so bear with me.
When a baby goes to sleep, he isn't thinking about the pain in the world, he's not thinking about the bill he has to pay or the fight he just had with his sisters a moment before he fell asleep. A baby goes to sleep with peace of mind.
The more I step into adulthood the more I see that reality of being "unburdened" slip the grasp of my fingers. It seems that every day I hear worse and worse news both on the news and in my personal life.
I'm definitely not trying to be a Debby Downer or anything like that. I'm just being honest. Life gets harder as we get older and that is okay.
It's okay to say you're struggling, it's okay to not know what to do. Sometimes, when I am confronted with so much pain around me -- my default response is numbness. It's like I can't take in one more story of pain because as a human, I've only a limited amount of compassion and sadness I can handle on my own strength.
I watched the movie "The Good Dinosaur" today, and I am pretty sure the crying I was doing falls more towards the category of weeping than it does movie crying.
Alro, the main character was born afraid (as we all are) and [SPOILER] his adventures bring him to a point of decision. He must decide between fear and love.
Fear and love can not coexist. I'll be honest and say that God has been convicting me of this lately.
I've allowed fear to have the final word more often than not and because of it I'm missing out on the fullness that God has for me.
Arlo's papa said something to him in the middle of the movie that hit me so deeply (cue tears). It was a response to his son's overwhelming fear -- "I'm not like you, Papa".
Before I spill the beans on this new motto for life courtesy of Papa Dinosaur, we need to talk about comparison.
There are plenty of quotes about comparison that I think we gloss over. We need to take a moment a zero in on these. Comparison destroys joy. It's the key to unlocking an unhappy and unproductive life because it takes the focus off of what's actually happening in reality to what my mind or your mind can project onto people.
That's a lot to talk about so I'll save deeper discussions for personal face to face conversations.
After Arlo emphatically tried to make his dad understand why he wasn't good enough for this and that based off of his own fear-based perception of reality -- Papa reminded Arlo "You are me and more".
I can't tell you exactly why this struck me so deeply, but it reminded me of the verse where Jesus tells his disciples that greater [works] than these you will do. That might be out of context but I think the point still stands: we are made for great things and fear + comparison (aka satan) keep us from it.
Now, what is it that brings us to a point where we could be like Jesus so much that greater miracles than even He performed would be seen on the earth?
I think the answer lies in pain. Not fully of course, not everything requires pain to be considered worthwhile change. But, all in all -- I've noticed some of the best things come from a process that is filled with pain. And maybe pain is just a result of the fall of mankind and we aren't even supposed to have that experience. Yet, how good is God that he can use even the darkest and most trying circumstances to bring about joy and beauty.
I know this isn't a full blog, and it might not have been easy to read (English wise), but I wanted to remind you all that because of God's mercy and compassion the pain you experience in life isn't for nothing. Comparison will seem closer than a brother at first but in the end it will take everything from you if you let it. You are more than you could ever imagine, and if you'll say yes to God, He will lead you there step by step, day by day.
Love you all. Feel free to post your thoughts as well.
PS. I promise I'll start writing more, eventually. Give me grace as I learn to be me without comparison.
