be encouraged

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

God blesses the people who patiently endure testing.

(paraphrased from James 1 – I found this in an old journal from exactly three years ago, but it’s a mish mash of different versions of scripture and perhaps the person speaking to me.)

... not for me. I tried twice. it’s hard.

http://www.rifledesign.com/blog/june09/jillandmatt.jpg

What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes. Our real test is in truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not happen by chance – they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly working out His own purposes. – Oswald Chambers

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.” – Lewis Carroll

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” – Robert Frost

sometimes when things seem terribly wrong or i’m highly offended or life seems to be falling apart, i try to remind myself that “surely this is not the best God has planned for me.” and then i breathe a little bit easier and make a plan to move forward.

worry about nothing. pray about everything.

“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”

- Barack Obama

and if you’re trying to paint a picture, but you’re not sure which colors belong, just paint what you see. don’t let anyone say it’s wrong. – wilco, what light

”...and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be…” (1 John 3:2)

Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, ’ Well, what if I were in that circumstance?’ We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life – gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.When we become simply a promoter of a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God – it is only believing out belief about Him. Jesus said, ”...unless you…become as little children…” (mat 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, ”...believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me.” Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in – but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.

- by Oswald Chambers

I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together. – Marilyn Monroe