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21 Days of Posts – Day 20 – Connections Between People

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Welcome to Day 20! In this post I want to talk about connections, mostly connections between people.

Most humans crave connection to other humans. I say most, not all, because there are people out there who would rather connect with their dog, or cat, or pet python than deal with the chaos of connecting to other people. Connecting to other people can be messy and complicated, as everyone brings their own baggage into a relationship, any kind of relationship. It doesn’t always have to be messy, but more times than not, messy is the operative description.

We crave connection with other people for a variety of reasons. Security. Looking for a kindred spirit. Someone to share experiences with. Love. Some things in life are just better shared with other people. Food. Music. Excitement. Laughter. Pain. Sorrow. Heartache. All of these are generally better when shared with other people.

But how do we make these connections in the first place? I could copy and paste both previous lists right here and be mostly right again. Shared likes, shared dislikes, pain, trauma-all are ways that we connect. Some experiences are more binding than others. If all we ever did with our friends was go out to eat or to a concert, we would develop connections with them, but not as deeply as if we were to experience intense joy or deep sorrow with them. Intensity of experience factors in heavily when we discuss the strength of our connections with others.

Another key component of making strong connections is dealing with unexpected circumstances. This can be as joyous as playing a new game for the first time with a group of friends, or as tragic as losing a loved one, family or friend. When unexpected things happen, bonds are formed that are tough to break. Ask anyone who goes through a traumatic experience with a group. Ask a military veteran how deep the bonds with his or her unit are, especially if they’ve seen combat.

Connections between people make the world go ’round. The saying “it’s not what you know, but who you know” is so true in so many circumstances. We find that unfair at times, but just as “luck favors the prepared”, so too can we say “luck favors the connected”. People get jobs and find opportunities all the time because of who they know.

High-dollar, luxury item salesmen know the power of connection all too well. If they can make a connection with a potential customer, that customer is more likely to decide they really do need that giant TV, extravagant boat, higher-priced car, or totally useless memorabilia item. Not making a  connection will tend to result in no sale unless the customer had decided what they wanted before they walked into the store.

Not every connection we make is going to be life-changing or even cause us to think twice, but there are three connections we all should make that WILL make a difference in our lives. You know what they are…connection to God, connection to people, and connection to purpose. Sound familiar? I hope so. How are your three connections doing? What do you need to do today, tomorrow, next week, or next month to make those connections stronger?

Thanks for reading to the end! Only one more blog post to go! Join me tomorrow for one last post in this series, then please follow me as I continue to post throughout my journey to complete a book. That series will most likely be weekly, not daily, and will be interspersed with other posts on various topics. More details to follow!

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Mario Purisic on Unsplash

 

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21 Days of Posts – Day 19 – Why I Write About Broken Characters

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Day 19 and I’m writing about writing again. Specifically, I’m writing about why I include broken characters in my works of fiction. It doesn’t matter if the character is a good guy or a bad guy in my stories, they can be broken.

Again, duh! That’s why we love our favorite stories, to see our broken characters overcome their brokenness or, conversely, see how broken the bad guy can be. Sure, that’s true. We love the antiheroes, the down-on-their-lucks, the once-was-bad-but-now-see-the-light conversions. It’s what makes many stories work. It’s the bread and butter of so many action movies, love stories, sports chronicles, and crime dramas. There are entire TV networks that wouldn’t have any programming if not for the shows about really pretty, but broken characters.

The real question is-why? Why do we love these characters? Many of them are violently altered, psychologically damaged, or are just the unluckiest people (characters) alive. Because we love it when things get fixed. We love it when characters mend. We’re tickled by serial character arcs where the good guys become the bad guys, then return to goodness again, or not.

I generally rip things away from my characters “off screen”. I introduce my characters already broken and sometimes let the reader get a glimpse of how they were before. Not that I don’t rip things away from them during the events of the story, but they generally start out missing something. Whether that something is the entire point of the story, or I put them back together as a bonus for completing whatever quest I send them on will vary from story to story.

Their brokenness will invariably be based on things that I gravely fear – the loss of a spouse, severe bodily damage, the loss of a job or livelihood, and more, are on my list of “things I never want to experience”. So I write about them. I don’t know exactly why, but I suspect it is an attempt to comprehend the tragedy without actually experiencing it. With my characters, I can write their reaction, then if I feel it isn’t right, I can rewrite it. You can’t do that in real life, at least not easily.

It’s a challenge to realistically show the development and healing of a character. It forces me to really dive into a character, to ask that character dozens of questions, about their likes, dislikes, family, temperament, and all manner of other probing questions. The nice thing is they can never get angry, or clam up, or change the subject. If so, I would have to ask myself why this character, who owes their existence to me, is acting up…

It’s simple really. Characters drive stories, and whether we can relate to their tragedy or simply be glad we haven’t experienced it, broken characters have the ability to pull us into a story, make us feel the emotions and reactions and cause us to take an interest in what happens to each of them, even the bad ones.

Thanks for reading to the end! Only two more days left!

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Aimee Vogelsang on Unsplash

 

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21 Days of Posts – Day 18 – Why I Listen to Billie Eilish

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Day 18! Closing in on the end of this 21 day project! Thanks for sticking with me!

This post will expound on my appreciation for the work of one Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell, known by fans as Billie Eilish or just Billie. She splashed onto the scene in 2015 when she dropped Ocean Eyes on Soundcloud much like a previous artist I wrote about back on Day 14, Marshmello. She collaborates and performs shows with her brother Finneas, who produced Ocean Eyes for its publication on the previously mentioned music website.

Why, oh why, you ask, do you like this odd, unpredictable, earthy teenager’s music? It can be so problematic, so disturbing, so…odd.

Yes, I say, to all of that. Her music can be problematic. She sings about topics many would prefer not to hear about, for a number of reasons. The songs that are free of these disturbing and definitely odd topics are generally incredible. I’ve mentioned before that I not only sing bass, but love to listen to it and Billie’s songs provide that bass groove in spades. Deep, intricate, and imaginative bass lines are a hallmark of her music, as is her breathy, some say ethereal, voice. Oddball rhythms, ambient noise, passionate, but flexible choruses, and probing, intimate lyrics all combine to make some great songs.

I’ll skip any more introduction of the artist. If you’ve heard of her, you’ve probably already checked out her official page and her Wikipedia page. If you haven’t and are interested, the links are right there. I’m going to jump into the recommended tracks portion of this post.

First, the uptempo tracks. You Should See Me In A Crown, Bellyache, and My Strange Addiction all have interesting bass lines, quirky vocals and lyrics, and have a slightly dark overtone to them. The broodiness in the lyrics is countered by the vocal delivery. Watch and its remix &Burn are a little lighter in tone, and both still sound great, whether you like the “rapless” Watch or the “rap enhanced” &Burn. They all will work your speakers hard to reproduce the bass lines.  They’ll get your head boppin’, particularly one infectious bit of the chorus in Bellyache.

Now for the really impressive tracks. These are all downtempo and lot more contemplative. Still quirky at times. I Love You, When The Party’s Over, and Six Feet Under are rich in plaintive narrative about love, relationships, and loss. Billie’s breathy vocals on I Love You, plus the ambient noises and hints of confusion and chaos make it one of my favorite tracks.

Which leaves just a few more tracks that are in the middle between these two extremes. Hostage, Ocean Eyes, and Lovely, a duet with Khalid, are all very atmospheric and experimental at times. They each have interesting lyrics and paint great sound pictures with the instruments. Indeed, Ocean Eyes, with its lush sounds, is the song that started the whole giant swell of notoriety for Billie.

Does her music have issues? A few, yes, but the gems mentioned here are exactly why I listen to her often, as long as I have a good stereo system available. Unless you’re sporting $300 Beats headphones, these tracks will not sound anywhere near as good as they really are. Even then, once you hear these songs on a good system, feeling the bass right in your chest, headphones don’t do them justice anymore.

Thanks for reading to the end! I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe found a new artist you like.

Three more days of posts to go! Come back tomorrow to learn more about my writing style, then we’ll finish with two articles on relationships and faith.

 

Photo Credit – crommelincklars – Billie Eilish @Pukkelpop 2019

 

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21 Days of Posts – Day 17 – Contributing Talents to the Church

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Welcome to Day 17! This post is about contributing talents to the church. It’s just a few thoughts that have been rattling around in my big, empty head for a while.

This post is about talents. That sounds redundant, but I want it to be clear that I’m not referring to spiritual gifts. Those may or may not line up with talents. Spiritual gifts are generally separated into the following cubicles – prophecy, teaching, service, wisdom, faith, distinguishing of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues. Other gifts that are listed at times include administration, mercy, and miracles (I selfishly kind of want that gift). These are NOT what I refer to in this post.

I mean talents, like singing, playing musical instruments, drawing, painting, crafting, writing, speaking, acting, and more. These talents could be natural, or learned, or both. Between talents and spiritual gifts, a church member can generally find their niche in the body of the church. I wrote about that yesterday. Not all talents are directly or obviously applicable to the needs of the church. The ability of a church member to make really beautiful pens from turning wood is not a weekly need of the church to fulfill its responsibilities. However, when those pens are donated and sold and those funds are made available to the church, that talent both enriches and is enriched by the furthering of the church mission.

Other talents are obviously useful. The talented members of the worship team, from the singers and instrumentalists on stage to the technical wizards who make the sound, video and lights all work together, are an obvious asset to the church. The giving of the member’s time and talents enhances the worship experience, bringing the congregation as close to the throne of God as possible every Sunday morning. The teachers and leaders who are in each classroom every Sunday employ their talent to teach and reach others, which ties in neatly with the spiritual gift of teaching. Without them, there would be no real connection between members, as it is impossible to develop close connections in a large worship service. Connections require smaller groups, more intimate conversations, and the building of trust and respect.

The church would be very inefficient, possibly even dying, without the diverse talents of its members, who contribute to the mission of the church and help to keep everything running smoothly for those who are unaware of all that goes on behind the scenes and in front of everyone to make church happen. If you are not yet contributing your talents to the church, I challenge you to consider how you might. What do you enjoy doing? I would bet that there is a job that needs done in the church where your skills and talents would be useful. Pray today for God to show you what that is, or if you already know, that He give you the resolve, or the courage, to contribute that talent to the church. You will be blessed if you do.

Thanks for reading to the end! Tomorrow’s post will be another peek into my musical tastes and the following day another insight into my writing style. We’ll finish the 21 days with an exploration into connections between people, and another look at the Christian life.

Photo Credit – Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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21 Days of Posts – Day 16 – The Church as a Body

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Day 16 – Only a few days left of this fast. I hope it is progressing well for everyone.

Today’s post concerns my thoughts about the church as a body. Many of us are familiar with the passage in 1st Corinthians, chapter 12, where the church is described as a body. The main point of that passage is that the church must be in unity to be effective, and the diversity of the church members and their spiritual gifts is what makes the church strong and effective.

The comparison starts at verse 12, but the specifics start at verse 15. The absurdity of disparate body parts assuming they are not useful to, or even a part of the body highlights the various roles congregation members play in the work of the church. The cleaning crew is as important as the worship team, which is as important as the various group leaders, who are as important as the deacons and elders. Each one contributes to the body of the church to spread the Gospel of Christ to everyone around them.

Each and every part is important and just as God created our human bodies with many parts that each contribute to our continuing to live, so are the different parts of the church body so very important. Without eyes, the body can’t see; with no teachers, the church can’t teach. With no foot, the physical body is handicapped; with no cleaning crew, the church is rendered uninviting and unable to minister to the community, therefore, handicapped. Everyone can’t be up on stage leading worship to empty seats. Well, they could, but that would be weird…

The church body needs all of its parts to function effectively and in the words of our current study, have a maximum impact on the world around it. This assumes that all parts of the body are healthy, and performing their jobs to the best of their ability. This places some responsibility on the members of the church to find where they fit into the diverse body of the church and to contribute effectively.

I think this analogy is perfect, which is probably why it is included in our current Bible. It’s not the only message Paul had for the Corinthians, but it was an important one. The Corinthians were dealing with the conflict between the temporary “now” and the eternal. They were unsure how to deal with the current “now” and were unsure of their purpose, to some extent. Paul assured them that the work they were doing was important and was of eternal significance.

The passage about the body is preceded in chapter 12 by an explanation of spiritual gifts, and a reminding that not all are gifted the same way. Each person is gifted by God to be able to contribute to the body of the church in different ways, which leads right into the explanation about unity and diversity in the church body. This simple, but powerful analogy is still referenced today as a way to maintain unity in the church and make it effective. It is intimately connected to the first part of the next chapter, Paul’s exposition on love and how necessary it is. That is a blog post for another day…

Thanks for reading to the end! Tomorrow’s post will continue in this thread and talk about contributing talents to the church.

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

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21 Days of Posts – Day 15 – Why I Write About Impossible Decisions

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Day 15! Woot! We’re moving along in this 21 days of posts.

First, I want to thank you for reading these. It’s fun writing them and I hope they are fun to read.

Today’s post expounds on why I write about impossible decisions. This is another one of those times, dear reader, where you may say “duh!” because lots of stories, particularly ones we cherish, are all about impossible decisions. We encounter self-sacrifice, heart-rending choices, and “no way out” situations all the time in books, movies and TV shows.

We are teased by these moments, because they invariably occur at the end of a chapter, or at the end of a movie in a series, or at the end of the current episode of our favorite show. We’re then made to wait, either long enough to turn the page, or for a whole year (or two) for the next movie to come out, or just a week or so before the next episode. The whole time we are debating in our head “how would I choose?” and wondering how our hero or heroine is going to choose.

Sometimes, a third party intervenes, and the impossible situation or choice is taken out of the hands of the lead character. We’re generally let down by such deus ex machina moments, unless it’s in an action movie, because that’s pretty much their bread and butter. We expect it then. Other times, and these are the ones we actually like more (usually), there is no sudden rescue and the choice, once made, results in loss, heartbreak, or other bad things happening that have to be cleaned up later (or not).

One of the best examples of dealing with impossible decisions is found in the CW show The 100. The show is loosely based on a YA series of books by Kass Morgan. The show runs right past the books in the first season and thank goodness for that. I can’t really recommend the books unless you just want to see the differences. With that said, I can’t really recommend the show to the age group the books were targeted for. There are themes and situations in the TV episodes which take place after the events of the books that are very adult, not “young adult”, defined as 12-18 year olds in the literary category. But back to impossible choices…

The lead protagonist Clarke Griffin, is quickly thrown into a leadership position she really doesn’t want. Time after time during the first season, and even more in later seasons, she must make decisions that not only affect her and the people she considers family and friends, but the entire human race. Your head and your heart ache for her as she is repeatedly forced to make decision after decision, none of which have good choices. I highly recommend binging on the first six seasons before the seventh, and probably final, season starts in April 2020.

Enough promoting a favorite show. The point of all that was to say that it really only takes a few of these gut-wrenching decisions to make a book, a movie, or a show your favorite. We vicariously participate in the decision process, weighing the options, seeing no good one, then trying to find that slim chance to escape the choice altogether. This is why I write these into my books. I want to drag the reader along on a journey with the characters and make them feel what the character is feeling. Done right, this is some of the best entertainment available. I hope someday you all will get a chance to read about the impossible decisions my characters will face.

But that means I have to finish, really finish, a book and as I have stated before, I hope these 21 days of posts help to jumpstart me on that journey.

One last list before this post concludes. If you are looking for books or movies that involve impossible decisions, without resorting to Nicholas Sparks style fiction, I recommend the following items:

The Divergent series by Veronica Roth. You have to read all three books to get the full effect.

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. There’s a lot of words to slog through, but the choices and decisions made by multiple characters are intimidating and difficult. I don’t recommend taking the shortcut and watching Game of Thrones as so much detail is left out there, even with all of its adult content.

Rogue One, the best of the Star Wars side story movies, is an excellent example of impossible decisions (and sacrifice).

I hope you enjoyed this post and hope that you maybe found a new favorite show or book. Come back tomorrow as I expound on my thoughts on the church as a body.

Thanks for reading to the end!

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash

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21 Days of Posts – Day 14 – Why I Listen to Marshmello

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

It’s Day 14 and I’ve decided to NOT change my topic, or artist.

Before we get started, I again want to thank you for reading these posts. They are short and many times have no point whatsoever, but I enjoy writing them. I hope they get me fired up and ready to finish a book this year, and I hope you get some amount of pleasure from reading them.

Marshmello. Nope, that is not a misspelling. The EDM artist and DJ, Marshmello, who wanders around in a marshmallow-shaped mask/bucket all the time, much like Daft Punk and Deadmau5 do with their headwear, is kind of a big deal on the music scene. His real name is Christopher Comstock. Ever since 2015, when he released an original track on the music website Soundcloud, he’s been making waves, and not just musical ones, everywhere he goes.

Marshmello has collaborated with musicians across the spectrum, from pop queens like Selena Gomez, to R&B and rap artists, like Khalid and Crankdat to rock bands like A Day to Remember. His music ranges from extremely chilled to wildly chaotic, and the lyricists and lyrics range from the syrupy sweet to the downright vulgar.

Yes, there are a number of tracks of his I don’t listen to, as they glorify the same kinds of terrible ideas that some rap and rock music do – drugs, misogyny, “ghetto life”, gangs, promiscuity, and crudeness of all kinds. But the tracks that these thorny issues are absent from are almost all incredibly enjoyable.

Before I dive into recommended tracks, I feel obligated to explain exactly why I like Marshmello. That’s kind of the point of the post. I like listening to Marshmello for at least three main reasons.

First, I don’t just sing bass, I love to listen to bass, and Marshmello never disappoints when it comes to quality, deep, bass lines. Even in the songs I don’t listen to, the bass lines are awesome. Maybe I can find instrumental versions of those. (Ha ha)

Second, almost all of his work is multi-layered synths and electronic loops over which talented lyricists sing their songs. I grew up fiddling with music on early home computers and that electronic sound is a huge part of my musical psyche. I love the ragged waveforms and thick mixes that Marshmello puts together.

Third, I respect the wide collaborative arc that he has pursued. I’ve already mentioned some of the artists he has worked with and the number is growing. Being able to work with such a wide range of styles is a tribute to his skills as a music producer.

So, what’s safe to listen to from Marshmello?

I highly recommend Sad Songs, Room To Fall, and Rescue Me, all from Joytime III. There are other gems on that same album like Falling to Pieces, Run It Up and Down. The singles Alone, Happier, and Wolves are all excellent choices. That’s a good start, and further exploration I leave to you.

As I mentioned already, you have to be selective about which tracks to listen to, but the talent and the great music are worth the time to curate some lyrics. Google makes it easy to do this, and most of the time, if you know anything about the collaborating artist, you’ll have some idea what kind of lyrics will accompany the music.

So there it is, another look into my musical playlist. I hope it didn’t convince you I was crazy…

Thanks for reading to the end! Tomorrow we’ll circle back to an exposition on one of my recurring writing themes and the day after that, I’ll post about the concept of the church as a body.

 

Photo Credit – Q1q2q3qwertz  –  CC BY-SA 4.0

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21 Days of Posts – Day 13 – Chasing The Lion

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

The title of this post sounds like fun..right?

There are people who do exactly that…chase lions, with nothing more than spears in their hands. We see the pictures of the Maasai hunting parties and are horrified to see them seemingly so woefully under-equipped to take on the fierce felines. The hunt is a rite of passage for the tribe and I have to assume that since the tribe still exists, they are successful more times than they are not.

But this post is not about actually hunting living, breathing lions – it is about chasing a big dream and daring to run after it, even when it scares us. It can be argued, as Mark Batterson does in his book Chase the Lion, our big dream should scare us, because we should be dreaming bigger than we could ever accomplish alone. Nothing but the power of God helping us should make our biggest dream possible. Our faith and trust in what God can do is an essential part of “chasing the lion”.

For me, “chasing the lion” this year is the somewhat less important, but still radically scary task of finishing writing a book. It’s a big goal, even with all of the nine or ten works-in-progress I have, because whichever one of those I want to finish will require completion of the first draft, then weeks of meticulous editing. Even after all that is completed, there is the task of selling it, whether I try to publish traditionally or self-publish.

I know, this sounds like a pretty selfish dream. Why chase this lion? Why not chase another, more impactful lion, one that directly helps other people and builds the kingdom of God? I have only one answer to that, and it’s not a great one. I feel that if I can complete a book, front to back, draft to final edit, blank pages to cover art and content, then I can take on something even more monumental. I feel that the lack of a completed book, with so many in progress, is a major failing, one that I must overcome.

Do I hope the book is successful? Sure. Is financial success a mandatory requirement for me to feel like I succeeded? Nope. If I can complete a project of this scope, I feel like I can do anything. It’s somewhat silly, and marginally selfish, but it is my reality for the present time.

That’s my lion.

What’s your lion? What dream do you have that is so big, so impossible to achieve, it scares you? Do you have one? It doesn’t have to be big to anyone else but you.

Don’t tell me about your lion. Just write it down (it really does make a difference to have it written down) and start running toward the dream, not away from it.

Tomorrow is Day 14 and I may be changing the topic a bit. It will still be about music, but I think the artist will change. That post is still rattling around in my big, mostly empty head, so we won’t know until tomorrow.

Thanks for reading to the end!

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Jeff Rodgers on Unsplash

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21 Days of Posts – Day 12 – Hurt

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Day 12…this one won’t be fun. The topic is hurt and nobody likes to hurt.

Let me clarify, normal people do not like to hurt, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Hurt is to be avoided. Hurt is the opposite of how we want to feel. Unfortunately, this life includes hurt, whether we want it or not. I almost wrote “includes hurt at no charge”, but that would be completely wrong.

There is a price to pay for hurt. When we are hurt, regardless of whether we stub our toe, fail a test, lose a parent, or rebel against our God, we want to remove that hurt, as quickly and as “inexpensively” as possible. We want the quick relief, the deus ex machina, the miracle, to happen as soon as possible so we can go back to living life unencumbered by pain and hurt.

It rarely works that way. Bodily harm must have time to heal and may require rehabilitation. A failed test will weigh upon us until we can redeem ourselves at the next one. Losing a loved one…well that one never really goes away, but we learn to grieve, then cope, then move forward. Good news, though…

Rebelling against God, resulting in hurt and disappointment with ourselves, is much easier to recover from. When we realize what we have done and that feeling of hurt and disappointment washes over us and we wonder how we could have ever done what we did, all we need to do is turn back to the Lord and ask forgiveness (1 John 1:9). We do need to forgive ourselves and move forward, but before we even ask God to forgive us, it has already happened (Romans 4:25).

Does this mean we are free from consequences? Probably not. If we indeed rebelled and made poor choices, then we will most likely have to live with the results of those choices. We’re forgiven if we ask, but we still suffer.

But what about those times when things happen to us, through no fault of our own, that cause us to hurt? We might ask the question “if God loves us so much, why do we experience hurt?”. If we’re suffering and hurting from something that has happened to us, maybe, just maybe, God needs us to hurt for a while. This world we live in almost guarantees us we will hurt from time to time. Jesus laid it out very simply for the disciples in John chapter 16, verse 33.

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Why does God need us to hurt? Maybe we are putting something in front of him and not keeping him the most important thing in our life. Maybe that thing needs to be taken away, ripped from our clutching hands, whether we knew we were grasping it inappropriately or not. Maybe we need to learn something. Maybe we need deeper faith, and nothing except having something, or maybe everything, stripped away will awaken that faith.

Whatever the reason for our hurt, we can have faith that God will uphold us, will guide us, and will never forsake us.

Thanks for reading to the end! Tomorrow, the topic will be about lions. It should be fun.

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash

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21 Days of Posts – Day 11 – The Christian Life – Contentment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello to all who have decided to follow along as I post for 21 days straight as part of our church fast. As you can see, each entry is numbered as a particular day, so if you are reading this and the title above doesn’t say Day 1, then you should stop now and go read from Day 1, or take a peek at Day 2 and pick a topic you are interested in. Thanks for being brave enough to join me.

Day 11 brings us back to the topic of the Christian life and specifically, the idea of contentment.

What does that word mean? It’s not happiness, because it is possible to be happy, but not content. If the thought that whatever is causing your happiness will eventually stop is always in the back of your head, then you do not have contentment, just happiness.

It’s not peace, by the world’s definition. It is possible to be content, but not be at peace, although these two fit together better than contentment and happiness. If we are truly at peace, in a Godly sense, then yes, we can probably consider ourselves content.

Paul talks a lot about contentment. Philippians 4:11 & 12 are common verses cited here for those looking to understand contentment, in the face of any circumstances.

11 – I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 – I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Paul went through a LOT. Shipwrecked, arrested, hungry, rejected, you name it, Paul experienced it, but in it all he was content, regardless of the chaos swirling around him.

In the first epistle to Timothy, we are warned against thinking that godliness is a means to financial gain (6:5). There was much controversy and many false teachers surrounding the believers. The oft misquoted verse of 6:10 follows shortly after this warning, attempting to explain why contentment in financial matters is important, whether wealthy, poor, or even enslaved.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Hebrews says this even more plainly in chapter 13, verse 5 –

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

The bottom line is this – contentment is a choice. We choose to be content, once we learn how to be. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually come immediately as part of the “welcome to salvation” package. It must be learned and it starts with trusting that God’s plans are better than our plans (as mentioned on Day 9 of this series) and that he has us where he wants us, and how he wants us, for a reason.

Do we always see and understand His reasons? No, absolutely not, but as we learn to trust in him, we will eventually (and correctly) conclude that is doesn’t matter if we understand, just that we learn to be content and always be listening for what God wants us to do.

That’s it, short and to the point. Thanks for reading to the end!

Tomorrow’s topic is hurt – specifically why do we have to experience it, if God loves us so much?

 

Photo Credit – Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash