Struggling

Yesterday I noticed a theme as I read through my daily Scripture passages.

Psalm 71:14: "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more."

Proverbs 24:10: "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength?"

Philippians 1:18: Paul, after sharing about being in chains and about people trying to undermine him, says, "Yes, and I will continue to rejoice."

I think one of the hardest things to do is rejoice and have hope in times of trouble. But I loved the way the Proverb I cited puts it. The best way to measure the strength of your faith is to see how well it stands up when you're struggling. Will you, like the Psalmist, always have hope? Will you, like Paul, continue to rejoice?

I know I haven't often (or ever?) done this. I guess that tells you the measure of my strength. But I'm inspired by this theme in my Bible reading. I want to be strong enough to say I will always have hope - no matter what happens. I will continue to rejoice - even in the midst of bad circumstances.

Crying

I've been spending the week with my family, including my 1 and a half year old niece and my almost 4 year old nephew. There have many occasions when one of them began to cry over things like not getting to play with a certain toy, or having to eat another bite of carrot before they can have a chip, or some other silly little thing. And I keep thinking, "Oh, if only you knew how not big of a deal this is. I know you're upset now, but in five minutes it won't even matter. It will be a lost memory."

I've also had a lot of a reminders of Buttercup - she lived half of her life here - and tonight when my mom gave me a container for her ashes with buttercups on it, that was the last straw for my emotions. But as I sat in my bed crying, I thought about God's perspective. I thought, I bet he's looking down at me, with his perspective of heaven and an eternity void of pain and tears, and thinking, "I know you're upset now, but soon it won't even matter."

One day all of our tears will be done. All of our pain will be gone. Not just new causes for pain, but the ones we're feeling right now won't even be a memory.