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What time is it? Maybe it is whatever time we make it to be! Have you ever experienced a year when you could look back and see that nothing bad had happened? Have you ever seen a year that nothing good had happened?
Our days on earth follow a cycle. We have night followed by day. Warm is followed by cool. Dry can be followed by wet. (In the dry southwest, we wish for a bit more wet, and some back east might wish for more dry!) Sometimes we may have longer periods of extremes, but some places seem to have every day just like the other.
We took a course in journal writing once, and the instructor suggested that one reason for keeping a journal is that when we looked back over it, we could see it go up and down in a kind of rhythm. We had good times and not so good, but she said that when we're really down we should look at our journal and see that after every down time there was a better time. That moderated our concern or panic since we knew that things did not continue getting worse. That is not life. It goes without saying that things did not always get better and better either!
Scripture also hints that we have some control over these times. We can reduce the bad times by trying to avoid temptations that could lead to trouble. We can also see how to make the good times even better or last longer by showing love -- even to our enemies! Love can be a moderating influence.
When we have a loving spouse and children it helps modify the down times. When we know that a loving God is watching over us, it gives us hope for a happier future if we trust in Him.
One of the reasons for suicides in the military is that the bad never seems to let up. It seems to get worse. We may cry out to the Lord, but we still see friends die -- and wonder if we will be next. We may not be sure what or who we will come home to.
Uncertainty is a big factor in robbing us of the good or better times. Maybe the Lord gave us a neat place to live and a great wife, but maybe there is the threat of foreclosure if we lose our job or if an illness is taking all our savings -- and an ultimate tragedy for the family if it is breaking up. When these things hang over our head, it may blind us to seeing the good things God is doing for us -- or can do if we look for them and trust in Him to overcome our problems.
Keep a journal to see what God has done in the last year and what He will do for you in this New Year if you will let Him.
Our days on earth follow a cycle. We have night followed by day. Warm is followed by cool. Dry can be followed by wet. (In the dry southwest, we wish for a bit more wet, and some back east might wish for more dry!) Sometimes we may have longer periods of extremes, but some places seem to have every day just like the other.
We took a course in journal writing once, and the instructor suggested that one reason for keeping a journal is that when we looked back over it, we could see it go up and down in a kind of rhythm. We had good times and not so good, but she said that when we're really down we should look at our journal and see that after every down time there was a better time. That moderated our concern or panic since we knew that things did not continue getting worse. That is not life. It goes without saying that things did not always get better and better either!
Scripture also hints that we have some control over these times. We can reduce the bad times by trying to avoid temptations that could lead to trouble. We can also see how to make the good times even better or last longer by showing love -- even to our enemies! Love can be a moderating influence.
When we have a loving spouse and children it helps modify the down times. When we know that a loving God is watching over us, it gives us hope for a happier future if we trust in Him.
One of the reasons for suicides in the military is that the bad never seems to let up. It seems to get worse. We may cry out to the Lord, but we still see friends die -- and wonder if we will be next. We may not be sure what or who we will come home to.
Uncertainty is a big factor in robbing us of the good or better times. Maybe the Lord gave us a neat place to live and a great wife, but maybe there is the threat of foreclosure if we lose our job or if an illness is taking all our savings -- and an ultimate tragedy for the family if it is breaking up. When these things hang over our head, it may blind us to seeing the good things God is doing for us -- or can do if we look for them and trust in Him to overcome our problems.
Keep a journal to see what God has done in the last year and what He will do for you in this New Year if you will let Him.
