May 19th - Fear and Hope - Opposites

The story...

I'm sitting in a pew listening to the call to fear and worry.  "Expect to be persecuted . . . this is no longer the nation where we grew up."  "Batten down the hatches - a storm's brewing!"  This seems to be the opposite of hope in God, the Creator, and His revealed plans for His creatures.

I'm not prone to fear; yet, I've been afraid.  I don't know what it's like to face the world with expectations of doom and gloom.  Sure, I've always enjoyed good health and insurance too.  More of my investments have been profitable than unprofitable.  I've never gone hungry or been homeless unless I placed myself in a situation where that was part of the plan.  I'm thankful that, but for the grace of God, I'm not the worrying, less hopeful, sort too.

I'm truly thankful with great hope for the future.  I appreciate the eternal life perspective that I was taught and worked into my reality by faith - faith in the only One who can save His creatures.  I think that my inner-man, heart, is secure yet storms and trials will come...  This post seems like a long string of "I" statements.  I'd rather be in a place where "I" focused more on others and the communities that we actually live in.

Manhood - by Thomas Cole

The only church in town would be a group that's sustained by hope within the promises and upheld Hand of God.  Yes, Alan Jackson would be welcome to sing of the power in the blood of the Christ in the only church in town.

Just for today...

"The future - even as close as tomorrow - is a closed book.  We cannot know what it holds, and the more we look for disaster, the more we invite it . . . This is something only God knows..." One Day at a Time (p. 140)

"Wasn't I comparing my insides to other people's outsides . . . If I compare, I lose.  Maybe I'll come out feeling better than somebody this time, but next time I'm bound to feel worse."  Courage to Change (p. 140)