Our faith is played out in our relationships. We talk about having a personal relationship with God, but that relationship never takes place in a vacuum. It is never just God and us alone ... never. People populate our stories as they unfold.
Life can throw some mighty wicked punches, the kind of punches that can be heard from across the street and bounce a person off the pavement. Sometimes these punches come from strangers. More often they come from people we love.
Life is hard. What do we do when the script we have written for our lives becomes a lie? What do we do when we are forced to reexamine everything we thought to be true?
I can do everything through him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13
God’s promises are not empty. He has a fight plan we can cling to when the world no longer makes sense. --We focus on mercy. We focus on repentance. We focus on forgiveness. -- In our relationships, we stand back up on faith ready for whatever comes next, focused on love personified, the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Those two quotes have a lot of truth in them. I'm thankful God's promises are not empty. Thankful, too, that He expects me to always keep my hands up.
ReplyDeleteI have certainly had to "reexamine everything I thought to be true" in my life in recent years. And "Yes, Russell, the punches haven't come from total strangers." But the only truth I can seem to find is I am not alone with God in this sometimes challenging and painful journey Thanks for reminding of his fight plan. Instead, I wonder if it should be "flight plan to Heaven :)."
ReplyDeleteit is amazing how the Love of God, the power of Love, works in us a the same time it is working through us, also connecting us in a way that we do not understand.
ReplyDeletewhat a power this Love, this God!
Billy - Since you are a boxer/fighter I thought you might like this post. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
ReplyDeleteJoAnne - Thank you for your wonderful blog.
nAncy - You are so right. God works on us and through us at the same time. What an amazing God.
great post. being ready for the next punch is the difficult one. then again it all boils down to being focused on Him...isn't it?
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