By:”Sister Tarpley” Religious Editor
With Summer 2015 almost here and lives are being changed each day because of graduation (a milestone in someone’s life; with decisions to make: Do I go to college, trade school or go directly into the workforce.)
Some people may move into a new house, move to a new city, or a new state. Some are getting married, etc. I thought I would leave you with a few things to ponder.
Drink from the “everlasting cup” every day. Steal a moment to help someone that is in worse shape than you are. Swear that you will be a better person today than yesterday. And last, but not least, when you lie down at night thank God that He loves and care about you.
Another version of: Test of Fire (Action and Reaction.) Take a piece of wax, a morsel of meat, a handful of sand, a pinch of clay and some wood shavings and put them on a fire.
The wax melts; the meat fries; the sand dries up; the clay hardens; the shavings blaze. Although they are subjected to the small fire, each of the objects reacts in a different way.
This is a dramatic reminder of how individuals also react differently to the same circumstances. Subjected to hardship and despair, one person grows stronger, while others weaken or wither away.
One person hears the Word of God and is made better. Others hear the same message and grow angry and rebellious. Let us take heed how we respond to the action of God in our lives.
Help Wanted, Inquire Above: God is hanging out the “Help Wanted” sign. He is not looking for more people to serve as critics; there are already too many people who have taken that job.
God does not need any self-inflated people who waste their time trying to establish the order of importance of everybody.
The job openings that God has available are for stewards. The people who apply for this position do not need to be highly skilled; neither do they have to have a history of great success.
What they need is a commitment to be faithful. God will place certain job responsibilities in the hands of His stewards, with each job suited to the worker. God will work side by side with His stewards.
There always will be an opening for the person who is sincerely interested. The reward for stewards is great; it may not be immediate, but the reward will have lasting significance. Put your trust in God, believing that God will reward you.
Know Your Limitations: We can easily become discouraged in the face of our limitations. Often we feel that we could be happier and more effective if God only would resolve certain persistent problems for us.
These thorns can threaten our faith if we allow them to raise questions of God’s care for us. At the same time, however, the fact that we are able to keep pressing forward despite these obstacles reveals God’s power and sufficient grace working through our inadequacies.
Viewed from this angle, we can embrace hardship with the confidence that everything that happens to us can serve a long-term benefit within God’s larger plan for our lives. This is part of what it means to live by faith, not by sight.
As we face new challenges in life it is good to remember the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr. “God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.”
