My best friend came to visit me this weekend. She said something so profound that I just had to share it on here. We had a lot of fun conversations and reminisced about the past. We also laughed a lot and discussed some serious things. We talked about disappointment and regret and dealing with these hard topics. I told her blatantly, "I think God wants us to be happy." And as soon as I said that she said very definitively, "God doesn't want us to be happy." At first that bothered me a little and then I realized how much truth there was in that statement. Does God want us to be happy?
I think the answer to that question is yes and no. I think when we are at our happiest and things around us are going well.. we do not cling to Him. We do not pray as much and we certainly do not ask Him for advice and counsel. And for that reason, we soon start to forget Him. God doesn't promise us that everything is going to be good, but that He will work all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
He allows painful things to happen so that we will rely on Him and be content in HIM, trusting Him that He has a plan. And that is not easy. And when we are trusting Him, we often are doing it in angst. It's so hard to trust in a plan you can't see and see a way out of a situation that has been so hopeless for so long.
But we must.. This is what following Christ is all about. We must continue to Love, even when there is nothing left in us. For that is what it's all about. It's about a relationship and about casting all your cares on Him.. for He cares for you.
So I must strive to be content in all things and in all circumstances.. and to stand firm in the faith. It's not about being happy, it's about having faith beyond all measure.
I love this quote below. I want to say it over and over again and memorize it. It helps me believe in myself and in who God says I am.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
