Heard this song at church today, as part of a message about patient endurance. As in, trusting God knows what He is doing and that He hasn’t forgotten you, even during the low points of life and when you’re not getting the answers you’re hoping for.
Great reminder to me to keep pressing on when life doesn’t make sense, or when the answers may not seem to be coming.
At the same time today, a great opportunity to give thanks for all of the things that are coming together and the answers to prayer that have been given.
God is faithful. Keep going. Keep trusting. Keep turning to Him. The reward will be worth it, in the end.
Perfection is impossible. You don’t have to be perfect. Just do your best.
No, really. Just do your best. For too long, the desire to do everything perfectly ran my life. Perhaps it’s had the same effect on yours.
It’s so freeing to realize you don’t have to be perfect. We’re never gonna be anyway, so here’s to just doing our best and being at least reasonably at peace with the result.
Keep giving life your best, but don’t forget to give yourself a little grace along the way.
No, not the mask you might be thinking of…this is not that kind of blog. I’m talking about the “mask” you’re wearing to show the world you’re doing great when, in reality, something much different may be true.
We all do this, by the way. There is no shame in it. I’m simply asking because, well, I wear one on a regular basis and I know what it’s like to hide behind something to avoid revealing your true self.
For me, it’s making jokes. I’ve used humor to mask all kinds of hurts and pains in my life and still do to this day. After all, it feels better to laugh than to cry, right? Perhaps you can relate.
Maybe for you it’s a different kind of mask. Being busy all the time? Substance abuse? Social media posts showing your life looking perfect, even though it’s in shambles?
Just being real…and that’s the point. Too many times in my life, I haven’t been real because I didn’t want to reveal the extent of sadness or something similar in my life. Sound familiar? If so, know that you are not alone.
In the end, wearing a mask can temporarily keep you from having to feel pain or hurt. Fake it until you make it, right? Well, no. Wrong, because it doesn’t really get us anywhere to keep doing this.
So, what’s the point, here? Honestly, I don’t know because I just started writing some thoughts that were on my mind. But, if there is a point, I think it would be to make it a habit of being real – with yourself and with others.
Sure, being real can lead to you feeling some deep emotions and it could hurt a bit. It can be scary to be real. But, the alternative is to keep kicking the can down the road on some potentially significant things in our lives that probably would be better if they were addressed and dealt with sooner than later.
Thanks for letting me be real with you, here. Have a great day.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Here’s why it was a good reminder. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, for no particular reason. Just grumpy, frustrated, etc. That’s no fun.
Then, I heard the verse at church shortly afterward. The context was, how we have the ability to decide what to think about. We can focus on the junk, the negatives, and pretty much any other thought that will lead to defeat, be in short or long term.
We also have the option to thing about the type of things mentioned at the beginning of this post. Things that will lead us to a place of joy and peace, if we are willing to think about them instead of the other stuff.
This was good timing for me. Maybe it is for you. Here’s to focusing on the good instead of the not-so-good.
positively second 