Skip to main content

Take Heart


“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
          What out, tomorrow 2018 will be here, ready or not! Are you ready? I’m not. December has been busy even without celebrating Christmas. I feel like I’m on a gerbil wheel that’s not in my head (where they’re generally welcome.) I don’t have any goals beyond “make it through the day.” It wouldn’t be hard to set the usual goals, but one has to take the time to do it.
          No, I must say again that my life isn’t all that hard. I don’t have that much trouble, but it’s more trouble than I want, and it’s really not looking like I’m going to get help. I’m not the only one, of course. We all have troubles. Jesus promised us we would. It’s part of life and while we tend to like to think otherwise, Jesus tends to bring blessings into our troubles and through our troubles. The troubles of this past year and this past month have brought me to places I never wanted to go and never thought I could go.
          Next year is going to be a challenge for both of us. I’m going to have trouble and so will you. Jesus said to take heart because He has overcome the world. Our encouragement isn’t because we’re going to overcome the world. Perhaps this poem will help you to take heart.
My Five Smooth Stones
My five smooth stones, they missed their mark today.
The giant laughed and went his scornful way.
and I, left dazed and bloody on the field,
can only say that I refused to yield,
for all the good that did, I slowed him not
No vict'ry song, it's better off forgot.

Your five smooth stones, they missed their mark today
But mine flew straight, they did not go astray.
Your ego's wound will let your soul be healed,
and from the worst my mercy did you shield.
The battle won was not the one you thought
But standing there you did not do for nought.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more