E asked me how do I keep uplifted all the time. It made me smile for I haven't felt much like a happy camper lately.
July has been a difficult month for me: visitors, a gruelling 10-day course, vertigo (for the first time ever) and severe back pain have reduced me to permanent dark eye circles and perpetual grouchiness.
Maintaining a normal, placid exterior was tough but what helped me, as in all less than ideal situations I've faced is knowing that it would pass, and to have been given the grace to keep limping along in the meantime.
Perspective is a great teacher. I have been through worse times in my life so this was a walk in the park in comparison, miserable as I felt.
Plus, even when the going was bleak in recent times past, my faith kept me going. knowing that Jesus was walking with me every step of the way, cheering me on and comforting me when I needed a shoulder to cry on by way of caring friends and kind strangers gave me the heart to persevere.
The power of my faith lies in my living relationship with the Trinitarian God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In last week's Bible Timeline talk, the topic of commandments came up and rather than looking at commandments or Church teachings as hampering and enjoyment-curtailing dos and don'ts, one should consider them in the context of covenant and relationship.
Until I understood my faith in terms of a covenantal blessing and sought to cherish and nurture my relationship with God, I saw God as a killjoy policeman god whom I resented for making me feel bad and guilty all the time.
I turned away from Him and tried to find happiness on my own terms. The Hebrew word for sin chet means missing the mark and I never quite found lasting happiness or peace in my God-free actions. I kept missing the mark repeatedly.
Until I realized that far from being a policeman god, God was "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love" (Psalm 145).
He loved me and never stopped loving me through my years of self-imposed exile and promises to love me forever.
So even though I may have to walk through valleys dark and deep in the future (and just walked through a short one recently), I know He is with me always, guiding me with loving hands.
July has been a difficult month for me: visitors, a gruelling 10-day course, vertigo (for the first time ever) and severe back pain have reduced me to permanent dark eye circles and perpetual grouchiness.
Maintaining a normal, placid exterior was tough but what helped me, as in all less than ideal situations I've faced is knowing that it would pass, and to have been given the grace to keep limping along in the meantime.
Plus, even when the going was bleak in recent times past, my faith kept me going. knowing that Jesus was walking with me every step of the way, cheering me on and comforting me when I needed a shoulder to cry on by way of caring friends and kind strangers gave me the heart to persevere.
The power of my faith lies in my living relationship with the Trinitarian God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In last week's Bible Timeline talk, the topic of commandments came up and rather than looking at commandments or Church teachings as hampering and enjoyment-curtailing dos and don'ts, one should consider them in the context of covenant and relationship.
Until I understood my faith in terms of a covenantal blessing and sought to cherish and nurture my relationship with God, I saw God as a killjoy policeman god whom I resented for making me feel bad and guilty all the time.
I turned away from Him and tried to find happiness on my own terms. The Hebrew word for sin chet means missing the mark and I never quite found lasting happiness or peace in my God-free actions. I kept missing the mark repeatedly.
Until I realized that far from being a policeman god, God was "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love" (Psalm 145).
He loved me and never stopped loving me through my years of self-imposed exile and promises to love me forever.
I fell in love with Him (how can one not love a man who is so gentle, loyal and sincere) and gave Him my pledge of love, "in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health".
So even though I may have to walk through valleys dark and deep in the future (and just walked through a short one recently), I know He is with me always, guiding me with loving hands.
This is what keeps me uplifted. His love keeps me warm inside and this warmth melts away the bitter iciness of anger, unforgiveness, anguish, loss and envy.
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