How easily we convince ourselves that material things are worthy of our labor, while the important things slip away unnoticed until tragedy strikes. The storms are ever closer, bidding us to open our eyes. Live for what’s important. Live for what truly matters. Live for what lasts. Don’t waste precious minutes fretting for that which is destined to fade. Stop. Now. Consider what’s truly worth living for.
Source: Gone in an Instant
Photo Credit: Close Up Photo of Dandelion · Free Stock Photo
where are you, God
in the midst of the darkness?
we’re crying to you
in this desolate land
war rages around us
we’re searching for answers
to things
we can never understand
where are you, God
do you see our tears falling?
do you hear our prayers
and feel our pain?
the world is in anguish
our children are dying
the clouds of refreshing
withhold their rain
where are you God?
we’re hurting and hopeless
wounded and broken
and in distress
our own neighbors killing
destroying, devouring
can You bring forth beauty
from our hateful mess?
God, you came down
from light into darkness
born in the shadows
of earth’s darkest night
the forces of evil
releasing their fury
swords bent on destruction
consuming all life
you spoke to the madness
with love and compassion
to ears fallen deaf
in a world filled with strife
brought healing, redemption
though you were rejected
crushed by our hate
while releasing your light
and now you are here
in the midst of our suffering
calling to us
“don’t settle for this”
we’re made for much more
than what we’ve accepted
and this world is not
all that there is
so though earth give way
and mountains shall crumble
and all that we’ve trusted
one day will fail
the curtain’s been torn
between light and darkness
and in the end, light
will always prevail
Source: Where are You, God?
Photo Credit: Thunderstorm – Free images on Pixabay
It seems the flags have been flying half-mast more often than not these days. Sometimes we drive by, and we know. “Oh, it’s for that tragedy in such-and-such a city,” or, “It’s for the terror attack in that other town.” Other times, we don’t. “What now?” we ask.
I heard on the radio that our president has called for flags to be at half-mast on sixty-seven occasions since he took office. And how many more times will that call go forth as we tread through the coming years in our sin-plagued land?
Half-mast “refers to a flag flying beneath its summit on a pole” as a symbol of “respect, mourning, or distress.” Do we realize the degree of distress our country is in when we so consistently see flags flying half-mast? Or do we walk on, somber for a moment, soon forgetting the distress call? Has it become so commonplace that we fail to remember the symbolism?
As the flags fly beneath their summit, maybe our hearts need to be half-mast as well. Respecting, mourning, remembering. Understanding of the times.
What tragedy will it take to bring us to our knees? When will we humble ourselves and turn from our selfish ways? When will we turn to the one who created us for so much more than what we’ve settled for? When will we admit that we need help? When will we pray?
And when will we stop going on, life as usual, when we all know…it’s NOT?
Every time we see flags at half-mast, it serves as a wake-up call. We are not invincible. We are not all-sufficient. We need a savior.
Photo Credit: Half-mast – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If there is evil, it’s not because God is silent and inactive. It’s because we are. And we’ve traded the greater good for the empty cistern of selfish gain.
Source: Where are the Heroes of Today?
Photo Credit: Abandoned Water Well | Flickr – Photo Sharing!
“But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of a table laden with choice food.” (Job 36:15-16)
So often our first response to suffering is to cry from the depths of our hearts, “GET ME OUT OF THIS!” The temptation is to exert all our efforts in pursuing escape. We come out of the fight wearier than we started, our suffering compounded by our disappointment.
Notice the verse above says God delivers us in our suffering, not necessarily from it. When faced with the threat of death by fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego responded with genuine faith in saying, “the God we serve is able to save us,” while also acknowledging that if he chose not to, they would still worship him. The outcome of their faith was a walk with God in the midst of the fire. They had to go into the fire before they could meet with God in the midst. And they came out unharmed.
John the Baptist faced a similar crisis of faith. In his prison cell, faced with beheading, he questioned whether Jesus was truly the Messiah come to save. If he’s truly the Savior, why doesn’t he save me from the hands of this madman who’s about to kill me? Jesus’ response? “Blessed is the man who does not stumble on account of me.” In other words, we’re blessed when God fails to live up to our expectations yet we continue in faith, knowing his purposes are greater than our own.
God is who he chooses to be, not who we make him to be. He does what he wills, not always what we want. When we embrace this truth, he speaks to us in our affliction, and we’re freed from the restrictions of our expectations. His “wooing us from the jaws of distress” is a picture of what takes place internally—the freedom of joy independent of our circumstances. Whether or not he physically delivers us, we feast on his word—walking closely with him in the midst of the fire…knowing him more intimately as a result, and walking with a more genuine faith when the fire finally dies.
Photo Credit: Desert Rainbow | Flickr – Photo Sharing!
Just as there’s beauty and purpose in every season, there’s beauty and purpose for everything that comes to our lives, good or bad.
Source: Weathering the Whethers of Life
Photo Credit: The Four Seasons Free Stock Photo – Public Domain Picture
there is hope
beyond tomorrow
if tomorrow never comes
there’s a joy
deeper than sorrow
light greater than the sun
there is peace
beyond all suffering
and hope beyond despair
there’s life
beyond all mourning
an end to every tear
there’s a future
that’s more certain
than this earth could ever give
beyond death’s
dismal curtain
there’s a promise that will live
the hands
that made the heavens
hold the gift of life
of peace
that is unending
and love that never dies
there is an end
to sorrow
when life ends, we’ve just begun
there is hope
beyond tomorrow
if tomorrow never comes
Photo Credit: Sunset over the Mountains www.goodfreephotos.com
Poem by j.e. fernandez
This Life & Beyond 
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