A TEAR TOO MANY

I believe we all have our breaking point. That crossroads in stress that simply can crush us if we have one more burden added to our lives.

In the scriptures we are told that God will not give us a burden greater than we can handle. And yet we are also told that, “blessed men go through valleys of weeping.” So I think this means that while God will grant us the strength to deal with the problems of life he doesn’t guarantee to shelter us from reality. I’ll be honest and admit there are plenty of times I would be happy to not endure any stress.

And I will also admit that on more than one occasion a given emergency or valley didn’t’ seem like they type of situation I in any way was going to handle. In my own life that has included such things as nearly dying in the hospital, unemployment and a wide variety of the usual types of crisis that are common to many.

Some people try to apply logic so such situations. However commendable that labor can any of us truly explain so many things that apparently happen to people without there being an obvious cause? There are too many examples of that in life and it isn’t reserved just for those who follow a given belief system.

Bad things happen to lots of people and the opposite occurs at times with bad people, they end up being blessed. Is it possible to honestly make sense of such things. Some of tried, but I can’t say that the ones I’ve heard have necessary made me feel any peace of the times when I felt I was suffering. Personally I am definitely not encouraged when somebody who isn’t suffering tries to diminish my crisis. It might seem trivial to them, but when they are faced with a loss or consequences I think it is the epitome of cruelty to act with such a lack of compassion.

In reality life has too many puzzles where some piece is missing. We can look, we can ask and even pray, but the solution won’t always be easy to find.

With or without the answers we see, for the follower of Christ our journey will always be one of faith. In our hearts if we know a valley wasn’t a judgment the challenge is to keep trusting. That at times means not letting those who have had an easier road to follow discourage by implying that if we were more faithful we could avoid such experiences. This too is a lot of things, but loving and inspiring it isn’t.

Above all, seek Jesus in all things. Take to him the hurt and confusion. Lay it by prayer at his altar of mercy. It is the only path for a follower of Christ that will somehow bring any comfort in the midst of everything else. And it is okay too to have the times when the emotions get out of control and we feel other than spiritual or grateful for our lot in life.

Sadly there are voices in the world of Christianity who lay an unnecessary burden upon believers by suggesting that if one maintains some perfect, utterly devoted life to our Lord then the result will be nothing, but blessing. I don’t think scripture supports that fantasy. When your suffering, I only pray that the moment will come when Jesus is the one sought to minister to the pain and not the advice of those who would make one doubt he or she is truly loved by God.