Do you ever feel as if the world is collapsing around you?
Remember Chicken Little’s statement that the sky is falling? Sometimes I feel
overwhelmed with hearing the stories of those around me. I just left a friend
who is recently unemployed and struggles with alcoholism. As I’m doing this
blog I receive a message from another friend that is in a tough place with a
baby soon to come and has burned all of her bridges. I faced the potential news
this summer that my wife could have breast cancer. I had someone I had helped
much over the years put an order of harassment against me. I had another friend
borrow my truck without permission to hear a day later that it had been totaled
while I was away on vacation.
My mom would always tell me to look up and know that
tomorrow will be a better day. I totally agree with my mom’s advice, yet as I
watched her slowly die from cancer I knew that the better day would be when she
left for a better home in heaven. Recently had a good friend text me that the
reason her family missed our homeless outreach was because their beloved dog of
10 years passed during the night. Her three boys were emotionally devastated! Heartache
is a common experience for everyone regardless of race or economics.
As I reflect on the last week of my life I have some rather
amazing friends who come out of the woodwork to encourage me and love me when
I’m overwhelmed. They might not even know that the call they made or quick
e-mail or text helped me go on without collapsing in a spiritual fog. This last
week I was hurt in a way that you can’t measure. It’s like being betrayed by
someone who you thought would never do anything revengeful to you.
I know that the minute I have to involve police or county
workers in my life that I have to be accountable to someone else that might not
understand the circumstances around my life passion. So how is it possible to
not break down when you hear horrible news like this young Prescott gal who had
given her life to helping those in distressed areas of the world that might possibly
have been killed in a bomb raid? I honestly have come to see that much in life
you can’t avoid and there isn’t any short cut to facing the pain of broken
relationships or betrayal. Yet, the great news is that as I see those around me
that are hurting and choose to do something positive for them that my load or
burden seems to lessen. I gain
perspective that my life is a lot better than I want to admit.
How is it possible that when I give I ultimately receive? I
know that choosing to do the ‘dirty’ work when no one else is around means you
get blisters and for me paint on my new shoes but the blessing is that I just
helped one of my grandmas. Jesus gave an incredible example that didn’t make
much sense according to today’s life principles. If you want to be great then be
a servant of all? If you want to be first then be willing to step to the back
of the line? If you want name recognition then choose to be the person that
saved someone from a fiery car crash and decides to quietly disappear. The
Phoenix Fire Department is still looking for this quiet hero!
I know that self-help books have multiplied over the years.
You can walk through a Borders or go online and see the long list on amazon.
The reality is that a book can give you great advice or principles but
ultimately its when you choose to give your life to another that emotional
healing can begin. It’s not easy to face
the toxicity of the world around you without becoming bitter or resentful. Why
do people continue to do bad things that hurt innocent people? I know that the
path to self –discovery and healing takes time but when you include someone
else by being a helper today can improve your circumstances and tomorrow will be a new
opportunity to experience a better life!
I really like this quote on the backdrop of this post, “Your
greatest test is when you are able to bless someone else while you are going
through your own storm.”
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