As I thumbed through old journal entries, I came across a time in my life where I was tempted very badly to despair about certain things in my life... one of those things being my life in general. God taught me many things in that time of my life, and I was able to overcome it through His grace on me. Reading this over again has lead me to two thoughts:
1.) Journaling is a profound tool. If I were honest with you, I would say to you that I had completely forgotten about this time in my life. This is not nearly so tragic as the fact that I had also forgotten what God had shown me in that time. Remembering as I read those entries again encourages me and gives me strength. Journaling is not important so that we have some record of our actions in life, but so that we do not forget God's actions in our lives.
2.) Despairing is putting your trust somewhere it should not be. If a general surrenders, it is because he has recognized that he cannot win the battle, and so he surrenders. He is trusting in his enemy's power to defeat him. My friends, this should not be so with the children of Christ. If we despair, we trust in the enemy's power and give up. However, even if we give up, we will still learn our lesson, for the enemy is incapable of true victory even then (as Christ has already won), but then we will have missed all the opportunities God created in that seemingly hopeless situation. If we trust in Him when a situation appears hopeless, He can then use us in ways we cannot then conceive because of what we see and feel.
Finally, in re-reading these, I realized that I need to journal more completely. Simplistic paraphrases do not accurately or fully convey my thoughts or feelings, or what God was doing in my life. They simply will not do. This in and of itself will be a battle against laziness which, I am sure, I will have to journal about. Sometimes God is humorously ironic.
1.) Journaling is a profound tool. If I were honest with you, I would say to you that I had completely forgotten about this time in my life. This is not nearly so tragic as the fact that I had also forgotten what God had shown me in that time. Remembering as I read those entries again encourages me and gives me strength. Journaling is not important so that we have some record of our actions in life, but so that we do not forget God's actions in our lives.
2.) Despairing is putting your trust somewhere it should not be. If a general surrenders, it is because he has recognized that he cannot win the battle, and so he surrenders. He is trusting in his enemy's power to defeat him. My friends, this should not be so with the children of Christ. If we despair, we trust in the enemy's power and give up. However, even if we give up, we will still learn our lesson, for the enemy is incapable of true victory even then (as Christ has already won), but then we will have missed all the opportunities God created in that seemingly hopeless situation. If we trust in Him when a situation appears hopeless, He can then use us in ways we cannot then conceive because of what we see and feel.
Finally, in re-reading these, I realized that I need to journal more completely. Simplistic paraphrases do not accurately or fully convey my thoughts or feelings, or what God was doing in my life. They simply will not do. This in and of itself will be a battle against laziness which, I am sure, I will have to journal about. Sometimes God is humorously ironic.
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