Tag Archives: sadness

What if God needed a friend?

Posted on by under Just Sayin'

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God the Father 05 (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

This was posted to my Facebook page from Friendship Fortune Cookie:

You have a great friend who is always there when you are down and is always there to listen to your problems. Make sure you treat your friends the same way.

God is my best friend. What would He tell me if He told me about His problems? Would these subjects be mentioned if God just needed to vent? Homosexuality, immorality, adultery, idolatry, greed, stinginess, abortion, deceit and pride…

Would God just need someone to listen to the things He has to put up with? Not that God has to put up with anything, He just does. God doesn’t zap us dead when we disobey because He has hope that we will change and besides, if He zapped people dead every time they disobey, there would be no one left to talk to by the end of the week.

Another reason God doesn’t kill us the second we disobey is because of this scenario: A person tells a lie, God zaps them dead instantly and everyone else obeys out of tremendous fear. They would worship God out of fear also. This isn’t what God wants. Do you want your children to obey you because they saw what happened to Sally when she lied about her bad grade in math?

God is more like us than we realize. We are created in His image, making us similar to Him. All the things we love about life, God loves also. He loves the brilliant sunsets, the fragrance of lilacs after the rain, a walk along the beach with the warmth of the sun on His back and the scent of lemons in the lemonade.

He doesn’t have a physical body, you say? Sure He does, He lives in the body He gave you and the one He gave me. We are intertwined, God and I. He always lives up to His side of the covenant, but I let Him down quite a lot.

If I could God one thing, I would give Him my ears so He could tell me how disappointed He is in all of us. I would listen as He cried in despair when He talked about abortion and the divorce rate. I would lend Him my shoulder to lend on as He spoke about the sorry state of government and the state of churches that are putting their seal of approval on all manner of sin.

You know, I think I can give Him that. I believe I can hear Him talking about these things now and asking me, “Do you feel the pain of all this sin, as I do?” God is asking us, “Are you as disgusted as I am? Are you ready for the new world order that Christ is bringing with Himself?”

Listen. If you get still and listen, you can hear the sadness in the heart of God. Talk with God and share your day, but listen to Him when you have finished. After all, that is what friends do for each other.

The difference between happiness and joy

Posted on by under Common Sense

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Everyone wants to be happy. That is a given. Ask people what it means to be happy and you will likely get a different answer from each one. Depending upon what we already have, perceived needs and our area of interest, we will give an answer based on who we are at the moment. Since every life is fluid, the definition of ‘happy’ is ever changing.

The feeling or emotion we call ‘being happy’ is a fleeting emotion. No one can be happy all the time. I know this because people die and this makes us very sad. We get hurt or become ill and there is nothing to be happy about in those situations. Even if you love your job, there are days when you just want it to be over so you can go home, kick off your shoes and collaspe on the sofa.

You may love your spouse and your children, live in a comfortable home and lack nothing, but you still will not be happy all day long every day of the year. Happiness is an emotion. Emotions change constantly. Joy is a state of being.

My children and grandchildren bring me joy. I enjoy gardening, making things with my own hands, writing, living in the mountains and going to church with my fellow Christians. I enjoy watching the deer graze in my front yard and knowing that a black bear cub makes his rounds through the edge of my property where he robs the wild honey bees every summer.

There is much joy in my life. I am content most days to do the things I normally do. I don’t live in a fancy house or drive the newest vehicle. I don’t have everything I want or many things that would make my life easier. I do have joy in my life.

Learning that a friend has overcome an illness and is back at work makes me happy. Seeing my children and grandchildren makes me happy. Winning the lottery would probably make me happy. Being happy comes and goes. God never promised us we would always be happy once we became Christians. He did say we would know peace and joy.

No matter what happens in our own lives or what happens in the world, we can live in peace and joy. The kind of peace that comes from knowing there is nothing too big for God to handle is the ultimate peace. It is a lasting peace. We can have a lasting peace and lasting joy in our lives by knowing that God is in control of everything.

We won’t be happy every minute of every day. There is too much life in living for us to always be happy. We have to earn money to pay bills and buy food. We have obligations that come even when we don’t have the energy to deal with them. We will have our hearts broken by people we thought we could trust and believe in. We will experience great sadness when those we love die. No, we just can’t be happy all the time. But, we can know joy every day.

Does the beauty of a sunrise or sunset bring you joy? Do you know joy when a cool breeze touches your face on a hot summer day? Can you feel the joy on a late summer night when the heat begins to wane and the crickets sing? Maybe you feel the joy when it rains at night or when you hear your child say something that proves he does listen to you after all.

Joy can fill your day. Happiness comes and goes. Don’t expect others to make you happy. It is not their job. It is not your job to make others happy. You can make them comfortable. You can feed them good food. You can make their lives easier, but it is not your job to make them happy.

Enjoy the riches of your life. You don’t have to be wealthy or be the prettiest or most handsome to know joy. Accept what you have and be at peace with who you are. If you believe you need to change, change because you want to change. Don’t change who you are to make someone else happy. Happiness comes and goes. People come and go. Sometimes, it is just time for them to go. Let go. You may be sad for a while, but sadness comes and goes also.

Another rainy night in Georgia

Posted on by under Common Sense

There is something that can’t be defined about the comfort of listening to the rain fall outside while I am warm and dry inside. Rain makes its own music, different from location to location, depending on the landscape. I love the music of rain on a metal roof and as it hits a tin pail outside my bedroom window. I enjoy the sound rain makes when it falls on freshly fallen leaves and as it travels through the dry winter leaves still clinging to the tree.

There is so much pain in the world, so many people with twisted minds and twisted thoughts. The entire world would break down and forget to begin again if not for the simple things that remind us there is still joy and magic to embrace in this life we live.

Cling to the simple joys until there comes a time when the pain eases a little and you can feel good about feeling good again. 

As the rain falls past these 80-ft. White pines and Tulip Poplars and the 40-ft. Sourwood trees, it sings a tune of sadness tonight. The night is so dark and the air is cold as the rain puddles on the ground. For now, the world outside is wet and dreary, but the sun will come out again and dry up the rain and warm the air. I can never tell if the contineous sunshine makes me long for the rainy night in Georgia or the rainy nights make me long for the sunshine.