I am overjoyed to write to you all today. There are times in life when we reach low points, and there are times when we reach high points. Today I've reached what I believe to be a relative high point. There have been a lot of changes, a lot of plans to be made, and a lot of high stress situations. Although most of those things aren't gone, I had an incredible time at a banquet last night with my family. My church family and my blood family were there to celebrate me and my friends. There are times when we reach a point where we forget who we are, who we matter to, and how much we have accomplished. Those times happen to me far too often. But I think I have learned something about myself in that process.
There are always going to be hard times, and in every hard time people will say, "Everything is going to be alright; you can't worry yourself too much." We take those words in and process them, analyzing what it means so we can sort through the situation. Unfortunately, it's common for us to come to the conclusion it means that the future will be better. Things will get better when we have money, when we have a job, when we have a boyfriend or a husband, when we move out of the house, when.... You get the point. There's always a catch or something to work for or something to look forward too. But lately, through all the hard times and the frustrations and upsetting situations, I've finally learned that chasing after "what will come" doesn't help as much as I always thought it would. In Ecclesiastes, the term "chasing after the wind" is coined. It's an idea that once I read the book, I really couldn't move past. How often do we wait for things to get better? We wait for life to get easier, to slow down, to be enjoyable; but how much time is wasted in an attempt to wait patiently for life to _______?
When I noticed how patient I had become waiting for life to get easier, I couldn't believe how much time I had wasted. How many times I could have been happy, but instead I was still waiting patiently for life to be fun. How many times I could have told someone what an encouraging friend they were to me, but instead I was still waiting for life to stop feeling sort of lonely. I wasted so much time because I was content to put blinders on and wait for something easier to fall in my lap than what I'd been given. Paul writes to the church at Philippi thanking them for all their help. However, what he says in Philippians 4:11-13, is something I have tried to write on my heart. "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (NKJV). I have known many people to take verse 13 alone and plaster it everywhere. Don't get me wrong, it is a great thing to acknowledge that Christ is our source of strength. But I think people forget what Paul says before it. He had learned to be content in whatever it was life threw at him. He learned that from Christ. Christ was his strength, but he didn't use Christ's strength as means to sit around and complain. He used Christ's strength to overcome those urges to complain. And though I still have work to do, I've gotten so much better.
I am by no means perfect, but life is so much easier now that I'm more content. I really find strength in Christ when I live my life day to day. I find strength when the unexpected happens, I find strength when I'm alone or when I'm with other people, in good and bad, I can be happy. There are fewer distractions and I see things so much more clearly than I ever have before. I know that some of you may have much more difficult lives than I do. You have every right to look forward to the future, please don't think I'm saying it's wrong to struggle with having a difficult life. Just try to remember not to block everything out in an attempt to get through it. Trust in Christ's strength to get you through. As always, know that I love you all. I am available if anyone needs encouragement or help with learning to be content. I welcome comments and would love to hear from you all.
Much love,
Kat
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39 NKJV
There are always going to be hard times, and in every hard time people will say, "Everything is going to be alright; you can't worry yourself too much." We take those words in and process them, analyzing what it means so we can sort through the situation. Unfortunately, it's common for us to come to the conclusion it means that the future will be better. Things will get better when we have money, when we have a job, when we have a boyfriend or a husband, when we move out of the house, when.... You get the point. There's always a catch or something to work for or something to look forward too. But lately, through all the hard times and the frustrations and upsetting situations, I've finally learned that chasing after "what will come" doesn't help as much as I always thought it would. In Ecclesiastes, the term "chasing after the wind" is coined. It's an idea that once I read the book, I really couldn't move past. How often do we wait for things to get better? We wait for life to get easier, to slow down, to be enjoyable; but how much time is wasted in an attempt to wait patiently for life to _______?
When I noticed how patient I had become waiting for life to get easier, I couldn't believe how much time I had wasted. How many times I could have been happy, but instead I was still waiting patiently for life to be fun. How many times I could have told someone what an encouraging friend they were to me, but instead I was still waiting for life to stop feeling sort of lonely. I wasted so much time because I was content to put blinders on and wait for something easier to fall in my lap than what I'd been given. Paul writes to the church at Philippi thanking them for all their help. However, what he says in Philippians 4:11-13, is something I have tried to write on my heart. "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (NKJV). I have known many people to take verse 13 alone and plaster it everywhere. Don't get me wrong, it is a great thing to acknowledge that Christ is our source of strength. But I think people forget what Paul says before it. He had learned to be content in whatever it was life threw at him. He learned that from Christ. Christ was his strength, but he didn't use Christ's strength as means to sit around and complain. He used Christ's strength to overcome those urges to complain. And though I still have work to do, I've gotten so much better.
I am by no means perfect, but life is so much easier now that I'm more content. I really find strength in Christ when I live my life day to day. I find strength when the unexpected happens, I find strength when I'm alone or when I'm with other people, in good and bad, I can be happy. There are fewer distractions and I see things so much more clearly than I ever have before. I know that some of you may have much more difficult lives than I do. You have every right to look forward to the future, please don't think I'm saying it's wrong to struggle with having a difficult life. Just try to remember not to block everything out in an attempt to get through it. Trust in Christ's strength to get you through. As always, know that I love you all. I am available if anyone needs encouragement or help with learning to be content. I welcome comments and would love to hear from you all.
Much love,
Kat
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39 NKJV
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