111619 – Luke 21.5-19
It may not be “popular” to talk about -heck – it may not even be “polite.”
But many of us have ENDURED “a great deal” to get to where we are today.
Sometimes, we speak about it, while at other times we remain forever silent, with much that goes unsaid, unspoken.
There are VERY FEW that will give us credit…”Atta-girls” and “Atta-boys” are hard to come by…they are “few and far between.” Life does not give out MEDALS. But, we are here.
NO ONE knows what you have ENDURED except YOU! We have made it “this far…by faith.” We have learned “an important life lesson.”
Others have not always been “so lucky” or “so fortunate.” Many have fallen along the way…many have not made it this far…under “the weight of life.” BUT YOU HAVE…
It was NOT easy, it may have NOT always been “pretty,” there may indeed be “regrets,” but YOU ARE HERE…And you are STRONGER for what YOU have gone through…
So HURRAY for you, SERIOUSLY! Congratulations, YOU rock, you are here, YOU made it this far. I will boldly say, “Good for you!” I am happy for you, I am proud of you. I am blessed for even having known you. You deserve much more than a simple pat on the back…
The ability to WITHSTAND HARDSHIP or ADVERSITY – is one of those lessons in life that “MUST be learned.”
LIFE can be stressful, that is FOR sure.
And, it is a TRUISM that none of us “really knows” what another person has gone through…nor do we KNOW what SCARS they may carry…or bear…but rest assured they do! Many of us have them.
Some of us are facing DIFFICULT circumstances that no one knows about.
Some have “health issues” or “emotional problems” or “difficulties with work,” “relationship issues,” or “difficulty IN school.: Problems are REAL and they do abound. Major problems, big stressors, significant stuff…
Perhaps it is your aging parents or that “problematic child” who seems so distant, so lost…then there is the personal loneliness, the death of loved ones…struggling financially…or issues that lie much, much deeper…
It has been said: “We SEE through a tear “much more” than we could ever SEE through a telescope.”
We are SURVIVORS I tell you, and there are survivors HERE in our midst. Survivors of ALL kinds of things…
We have cancer survivors, abuse survivors, addiction survivors…just to name a few…
We are “a group of survivors…”
Surgery after surgery…mind games after mind games, stressful years of schooling, playing the game and meeting “others expectations…” the daily grind…and dealing with the powers that be, day in and day out, day after day, week after week…doing what we have to do…
“Our true selves” it has been said, are revealed in the way we deal with “the TRIALS, the HARDSHIPS and the DIFFICULTIES” of this life…
When Michelangelo finished his statue of Moses, he tapped the stone shoulder and said, “SPEAK!” The statue obviously DID NOT speak, but it caused people to ask him: “How did you get Moses to look so lifelike?” Michelangelo simply said, “I kept chipping away at everything that wasn’t Moses.”
Many are the people who “THINK” or “FEEL” like they have been “chipped away at” – slowly over time, but hallelujah WE are here, WE are vibrant, and WE are still engaged and more importantly still in the mix…still fighting, still struggling – WE have made it THIS far…did I mention the role of faith?
Like the little shepherd boy, David, we have all struggled with “GIANTS.”
WE have struggled and WE have won…at least sometimes… WE are here.
No one ever said “this life” was going to be “a cake walk…”
Jesus was very realistic. Life is going to throw at you, everything it can…expect all kinds of things, and even expect the unexpected…because that is what happens in life. …Some of it IS predictable, some of it is NOT…
But you BE strong. You be FAITHFUL. You PERSEVERE. You are stronger than you think. You are more RESILIENT, than you know. Hang onto the faith that is within you…
Dig deep if you must, but look within…it was planted there a very long time ago…you already have and possess EVERYTHING you need. But stuff IS GOING TO HAPPEN…count on it…
Just “how do you think” – you got this far? And God says: “I am with you always, even as I have promised. I am at your side. I am with you THROUGH IT ALL. I AM HERE.” I WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU!
Amen.