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Category: Problems

On Top of the World

On Top of the World

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On Top of the World--eagle in tree top, Teton MtnsWe love to be on top of the world.

Yet, we don’t have to climb a mountain or fly a plane to get there. Think about:

  • Wedding vows
  • The birth of a child or grandchild
  • The first day of a long-awaited job

All these and more can make us feel on top of the world.

What if we could experience those emotions forever?

We would be exhausted – no good to ourselves or anyone else. We love grand moments. However, we cannot maintain that level of excitement forever.

Real living includes level ground.

  • Washing dishes
  • Changing diapers
  • Difficult days at work

Level ground keeps our families and our world functioning as they should.

Real living also includes valleys.

  • Relationship difficulties
  • Death
  • Financial crises

Valleys may not be fun. Yet, through them we grow stronger.

From the valleys, we look up.

For many, that is where we find our strength. Through the power of God’s love, we can stay on top of the world, regardless of our circumstances.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1-3 NIV).

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Get to the Bottom of It

Get to the Bottom of It

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Get to the Bottom of ItTo get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, we must travel by foot, mule, or raft. Be prepared! Hikers should carry plenty of water and food. We also need lots of sunscreen and appropriate shoes and clothing. To see firsthand what’s down there requires an investment of time, money, and effort.

To get to the bottom of anything, we’re seeking an answer or solving a problem.

We want the truth—to know exactly what’s going on. That takes work, regardless of the task. Some people declare they will get to the bottom of a situation “if it’s the last thing I ever do!”

Examples of those who get to the bottom of problems on a regular basis include:

  • Police investigating a crime
  • Parents questioning disobedient children
  • Counselors exploring individual or family difficulties
  • Executives seeking answers for business losses

Each of us needs to get to the bottom of our purpose in life.

We have only a few short years. Will we use them well? Will we continue to explore until we discover life’s greater meaning?

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NIV).

Thanks to Emily Akin for suggesting this expression.

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Let Go and Let God

Let Go and Let God

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Let Go and Let God

If we Google let go and let God, we receive about 37,400 results. This expression is probably best known as a slogan for Al-Anon, a support group for friends and family of people with addictions. Yet, its popularity goes much further. But what does it mean?

First, let’s look at what let go and let God does not mean.

It does not:

  • Justify neglect of responsibility
  • Equal apathy or laziness
  • Mean accepting defeat

God gave us a brain and physical abilities for a reason. He expects us to use them, under His guidance.

Let go and let God does mean we:

  • Realize we are not all knowing. God is.
  • Understand we are not all powerful. God is.
  • Accept we cannot be everywhere. God can.
  • Recognize we do not sees life’s big picture — past, present, and future. God does.
  • Confess our limitations in order to receive God’s unlimited power.
  • Let go of fear, jealousy, ego, worry, and other negative emotions.

Releasing control goes against our nature.

Some of us want to:

  • Fix any problem
  • Take responsibility for every solution
  • Manage everyone and everything

Yet, only by releasing our lives and those we love to God’s will can we experience true peace.

Like the child in the offering plate, we must give God all. God’s answers may not come in the way and at the time we expect. Nevertheless, they will come.

We have a choice.

Will we let go and let God or continue our self-defeating quest for control?

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Thanks to Karen Atwood for the suggestion.

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A Dime a Dozen

A Dime a Dozen

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A Dime a DozenWhen we want to describe something common or easy to find, a dime a dozen says it well.

A dime a dozen often implies a lack of worth.

A dime won’t buy much. Occasionally we buy cheap toys we know will break easily. Yet we think, If they break, we can just throw them away.

How often do we treat people as worthless?

  • How do we view those with little money?
  • When someone makes a mistake, do we help them or give up on them?
  • How do we act around those different from us?
  • Do we look down on those who fail to meet our standards?
  • How many have we labeled hopeless and undeserving of our time and effort?

Sadly, many people accept this judgment.

After years of mistreatment, they give up. They stop seeking a better life. They believe they deserve the way we treat them.

How dare we do that to another human being!

A broken toy can be thrown away. A broken person needs our love and concern.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3 NIV).

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Over the Hill

Over the Hill

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Over the Hill“You’re not over the hill yet, but my mom just went over the hill.” Those words came from an elementary-age girl whose mother had just celebrated her 35th birthday. The mother laughed. She remembered thinking the same thing about her mother at that age.

Young people often believe middle-age and older adults are over the hill.

They think they have reached their peak in life. In their opinion, anyone 35 or older:

  • Is out of touch with the latest fads, language, and styles
  • Stops having fun
  • Sets no more worthwhile goals
  • Loses their spirit of adventure

Wrong! The fun just begins, if we relax and enjoy the journey.

  • The need to impress, to fit in with the cool crowd, and to prove ourselves diminishes.
  • We learn to enjoy the moment for what it is, not what we wish.
  • That freedom exhilarates, and the future looks promising.

As Robert Browning said:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!’”

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104:33 NIV).

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Raining Cats and Dogs

Raining Cats and Dogs

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Raining Cats and Dogs“It’s raining cats and dogs” has been heard a lot recently. Because of rain:

  • Streets, roads, and parks closed.
  • Parts of roads and bridges washed away.
  • Basements flooded.
  • Fields turned into ponds.
  • People joked about the Bible’s story of Noah and their need to build an ark.

We have had rain and plenty of it!

People who enjoy the sound of rain when they sleep probably couldn’t keep their eyes open … unless thunder and lightning kept them awake.

Of course, grass, trees, and flowers look wonderful once the sun finally shines through those clouds. We also gaze in awe at a rainbow’s beauty.

Rain showers and rainbows remind us of God’s blessings.

God waits to shower us with joy, peace, hope, love, and more, if we turn to Him. Those showers continue, regardless of the weather outside.

“I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing” (Ezekiel 34:26, NIV)

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Bloom Where You’re Planted

Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Bloom Where You're PlantedThis picture, taken in a geyser basin of Yellowstone National Park, demonstrates bloom where you’re planted perfectly. Surrounded by geysers and hot springs, these flowers thrive. I’m certain a plant scientist could explain that. However, to an untrained eye, it looks impossible. In the midst of boiling water, thick steam, and crusty ground, flowers grow and bloom.

These flowers remind us to bloom where we’re planted.

Our life circumstances (where we’re planted) may be good or bad. Yet we can grow and spread cheer (bloom) regardless of our circumstances. Certainly, that’s easier when life goes well. At the same time, some of the most cheerful people have experienced the hardest lives.

  • A poor man with a sick wife gives snacks to children at his church every week.
  • A dying wife encourages her husband and children to live well after her death.
  • A hungry woman gives the last of her food to neighbors.

Will we bloom where we’re planted and spread joy?

Or will we wilt and spread gloom? Each of us must choose.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon” (Psalm 92:12 NIV).

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Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

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Fear often keeps us from trying anything new. We think, “If I don’t try, I won’t fail.” By not trying, however, we miss some of the best that life has to offer. If we haven’t ventured into the unknown, we stay safe but stagnant.

Consider the child rejected by his parents. As an adult, he must choose if he will trust people. If he trusts, he could be rejected again … or he might enjoy close relationships. If he never trusts, he will never know true love.

Most of us fear public speaking. We may have great voices and brilliant ideas. But they do no good if we never share them. If we make a mistake, that’s okay. Everyone else makes them too.

A woman’s grandmother told her, “You can’t go near water until you learn how to swim.” As a result, she couldn’t swim and panicked when near deep water. Only when she faced her fears could she swim. She began by standing in a small amount of water. One small step at a time, she ventured farther. As a middle-aged woman, she finally learned the fun of playing in a pool.

What do you fear? Is the harm real or only in your mind?

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV).

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Let Bygones Be Bygones

Let Bygones Be Bygones

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Let Bygones Be Bygones 3The past controls too many people.

They will not let bygones be bygones. Instead of letting the past be past, they spend all their time remembering.

  • Some remember great things they did but can no longer do.
  • Others wish for the simpler, easier life when they were younger.

Far too many think about all the wrongs done to them.

  • Their family or friends hurt them.
  • Their boss treated them unfairly.
  • They lost money.
  • They never had a chance to improve their lives.

Everything that happens affects us.

Many people do suffer unfairly. Others live with painful memories. Some allow anger to control their lives. They hurt others because they feel hurt.

Life’s not always fair. We must decide how to live with that fact.

Will we learn from the past but live in the present? Only then can we look forward to the future.

Let’s not allow the past to control us.

Let bygones be bygones.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” (Isaiah 43:18 NIV).

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Something’s Fishy

Something’s Fishy

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Something's Fishy--fishNo one likes to smell fish left in a hot car, on the beach, or in a trash can. They stink! Only people who cannot smell escape the fishy aroma.

Getting rid of that odor is almost impossible. We rub. We spray. We open doors and windows. We do everything we know to do, but the smell remains.

In much the same way, we sometimes face situations that don’t seem right. We may not know why, but the negative feeling won’t go away.

  • A friend asks us to join an activity that makes us feel uneasy.
  • Someone offers an opportunity that sounds too good to be true.
  • We sense danger but can’t see why.

Those fishy situations disturb us for a reason. By trusting our instincts, we may avoid many future problems.

Flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11 NIV).