How many times have you prayed and thanked God for the air you breathe? Or thanked Him for life? What about daylight, friends, animals (if you like them lol), sight, a house, sleep, or other things like that? So often we take those things for granted!
Imagine this scenario: You're driving to school or work and a reckless* driver pulls out right in front of you. Although it looks like you don't have time to stop or go around the car, miraculously you make it unscathed. I'll bet the first thing you would do (definitely after calming down--that would be scary!) would be to pray and thank God that He kept you safe.
Now, imagine this scenario: You're driving to school or work . . . and you get there perfectly safe. Now, I'm guessing that most of you would just walk inside and grumble about the amount of paperwork you have to do or that there's a test today in the class you just really hate.
Although both scenarios end the same way, you make it safe to your destination, you only thanked God in the first scenario. Why? God kept you safe both times. The difference is that in the first situation the traumatic event reminded you to thank God, while in the second situation the fact that God kept you safe was taken for granted.
I'm not saying that you all do this--I hope that you all give thanks and glory to God. I just realized that I have a tendency to take things like this for granted. Today I was reminded of this because I was complaining** about the awful rain (my horse's stall floods if it rains hard) and a bunch of other things :) But then I thought "Wow, this rain is actually kind of pretty--God is so creative. And, although there's a leak in my boot, I'm thankful I have boots. And, although I'm not really happy that I have to be out here in the pouring rain taking care of this nasty flooding problem, I'm soooo thankful that I have a horse!" Even though I could have kept complaining (I was still a little irritated) God showed me that I should be thankful for what I have instead of complaining about it--it's all a matter of how you look at things.
So, be extra thankful for what God has blessed you with. Especially if it's something you normally take for granted. And, if you're tempted to complain, find the positive side and see how God has blessed you instead of focusing on the negative. Remember to thank God for everything!
If you want to read the whole story about what happened with the flooding and the rain, check out this post on my other blog. Never surrender!
*Why do we call an irresponsible driver "reckless." You'd think that those drivers would have lots of wrecks. We should call the responsible drivers "wreckless" because they're probably the ones who really are wreck-less. hehe :)
**Actually I was complaining to myself. There was no one else outside, so I sounded like a total idiot. lol
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Why do we celebrate "Easter"?
Now the post title may sound a little weird. I'm not questioning why we celebrate Christ's rising from the grave. If Christ didn't come back to life our faith would be nothing. I'm questioning why we call the day Easter.
Apparently there's an ancient pagan goddess of Spring, called Eastre, had a festival in the Spring. I checked several places about the origin of the Easter bunny and the eggs and found a few different stories. A few websites said that rabbits and birds were symbols of fertility and that's why it was used in the pagan celebration of Spring. On the other hand, while reading my rabbit 4-H handbook, I do a rabbit 4-H project every year, it said that the pagan goddess Eastre transformed a bird into a rabbit. This rabbit was so thankful for the transformation that laid some colored eggs in gratitude.
So, why do Christians still call our celebration of Christ's Resurrection "Easter"? Most of the sources I read agreed that the Christians had used the celebration of the Resurrection to replace the pagan Springtime festival--both occurred around the same time. And because of that, we ended up with the name "Easter" and the bunny and eggs as well.
So . . . why do Christians still call it Easter? I don't know about you, but I'm going to call this Sunday "Resurrection Day."
Apparently there's an ancient pagan goddess of Spring, called Eastre, had a festival in the Spring. I checked several places about the origin of the Easter bunny and the eggs and found a few different stories. A few websites said that rabbits and birds were symbols of fertility and that's why it was used in the pagan celebration of Spring. On the other hand, while reading my rabbit 4-H handbook, I do a rabbit 4-H project every year, it said that the pagan goddess Eastre transformed a bird into a rabbit. This rabbit was so thankful for the transformation that laid some colored eggs in gratitude.
So, why do Christians still call our celebration of Christ's Resurrection "Easter"? Most of the sources I read agreed that the Christians had used the celebration of the Resurrection to replace the pagan Springtime festival--both occurred around the same time. And because of that, we ended up with the name "Easter" and the bunny and eggs as well.
So . . . why do Christians still call it Easter? I don't know about you, but I'm going to call this Sunday "Resurrection Day."
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Why do bad things happen?
Hey, everyone! So sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I just realized it's been almost two months since my last post. I could give you plenty of ridiculous excuses . . . but they'd just be excuses :p I do have one legitimate reason I haven't posted in awhile (well this reason only covers like two or three weeks). My grandmother has been very ill and in and out of ICU since December and for a couple of weeks I was in FL with her. But, as I said, that only covers a few weeks . . .
Speaking of my grandmother, it's been really stressful these last four months. There have been times when we thought she was better and even talked about bringing her home. But more often she takes a turn for the worse and we wonder how much longer she's going to make it. This time of uncertainty has been difficult for me. When I'm in FL with my family my job is usually to watch the kids so that the other adults can either work or spend time at the hospital. But the few times I actually did get to go to the hospital were eye-opening. I always kept my grandmother in my prayers, but it doesn't always seem real to me until I actually see her in the hospital and see her fighting. Other times it seems so unreal and distant, like it's not even happening. I don't know what else to pray anymore. I feel like I've been praying the same thing over and over again.
That brings me to the point of this post. Why do bad things happen? Why is there murder? Why is there suffering? Why is there still slavery, abortion, rape? Why has my grandmother had to linger in between life and death for four months? Any worldview absolutely must answer those questions. And, only one gives a satisfactory answer.
Let's take a look at how other worldviews explain why bad things happen. From a naturalistic worldview evil does not exist because the physical world is the only thing that exists. Evil is just bad luck. What? Don't tell me evil doesn't exist! That is certainly not a good explanation of evil. Other religions--such as Eastern religions--say that the physical world is an illusion and therefore evil is just an illusion. Ok, so if evil is just an illusion . . . why does it hurt so much? Islam doesn't have a satisfactory answer either. They say that any evil was ordained by Allah--so all of the terrorist attacks were approved and allowed by Allah.
Christianity, on the other hand, offers the only satisfactory answer. Our world is a fallen world. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered into God's perfect world. But, why couldn't God have created Adam and Eve perfect so they wouldn't eat the fruit? Adam and Eve had to have a free will so they could choose to love God. God wanted their love for Him to be their choice. Forcing someone to love you is not real love at all. So, because Adam and Eve had free-will, they made the bad decision to eat the fruit.
Many people say that because there is evil in this world, there is not all-good, all-powerful God. If there were an omnibenevolent, omnipotent God he would want to and would have the power to destroy evil. So, since there is evil, there must not be a God. But, we know that there is still evil because God has not yet destroyed it. One day God will destroy evil.
Another amazing thing about Christianity is that our God suffers with us. He truly cares for us. I'm sure you know the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept." Now even though this verse is usually known for being the shortest verse in the entire Bible, it should be known for the compassion Jesus is showing. When He sees the distress of Lazarus' sisters because of their brother's death, Jesus weeps with them. And, the most obvious example of Christ's compassion and love for us is His choice to suffer for us on the cross. Our God has truly suffered more than any of us.
Back to my grandmother, she went into the hospital in December for triple bypass surgery and just never recovered. She has had just about every health complication possible since then. Am I supposed to think this is bad luck? Or an illusion? Or approved by the god, Allah? There is suffering in this world because of sin. This is a fallen world. And, that's the only satisfactory answer. And, even though my grandmother is suffering I know that the Lord cares for us. It's especially in times of trial that we need to remember that God suffered in our place. And remember that one day all this suffering will be gone. Bad things will happen. But, although you will most definitely suffer, never surrender!
Speaking of my grandmother, it's been really stressful these last four months. There have been times when we thought she was better and even talked about bringing her home. But more often she takes a turn for the worse and we wonder how much longer she's going to make it. This time of uncertainty has been difficult for me. When I'm in FL with my family my job is usually to watch the kids so that the other adults can either work or spend time at the hospital. But the few times I actually did get to go to the hospital were eye-opening. I always kept my grandmother in my prayers, but it doesn't always seem real to me until I actually see her in the hospital and see her fighting. Other times it seems so unreal and distant, like it's not even happening. I don't know what else to pray anymore. I feel like I've been praying the same thing over and over again.
That brings me to the point of this post. Why do bad things happen? Why is there murder? Why is there suffering? Why is there still slavery, abortion, rape? Why has my grandmother had to linger in between life and death for four months? Any worldview absolutely must answer those questions. And, only one gives a satisfactory answer.
Let's take a look at how other worldviews explain why bad things happen. From a naturalistic worldview evil does not exist because the physical world is the only thing that exists. Evil is just bad luck. What? Don't tell me evil doesn't exist! That is certainly not a good explanation of evil. Other religions--such as Eastern religions--say that the physical world is an illusion and therefore evil is just an illusion. Ok, so if evil is just an illusion . . . why does it hurt so much? Islam doesn't have a satisfactory answer either. They say that any evil was ordained by Allah--so all of the terrorist attacks were approved and allowed by Allah.
Christianity, on the other hand, offers the only satisfactory answer. Our world is a fallen world. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered into God's perfect world. But, why couldn't God have created Adam and Eve perfect so they wouldn't eat the fruit? Adam and Eve had to have a free will so they could choose to love God. God wanted their love for Him to be their choice. Forcing someone to love you is not real love at all. So, because Adam and Eve had free-will, they made the bad decision to eat the fruit.
Many people say that because there is evil in this world, there is not all-good, all-powerful God. If there were an omnibenevolent, omnipotent God he would want to and would have the power to destroy evil. So, since there is evil, there must not be a God. But, we know that there is still evil because God has not yet destroyed it. One day God will destroy evil.
Another amazing thing about Christianity is that our God suffers with us. He truly cares for us. I'm sure you know the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept." Now even though this verse is usually known for being the shortest verse in the entire Bible, it should be known for the compassion Jesus is showing. When He sees the distress of Lazarus' sisters because of their brother's death, Jesus weeps with them. And, the most obvious example of Christ's compassion and love for us is His choice to suffer for us on the cross. Our God has truly suffered more than any of us.
Back to my grandmother, she went into the hospital in December for triple bypass surgery and just never recovered. She has had just about every health complication possible since then. Am I supposed to think this is bad luck? Or an illusion? Or approved by the god, Allah? There is suffering in this world because of sin. This is a fallen world. And, that's the only satisfactory answer. And, even though my grandmother is suffering I know that the Lord cares for us. It's especially in times of trial that we need to remember that God suffered in our place. And remember that one day all this suffering will be gone. Bad things will happen. But, although you will most definitely suffer, never surrender!
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