~ Life is CRAZY MAN. There are seasons for joy, suffering, light, and glory, ah that sweet glory always shines through. Stay Resilient, friends. This post was written in 2017 & to preserve the integrity of that season of my life, I did not revise or change anything. I want this to be as real and raw as possible. ~
Written on August 29, 2017
It’s a funny thing to have writer's block for the second ever post on this blog, but I guess you can say it’s kind of like life. As you finally get going on something, it seems an obstacle is already awaiting your arrival and has stoplights in your tracks before you even have the chance to begin. Some stop and turn around as soon as the first obstacle hits (as I've been doing up until now), but God calls us to push through and keep going. To continue walking amidst the storm.
A lot of the time, I like to wait until the hardships are over to start writing, so I can give my insight on them and find the glowing positive wisdom that I missed along the journey, but the thing is, it doesn’t work that way. There will always be suffering. I don’t think I’ve ever sat at my kitchen table thinking, “Ah. There are no hardships in my life right now, there is nothing I need to pray for.” We live in a world where there is good and evil, happiness and sorrow, wealth and poverty, but who says suffering is a bad thing? Now you might think, “Girl, whatchu mean? Suffering is awful and I’m exiting out of this tab now cuz you crazy” But I’m so serious! Would our lives change if we viewed our struggles as blessings? If we pushed through and fought the temptation to give up, just as Jesus did?
Since trials and adversity are inevitable in this broken world, why not challenge them. It is not the tribulation themselves that consume you, but the way you choose to handle them. Do you allow yourself to fall when adversity hits, burn when you lose love, or sink when the loneliness and unknown future keep you up at night? I know I definitely have. There are no comforting underlying answers to the desperation we feel at times, but one that has been my rock on this uneasy journey is Trust.
We are called to trust God because He’s got this! He has our lives planned out and all we have to do is relinquish the control to the foot of the cross and choose to follow Him every day while being content with whatever happens.
I’m sure we could talk about trust for hours and agree that at times it can be tricky. It takes daily work to build what a moment can take away. I say “Jesus, I trust in you” every single day for me to really believe it.
I say it when my blessings are as evident as the rays of the sun and when they are hidden behind the clouds of the storm.
When I sing in worship, I say it. When I cry, I say it. When my voice shakes, I still say it. Trust is an endless effort while suffering is a never-ending smack in the face. So should we sink into fear as we get hit or stand tall and turn the other cheek?
I choose to be brave.
I choose to look at suffering dead in the face and say “Bring it on because Jesus is on my side”
I choose to Trust.
We are called to fight back and stand up for His truth. Let’s suffer because our first love, our savior, and our best friend chose to fight through the worst death for us to be saved by love and mercy.
Let us remember Him on His way up Calvary with hundreds of slashes and open wounds on His back, broken bones, and blood streaming down His face- while carrying a cross made of wood, He did not give up. I want to give up sometimes just by taking the stairs... But Jesus did not give up when people spat in His face or when things got really rough.
Do we remember these things in the midst of our small sufferings on this earth? I know that for me it is something I work on every single day because it is so easily forgotten in the midst of the distresses of daily life.
Here's a small excerpt from a film I recently watched called Footprints- The Path Of Your Life
"Suffering makes us the most authentic versions of ourselves that we can be. The Realest moments in life are not when we are singing and all giddy but when we are tested after enduring and overcoming a crisis. When we get blisters on our feet, we say 'it's over, it's impossible to keep walking,' but the realization that you can indeed continue in spite of the blisters, is in itself a lesson to your character. Imagine a world with no sacrifices, where the possibility of growing after overcoming the obstacles we all face would be denied... Suffering passes...But having suffered remains."
God takes every sacrifice and turns it into light.
His love is bigger than any fear.
His love is bigger than any sword.
His love is bigger than any pain.
He has won.
Let us remember Jesus at this moment. Today, Jesus, I trust in you.
Anything can be an offering.
Love Always,
Pati
~inspiration~
“I understood that there were many kinds of sanctity and that each soul was free to respond to the approaches of Our Lord and to do little or much for Him — in other words, to make a choice among the sacrifices He demands.” – The Story of a Soul
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
- Isaiah 43:2
~Prayer for Trust~
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, Your will through all things. (By St. Ignatius of Loyola)
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