Keeping Faith

This past weekend I decided to take part in a the 26 hour challenge. Where you run a mile every hour for 26 hours. It was such an eye opening experience, I’ve learned a lot about myself as well as appreciating a goodnight sleep. I learned that it is important to pace yourself, give your body lots of water and good food to provide you with lots of energy. I also learned how easy it is to let your mind play with you telling you to just give up now but as soon as you win the battle and get up and start running again you feel so motivated and strong. This is just like real life, it is so easy to forget to provide yourself with key elements in life such as surrounding yourself with good people, reading the Bible to recharge gain strength, it’s also so easy to just give up when things get hard, but if you keep staying strong and growing in your faith in the long run you will feel unstoppable and so accomplished.

With lent being over I want to share what I learned, hoping in return to help you to realize things you have learned and can take with you as a lesson from Jesus.

I gave up coffee, my favorite: hobby drinking coffee in the mornings. You may be thinking what could you possibly learn from giving up a drink that some people don’t even like. Well I really did learn a lot and I think you did to. I believe we learn valuable lessons everyday we just have to focus a little bit more. The 40 days of lent with no coffee I learned many things. I learned what it means to sacrifice, to give up something. I learned how to recharge myself not from caffeine but from God. I learned how to love other things like orange juice. I also learned how to appreciate the things we take advantage of especially right now, not even being able to have the privilege of going to school. When I got to drink coffee again I loved it more than I ever did before because I appreciate it now.

I love reading the story of Job, chapter 1 and 2 really stick out to me. If you have not read it I highly recommend you do. A summary of the first 2 chapters is this, Job was a very wealthy man who had anything and everything he could possibly dream of. He was a sinless man who feared God and stayed far away from evil. The devil wanted Job to sin so he could prove to God that when bad things happen people will give in and sin. The devil did everything in his power to get Job to sin, he took away everything he had from taking his cattle, servants, killing his children, making him sick. Through all of this Job did not sin once.

“Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)

So much bad has happened in Job’s life. One bad thing after another. His wife even ask him why he won’t give up already. He has the most perfect response: “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)

In our lives bad things happen, sometimes you may feel as if only bad things are happening. Look how Job has handled his situation. The devil can take and take from you but the one thing he cannot take away from you is the Lord. Your faith in him will never be shaken by evil but made stronger in times of weakness.

As the story goes on his three friends hear of all the bad things that have happened to him. They go to provide him with sympathy and comfort. Although when they arrive to Job and see how little his has left they do not say a word but pray with him for seven days and seven nights.

I know from my own experience of great loss and suffering that no words can make you feel any better or fix things and bring them back to normal but a simple prayer can help heal. Help your friends and pray for them especially in times like these. If you are that friend that needs prayers let me know I will pray for you.

Lord I pray for today I pray you give me today that is all I ask I cannot change what happened yesterday and your job is preparing tomorrow. Give me today Lord I put my trust in you to carry me through this day.

Now that Valentine’s Day has come to an end, we can talk about what the true meaning of love really is. Most of us think of love as your relationship status and yes that may be one type of love, that’s not the love I’m referring to. I mean love love. The most important love of all. God’s love. God created us with his love. In return all he is asking for is for us to love him back. To love each and every person the way God loves them and how he loves us.

“You shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).