Frederick Douglass is quoted as saying without struggle there is no progress.

Question of the Week: Where would you find the story of Jesus turning water into wine?

You know that to get muscles you have to stress out the muscles so that they grow. Our faith is like that too. You will not know that you have any faith until you have been tested with the portion God has given you. As your faith grows, so does your work outs. Or trials. We would like to stay as kids with a Childs problems and concerns but we all have to adult, we all have to grow. We all have to die. So between the cradle and the grave there is this thing called life. It is nice if you can get to 70 and some do but not everybody. And along that journey stuff happens. Stuff happens to Christians, to good people, to faithful people. Remember that being a child of God does not give you diplomatic immunity. You will still have issues. You will still have weaknesses you will still be you. The challenge is to grow in the place you have been planted. Sometimes it’s a good season. Sometimes it a drought. Some seasons in your life eat bovine excrement, but it is what it is. Sometimes God feels like He is right in your face, and sometimes you wonder where in the world did He go. I’m drowning here….

Are you hearing me.

The body that God made, us, is a miracle in itself, it can take a lot of punishment, but at the same time, can be snuffed out like a candle.

And then there is the thing we all go through too. Getting older. Depending on your mileage, you might be starting to wonder “is this all there is to life.” Or maybe you are passed that point. If you are please share your thoughts with us. some call it a midlife crisis if they even know that is what it is. You just mad, confused, sad, you are grieving basically for the lost time. Lost youth, loss of how things used to be, you thought you should be further or farther along than this. You start thinking you are missing out, and the world loves that. They got answers for you the good folks don’t share. You can drink more, party more, dance more, buy more, have more sex with someone, anyone, all the pleasures of the flesh. And you are justified right? You are running out of time. I want to live. YOLO, they say.

Solomon, king Solomon, that at the time of the biblical writing was mega rich. He had everything you buy at the time plus all the fleshy stuff and he said in the Old Testament.

Ecclesiastes 1

all is vanity

the vanity Solomon spoke of could just as easily be translated "emptiness," "futility," "meaningless," or "nothingness." Solomon was saying, "There is nothing on this earth that will satisfy us completely: no thing, no pleasure, or no relationship."

Aint that a kick in the head? And you thought it was just you.

Remember I said you can get used to anything? Even negtives. If you stay depressed too long your body. Will change. You may put on weight, metabolism will slow, you can wish yourself to death. You won’t feel like doing anything. You will hinder the creation of the those endorphins. You’ll smoke more, drink more coffee, anything to legally hype yourself up, and give yourself ulcers, or worse.

Well, if you are going through a tough time right now. The only thing you can control really is how you are dealing with it. Your money might be funny, your take home can’t take you across the street, you are lonely in a house of 30 kids, your spouse has checked out, or sick, maybe you are physically, sexually, emotionally, lonely, Maybe none of that is your issue, maybe you just feeling like crap. You got some health issues yourself, you are grieving your used to be time, or maybe you have to buyers remorse, you bought into some foolishness and currently stuck with the choices you made. Whatever it is,

Change. You are not a tree. You can choose to stop, choose to not be sad, choose to not cry, although crying is good sometimes, but you can choose not to wallow in the pig sty you are in.

Let’s say you live in a pig pen. You ever seen where hogs are? Its nasty.

Let’s say you can’t get out of there right now. What you can do metaphorically is clean up your area. Make blocks out of the mud, defend your piece of the sty. Claim your space. Even if it is in your head. Protect your sanity. And do something. CHANGE. Means not allowing stuff to stay the same. Change how you react, change how you appear.

Your mileage may vary… but your goal is to survive until you see an opening to escape, survive until the season is over, survive until the thing is gone, but you can’t improve without a plan. Plan, do, create, make, design, use the thing God blessed you with, get rid of the distractions, the stuff you know isn’t good for you. Choose.

Speak life to your situation. While you have breath you have a chance and a choice.

The enemy will be there to remind you of what you are not. What you are missing. He will use people to say and do things to dissuade you. Crush your spirit. Rise above it.

Why. Because you are being tested, shaped molded and changed to be more like the person God wants you to be. Your example will help someone else cope with their struggle. We are not alone. You are not all by yourself. Someone knows exactly what it feel like to be you. They made it out, and so can you. If you don’t quit you will win too. If you don’t surrender, you will survive.

Sometimes a parent has to be silent to let their children figure something out for themselves. Right? You can hinder growth if you do too much for your kids. Right. Alcohol on a wound hurts a little but if you don’t disinfect the wound it can get infected. Sometimes you have to break a bone to reset it. Sometimes you have to pull a tooth to save a jaw, sometimes love hurts. Not domestic abuse or sexual fetish stuff but Godly love.

I can’t stand Romans 8:28; but its true.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

1 Corinthians 13:12

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

I don’t know how you found this podcast but I am glad you did. I don’t preach every week at my best friends church I attend. I play my guitar. I struggle with all the things I mentioned earlier and some I didn’t say.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

kenn.blanchard@gmail.com

Don’t quit till you win.