Finding the reason to live…

I have been to places so profoundly dark, that I couldn’t see my hand, even when I waved it in front of my eyes. Because, the absence of light is darkness.

I have been in places where leaders didn’t care if I was happy or sad, so long as they had control. They didn’t care if I was dying inside, as long as I did it in silence. But the absence of care is actually cruel. The absence of love invokes fear.

I have also experienced people who believed in me, who dared to tear down the blinders which had tricked me into darkness. Because – and this is true for many of us – in the presence of those who love us and care, we find our reason to live. We find that their ‘perfect love casts out fear.’*

*1 John 4:18 / (photo by RUN 4 FFWPU: www.pexels.com)

Bible psychology – How to live

A small sign pointed up, so I stopped and looked. High above, on the church tower, it said: ‘Do not forget to live.’ It hit me hard.

I do it all the time. I get caught up in work, business, in pleasing others – my head down, my life filled with concern. I forget to live. And sadly, I forget HOW to live, because the pressures of life pull me down.

God, however, isn’t ‘the God of the dead, but of the living’ (Mark 12:27). So, today, I stop and pray: ‘Please show me what living looks like and remind me what it feels like.’

Today, I watch the sun and shadows, the sparkling dew. The world rushes by, but I stop.

(sundial of a Warwickshire church tower)

A time to see…

Emotions overcome many things, sometimes even the facts. A fact about ourselves is that God “has made everything beautiful in its time.” Yet, we might say, “Dream on. I just took a look in the mirror and, well … Let’s not go there.”

But, if we look deeper, we could see down into our hearts. Sure we might want to hide things, but God has put something profoundly beautiful inside us. “He has also set eternity in the human heart.”

Eternity. A longing for something that lasts. A longing for a relationship that never ends. A dream of never being forgotten, of being remembered and loved. And this is God’s dream for us – him forever relating with our beautiful hearts. Now this is a fact.

Quotes from Ecclesiastes 3:11