There are times that I feel overwhelmed, so many things to do and how to fit it all in a 24-hour period. There are things that seem too big for me to do by myself, but I don’t give up and I encourage you to never give up and to never be the source of discouragement for anyone who is trying to do his or her best. This week I heard someone say in referencing a person, said, “they think they have solved the world’s problems”. This person is in the process of discovering their spiritual side, along with trying to understand Bible prophecies, and has decided they really do know how “it’s all going to end“. My thought is that I hope they never realize the truth, I think that’s when we start dying, we think we know it all, find out we don’t, and lose hope, it happens to us all. I thought of a couple of instances, both positive and negative, things that really may have been determining factors in the way my life has turned out. I was trusted with responsibilities beyond my years and I really tried to earn the trust and it worked! I did a good job of taking care of the home while my parents were building a church. I learned how to clean; watch my two younger siblings and (best of all), I learned how to cook! I received all the praise I needed to make me proud and want to continue. I choose not to dwell on the negatives at this writing, but I was dealt a few devastating blows that could have flattened me. What I had in my favor was that my parents were always there for me to confide in, to listen to me gripe and complain, without putting me down for it. They were willing to share with me all the times they had faced bad things and how they had survived to live, and fight a different battle, one more day. More than anything else though, was the faith that had been built into me from early on, to know that God cared, that He gave me strength and His angels were always there to guard and keep me.
My “go-to” scripture was always Philippians 4:13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I feel that my role in life is to pay it forward by helping others the way I have been helped, to give encouragement to the discouraged, hope to the hopeless, strength to the weak. Can I do that? No, not on my own, it goes back to “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me”, I can and so can you! When you want to criticize a young person or someone young in the faith, remember all the crazy thoughts you had when you were in their shoes. The old song by Joe South “If you could be me and I could be you for just one hour if we could find a way to get inside each other’s minds, if you could see you through my eyes instead of your ego I believe that you would be surprised to see that you’d been blind. Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes, and before you abuse, criticize and accuse, Walk a mile in my shoes.“
Harolene.com 