...God will never give you more than you can Bear

Sometimes even though you are in the midst of trials and tribulations, God will do something to show you that He is still there, He is listening, and He has not forgotten you. You might call a recent change in a persons' fortunes for the better being at the right place at the right time. I know it is more than that. When something is for you, it has been predestined that you be in that place at that time to receive what is coming to you, whether it be good or bad. When good things happen, thank God. When bad things happen, thank God. He is there. He is listening. He remembers. Unlike us, He doesn't have a short memory.

When you remain positive, even in when things look their worst, you not only help yourself, but you can encourage others. You might be going through hell, but if you look like your on vacation, it may help someone else going through a bad time in their life. They can see that just because your going through something, you don't have to be ho hum and depressed. Just because your going through doesn't mean that you have to look like your circumstances either. Your pain can be deep. It can ruin you if you let it, but you can't. Life is like school. You have to go through things to make it to the next level. Take the bad things in stride, or at least appear to. Take that pain, hurt, despair, and use it to motivate yourself, and others. Turn your pain into Progress...

...now What?

Now that you have aired your thoughts and feelings to God, your wondering what should you do next. Seems that you have run out of options. Things just dont look too terribly great. Its like the weight of the world really has fallen down onto your shoulders. Everywhere you turn there is utter disappointment and a seemingly endless road of dispair. What do you do? Just who exactly do you turn to? The people that should be there in your corner can't be(to no fault of their own) or just plainly refuse to, so now what? It's a hard road to travel and your walking it alone, barefoot at midnight in the rain through the woods. Its cold, lonely, and painful.

People seem to always have all the answers for you when they are not the ones going through your particular hell. Its much easier to fix or see yourself out of a situation when your not the one in it. Sometimes you want to just sock people because they think that they have you and your life all sorted out. You really wish that some of those people could walk just two blocks in your shoes.

What will it take to make things better? The short answer is a miracle. Honestly, it takes a lot of positive reinforcement, goal setting, and productivity to help make things better. Surrounding yourself around positive people and settings also helps. If you have a bunch of depressed people around you all the time, you will be depressed. You can't give up, no matter how tired life makes you. Thats when you ultimately lose. As long as there is breath in your body, you have to keep striving for bigger, better, and greater things no matter how dire your current situation or circumstances are. Nothing worthwhile ever came easy to anyone. If it did, everyone would be millionares and happy. Life is whole lot of trial and error, sometimes mostly error. The goal is to learn from those errors so that you can become a better person. When you think that things are too much to handle, remember, God will never give you more than you can bear...

...an open letter to God

Dear God,

I know that I should be thanking you for the things we deem simple but I don't really feel like it. I know that you are the Creator, and that you are capable but when I look around at my current situation, I find it hard to believe that things can change. I pray. I've been patient. Seems as though for every good thing I do, I get kicked in the nuts twice with a steel toed boot. I'm feeling down and out. Looks like the nice guy is finishing last.

I know what your Word says. I believe in the Bible, but I can't eat it. I'm hungry. The Bible isn't paying my car note, filling up my gas tank, or putting a roof over my head. I know I sound ungrateful but I'm not. You woke me up this morning and I am alive with a reasonable portion of health and strength. I'm thankful for that, but honestly, it's hard to focus on the spiritual when there is so much lacking in the natural. I'm just looking for you to make some things happen. I try to be the best person I can be, but that just doesn't seem to be enough. Even in doing all the right things, I get the short end of the stick. I'm not gonna lie, I could pray a little more, but so could half the Earth.

What I need from you right now is a miracle. I am tired of hearing people say that You can 'fix it' or that they are praying for me. Are You hearing these alleged prayers cause one of two things are happening here. Either these people aren't really praying or You are not listening. Now which one is it?

I want to be faithful to you God, but these situations that you have allowed me to be in make it quite hard to focus. When your stomach is growling cause you haven't eaten today, or your wondering were your going to sleep tonight, it kind of makes it hard to want to go to someones judgemental church to lay down your burdens.

That's another thing. What is up with these alleged 'saints of God'. These folks ain't no more saintly than a stripper sliding down a pole. I'm not looking for the flaws but all I see is a bunch of people faking and prostituting your Word. I thought the church was a place that people could get help when they needed it, like the hospital. Seems to me that this is not the case, in a lot of churches I've been to lately which further adds to my discontent. I don't see people lining up to visit the hospital when they are well cause it's the cool thing to do. Why is it that Your people expect perfection when you walk into the church? Since when did Your house become an exclusive club, everyones wondering.

Look God, I love you and I know you love me, but please hear what I am saying. Life is HARD. I believe in You and Your Word and when I pray, I expect results, just like you expect me to pray and worship You. These are just my thoughts, but You knew them before I was even created. I implore you to look at me, and make me better. Help me to look past the wrong that others are committing in Your name and help me to be a better Christian. In the end, it's not gonna be about what kind of car you have, or who you know, or what denomination you are, but is your name written in the Book of Life. Lord, I pray that you just have a little mercy...

Signed,

Weary Christian...

...people can only do to you what you allow them To

People are always blaming others for things that they themselves are responsible for. The person doing all the blaming may not see it that way and may feel like they are the one that's always being wronged. Lets step back and analyse this. There is the person who was hurt, and the person that allegedly did the hurting and seemingly doesn't care. The person who was hurt is usually the one who talks about whatever the situation was that caused them pain and paints the other person in a negative light. Now true enough, the alleged offending person may have actually done something worthy of being talked about, but the thing that needs to be dealt with is how did it get to that point. In any situation, a person should never be able to get the best of you. You should always be the person who is able to walk away with your head held high.

There is one thing that I know with absolute certainty. People will definitely try you. They will make you mad enough to fight sometimes. The thing that you have to understand is that people can only do to you what you allow them to. To put that in perspective, if you are fighting mad at someone, its because you gave them the power to do so. People can only go as far as you let them. If you shut them down early, they don't have a chance to get to the point of feeling like they have the upper hand over you. The thing that is forgotten in these situations is that while you are mad at the person for whatever situation that occurred and are telling the earth how angry you are, that person is living their life. They are not thinking about you in the least. Next time you get angry and you wanna simmer in your disapproval of that person, remember that last statement. Honestly, no one really cares about the situation but you. Be adult, and move on. Learn to stop putting yourself in situations that could give someone the feeling of superiority over you in the first place. Remember that people will let you down. If you want to vent, talk to GOD...

...so you find yourself walking down a long path of hurt and deep Regret...

So you are walking down that long cold path of hurt and deep regret. What did you do to get there? Where did you go wrong? What could you have done differently given the circumstances? These are questions that are silently asked when you feel hurt or wronged in some way. Well quite frankly, it went wrong when you ignored conventional wisdom and did things that defied common sense. You didn't listen to that gut feeling that you had when you where making bad decisions.

The question you need to ask yourself is not how did you get to this place or what went wrong, but did you learn from your mistakes? If the answer is yes, that's wonderful. Life should be well for you and you are growing as an individual. If the answer is no, you will find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over again until you do. It's not a pleasant experience and you may not think that you are repeating the same things. However, if you step back and look at past situations and are completely honest with yourself, you will see that you have. It's completely fine to make mistakes in life, but its not okay if you don't learn and grow from them.

The lesson here is that you should always learn something from your mistakes. For instance if you keep finding yourself in painful situations with people, there is obviously something that you are not learning. Honestly, if you are constantly being hurt by people, it's because you allowed it to happen. Face the facts. People can only do to you what you allow them to...

...people can really disappoint You

People can really disappoint you. Sometimes you find yourself in situations where you really want to just hurt someone because they let you down. The thing to learn is that you have to stop putting yourself in situations that allow people to catastrophically disappoint you. It's very easy to find your feelings mangled on the side of the road because someone did or said something stupid that drove you to the point of wanting to cause them physical harm. However, its even easier to control the elements that contribute to making you feel this way in the first place.

For instance, deep down you already know that keeping the company of certain people isn't a good thing, whether you admit to it or not. Instead of ridding yourself of the problem by releasing these cancerous people from your life, you try your hardest to rationalize keeping them in your life. If certain people are a counterproductive force in your life that keeps you from being happy, moving forward, or have become some sort of hindrance in any way, they simply need to be removed. These people are in your life for no apparent reason other than to hold you back in some way, inconvenience you, cause you pain, or embarrassment like a pimple that suddenly rises up on your head right before picture day. The thing we do as rationally irrational people is try to keep people around that don't need to be in our lives. It is not a good thing to do, and more than likely something bad will happen if you keep them around. You will find that for the sake of making yourself a better person, it's best to let unproductive, negative, hindering people leave your life. If you don't, you might find yourself walking down a long path of hurt and deep regret...

...don't hang with Stupid

Don't hang with stupid. Stupid makes you look bad. You already know that Stupid is admittedly just that, and so does everyone else. So why do you keep subjecting yourself to the stupidity of Mr or Ms. Stupid? Is it because you want to fit in? Are you doing it to gain something in the end? Why are you actually hanging with Stupid?

People hang with Stupid all the time for various reasons but one of the most common explanations is personal gain. You never gain anything from using someone. Usually the dumber of the pair will drag you down to his or her level. Even though this is so true, people choose to hang with Stupid all the time thinking they are gaining something, when they are actually losing. Like I said before, Stupid is admittedly stupid and everyone knows that, including you. The thing that makes hanging with Stupid so bad is the fact that you continue to do so despite knowing that this isn't a smart decision, and that Stupid thinks you are dumb for doing so. How do you fix this? Stop hanging with Stupid. If you keep hanging with them, you will find out real quick that people will disapoint you...

...know your worth, and never accept less than that out of Life

Sometimes in life, you have to do things that you don't really want to do, such as take a job that you dislike. It could be something more in depth than that. Sometimes when you sit down and analyze a situation, you realize that some things are just beneath you. It's not that your better than someone else, it's just that you know your self worth. When you know your worth, then you will strive for bigger and better things.

Never forget where you came from and people that may have helped you along the way. Know your self worth. Too many times we compromise out happiness for temporary gains. In the end, it only leaves you angry, and you have wasted your time with whatever endeavor you have embarked upon. Know what your worth and never accept less from life. If you truly know your self worth, you will never be caught hanging with Stupid...

its how you deal with lifes little love taps that makes you a stronger Person

It's how you deal with life's little love taps that can ultimately make or break a person. Life has a funny way of vetting you quickly. Life can sometimes be great, and sometimes life can be pretty cruel. In whatever situation you are experiencing in your life, its how you deal with it that can make or break you. Some experiences are meant for you to grow as a person, and some experiences happen because you did something stupid. When you sit back and look at a situation you where in once it is over, you should be able to reflect and see that you have gained valuable knowledge and experience from what you've gone through.

Never should you be about to look back at a troubling experience and not be able to see the good that came from it. If that is the case, you did not learn anything from the sitation, and you will more than likely repeat your mistakes. It's not meant for you to continually fall into the same patterns in life. Entering into repetitive inane cycles will just make your life miserable and you will become stagnant. If your going through a situation, you should be a stronger, more knowledgeable person when you come out of it. Know your worth, and never accept less that that out of life...

...remain positive, because hope is all that you have Left

Remain positive, even in bad situations, because the hope that things will get better may be all that you have to hold you over. Things will get tough from time to time and things may not always go according to plan. When the ship seemingly starts sinking, its up to you to grab a bucket and start pailing water back overboard. You can't let your ship sink, or in other words, you can't stop bailing water because you have no life preservers.

In life, you have to bail water out of that ship like you have no life preservers. You have to act like there is no back up plan, even if there is one. You are the only person that you can depend on and if you give up on yourself, who is going to be there for you. No one is going to just come swoop down out of the sky and solve all of your problems. Even when things get better in your life there is always something that will come along and pose some sort of problem. Most of the time though, it isnt the problem or situation that makes you a better person, its how you deal with lifes love taps that makes you a stronger person...

...you have come a long Way

...you have come a long way. Its only been a few short months since you seemingly hit naked rock. God is truly a good God, and you have been tremendously blessed. As you sit at your desk in your new office listening to soothing music and reflecting back on the past summer, seems like a distant memory. Yet,it wasn't all that long ago that your troubles seemed insermountable. Before, you were wondering how you were going to pay your bills, and now your out looking for furniture and new clothes. Times have definately changed. Since things have changed for the better, reflect and thank God for the things He has done.

Don't forget where you were a few short weeks ago. Thank and appreciate those people that were with you when times were hard. Pray for those who let you down in your time of need, and most of all, don't be bitter towards them. Everything happens for a reason. The people that seemingly made an about face out of your life when things got tough didn't need to be in your life to begin with, and it took a life altering experience to weed out the bad people from the ones that meant well. Just because people say that they will be there for you doesn't mean that they really will be when you actually turn to them in a time of need.

Knowing the things that you do now and looking back on the past few months should make one thing crystal clear. Having a positive attitude toward life and situations will help you make it though very hard times. Giving up is never an option and if you hold out and remain vigilant, you can be victorious in the end. Remain positive, because sometimes hope is all that you have left...

...there's a silver lining around that dark Cloud

There is a silver lining around that dark cloud, even though things haven't been going quite like you would have hoped them to. You have to keep focus and always remain positive. Capitalize on every opportunity, no matter how small. You never know where it might lead you.

When you step into a new venture, never forget where you came from. When things seem as though they are hard and not looking your way, think about where you came from. Think about the time when you didn't have the job, house, or car to complain about. Things could always be worse, much worse. You have come a long way...

...things don't always happen the way you want them To

Things don't always happen the way you want them to. However, things do happen for a reason. Nothing happens arbitrarily. It's part of the master plan for your life. God ultimately has a plan, a straight path. Its always us that deviate from that planned route. He throws up all kinds of warning signs, like the voice on a GPS, but you just have to make that unnecessary detour. You want a hamburger, a car wash, or a new outfit from the mall. The voice on the GPS is hollering, and you ignore it.

The same thing happens in real life. God throws up all kinds of red flags, but you ignore them. You feel that this is something you want to do and it will just take a minute, or its not far from the planned route. You don't realize that you have traveled down the wrong path until you find yourself lost. Even though you have ventured out into the wrong place, God is much like the GPS and He has a way of escape planned. Even though you don't see it, all you have to do is follow His lead, much like you would the GPS if you were lost.

Eventually, no matter how far into the wilderness you have traveled, you will end up back on the main route. The time it takes to get there depends on how far you trusted in yourself or others and continued to travel in the wrong direction. It could be minutes, hours, days, or even years. In life, you might need a GPS, but regarding your life, make God your GPS. When you do that, you can actually look up and see the silver lining in the dark clouds...

...sometimes, you have to be your own Rock

Sometimes your have to be your own rock because there just isn't any other option. People fall to the wayside. You can't depend on others for your personal strength. Be your own rock. Find ways to uplift and motivate yourself. You can't allow yourself to get to the point of being depressed. It just isn't productive. In the times that you feel your lowest, weakest, or most vulnerable, get motivated. Surround yourself around positive things or people. Whatever you do, don't become idle. As the old saying goes, an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

Once you start really thinking and dwelling on your troubles, they can really depress you. The hard thing to do is to try not to think about how bad your situation might be. Instead, think on the positives. Good things do eventually happen. They just may not happen when you want them to. God hasn't forgotten about you. He is still there. Despite all the hell that you may be experiencing, He is there with you. You are not alone.

Bad things often are allowed to happen in your life to set you up for some thing better. If you never went through anything, how could you appreciate the times in your life when you where prosperous, successful, joyous, and all was well? Things may look bad now, but lots of times your right at the cusp of your blessing and don't realize it. You have to stay the path. Remember, even in staying the path, things don't always happen the way you want them to...

...so someone karate chopped you in your 11:59 moment

You say someone came along and karate chopped you in your 11:59PM moment? It happens. You were in a place where you really needed someone and you thought they were gonna actually come through, and they karate chopped you in the neck with disappointment and failure. OUCH! Now what? You only have a minute before your seemingly ultimate epic fail and descent into the unknown terrible abyss. People, this happens. Its not uncommon. People just don't come through sometimes.

Here's the lesson to learn from this. Stop depending on people so heavily. Look, if your in an 11:59PM situation and you can't fix it, at 12:00AM your not gonna die. The world is not going to end. It may feel that way, but trust me, you will be alright. Stop putting ALL of your trust in people and trust God. In addition to that, don't just look for divine intervention to swoop down and rescue you out of all your trials and tribulations. You have to go through some things and put in some work to reap rewards. It's not God's, or anyone elses fault if your needs aren't met when you need them to be. Its your own fault. Quite possibly, that thing you wanted or situation you needed handled wasn't meant to be, at least not at that time. Deal with it.

The sooner we stop placing the blame on others and accept the fact that no one is responsible for us but ourselves, the better we will be. Stop dragging past events into your present and move forward, get positive. So what someone didn't come through for you. Get over it. Its gonna happen again, just wait. If you think that people will never let you down, keep on living. Your poor little feelings will be crushed over and over again as people show you their true selves. When you stop depending on other people, you will realize that you can be your own inspiration. Sometimes, you have to be your own rock...

...everyone who tells you that they are there for you really Isn't

Everyone who tells you that they are there for you really isn't... Come on now people, you already knew that right? Surely you couldn't have possibly thought that every person that said they would be there for you in your time of need would actually follow through on that promise, now did you? If you did, you are very naive. For the most part, we already know that some people are just talking out the side of their throat when they mention those few, but meaningful words that they have no intentions of following through on. We have all been there and can point out the fakers from the real folks. The issue comes when its someone that you thought you could really count on, that leaves you hanging. That is more than a slap in the face. That's like a kick in the crotch with a size 14 steel toed boot. It hurts, your totally unprepared, and your blindsided. Its like you were robbed, but all they took was your self respect. It's an indescribable hurt, nah, it's mainly disappointment.

How do you get into these situations, you might ask? Hmm, that's kinda tricky cause it could happen to anyone. For the most part, as mentioned before, we can point out the fakers. It's the people that are around you all the time, the ones you hang out with, talk to on the phone, go to the store with, your close inner circle that seem to karate chop you to the side in your 11:59 moments...

...be careful of who you confide in. Everyone isn't always who they claim to Be

Be careful who you confide in. Everyone isn't who you think they are. Sad but true. This is true for just about everyone who comes into your life, friends family members, girlfriends/boyfriends, pastors etc. At some point in the time you have had an encounter with someone that you thought you could trust, and they let you down in some way. You told them something in confidence, or trusted them in some way. The next thing you know, the earth knows your business or they have just broken that trust bond. Maybe you confided in someone and they used what you told them against you in an argument or spewed your business at an inappropriate time or place. It doesn't feel nice to suddenly know that others know what you told someone in confidence.

You may ask yourself, how did I end up in this situation in the first place? To start, you talked too much. Secondly, you talked too much to the wrong person or group of people. I know some of you will say, "well I only confide in those closest to me". To that statement, I say, silly people, don't you realize that those that are closest to you are the ones that always hurt you the most? Let me dive into this a little. Some people are opportunists. They want you to tell them all your business so that they can use it against you at at later date, (IE: an angry girlfriend/boyfriend or coworker) Some people pretend to be things that they are not to try to get close to you and know all your business because they have ulterior motives. When they discover that you are not what they thought you were, or find out that you have nothing to offer them they move on, sometimes telling all of your personal business as they make their exit stage right.

Now there are the people that blindside you. Everyone isn't out to tell all of your deepest darkest secrets, but they can hurt you just the same. Have you ever put your trust in someone only to be let down real hard? For instance, your dating someone and find out that they cheated on you. You begin attending church and you start hanging with that good ole' sanctified soul, only to find out that they were 'less than sanctified' and had ulterior motives? We've all had a friend that said that they'd be there through thick and thin, but turns out they were only there when it was convenient for them. How about that person who was always around while you were on top of the world, but when things changed, they ran away from you like day from night. These are the types of situations that seem to be common. We allow people into the most personal places in our lives only to have our feelings violated. That's what it feels like.

How do we get into these situations you might ask? Well we put too much trust into people. We put people up on pedestals that they don't deserve to be on. Just because your a celebrity, pastor, teacher, singer, counselor, police officer etc; doesn't mean that you get automatic trust and mountains of respect. Everyone should be on an even playing field. God should be the only one you ever slap up on a pedestal. People are fallible. Often times we forget that. You have to remember that some people are out for personal gain. Sometimes that means destroying the next person to achieve that goal. You will find that everyone who tells you that they are there for you really isn't...

...in life, take the wheel.. you should always be in the Drivers Seat

It seems as though you are going through something that no one can relate to, something so horribly bad that it is unfixable. The truth is, that isn't true. In just about every situation, someone has been through it, or is going through it. What we fail to see is that there is always a bright side to every situation, no matter how bleak it may seem at the time. When it gets to the point when you feel that your life is a complete #fail and nothing or no one can help you, take a step back and examine your situation closely. Take stock in who you are confiding in. Look at the people you keep in your inner circle. Are they positive? Are they optimistic or are they putting their foot on your throat now that your down?

The other aspect to examine closely is just how much information are you sharing about yourself? Are you telling the earth the most intricate details about all your life's issues? Are you talking to the right people who will be supportive to you even if they can't help you out of your situation? Honestly, a lot of times we just plainly talk too much. Giving too much information to people who would otherwise have no place in your life gives them power and control over you.

When are you going to sit in the driver's seat and take the wheel in your life? No one or no thing should ever be the controller of your you, your present, or your future. Anyone or anything that powerful is definitely something bad in your life. If you can identify something that is in your life that seems to fit this description, remove it! These sorts of distractions can be very detrimental to having a healthy and positive outlook on life. The key here is to not tell the earth all of your business. You can talk about things, but tell the right people limited but detailed information. Be careful of who you confide in. Everyone isn't always who they claim to be...

...congratulations! you've officially hit naked Rock

Congratulations! You've officially hit naked rock. Now that you are homeless, broke, and on the streets, what do you do? Everyone familiar with your situation would have you run back to your old pitfalls, the things that have done you harm, much like a dog returning to its vomit. It's quite depressing that people would rather go back to the things that cause them great distress rather than be free and have peace of mind. Sure, not having a roof over your head isn't the most pleasurable experience in life, but you have peace. No one is going to come kick you out of your car (lol). Its paid for. The worst thing that could happen is that you get a parking ticket for sleeping too long and not moving your car on a street sweeping day!

As for being in the predicament itself, no one is responsible for taking care of you but yourself. Therefore, you can dislike what people have done to you in the past, or for things they have done to make your current position a million times worse, or thank them for the limited amount of generosity that they have afforded you. Choose to take the high road. Being angry never helps any situation anyway. Things are said that you don't always mean. Once you say something hurtful, you can't ever retract those words, no matter how many times you say your sorry and you didn't really mean it.

Rather than be angry, choose to use that energy to be productive. Let it motivate you to strive for more, even though you have nothing and no one at this time. Things will get better. There is light at the end of the tunnel, even though your in the tunnel, its dark, wet, cold, and you can't see a thing. You have to gain control of your life. Take the wheel! You should always be in the drivers seat...

...a continual series of unfortunate Events

Sometimes it seems that you just can't catch a break and you get to the place of feeling utter despair. This is a point in life when you just can't do anything more to help your situation, when there seems to be no hope, no way of escape. You are alone, in need, and can't do anything about it.

This becomes less and less about people and more and more about survival. How am I going to eat? Where am I going to sleep? What am I going to do tomorrow? These are very tough things to think about but they are very much a part of your reality. Sometimes you just wish that you could find a suitcase full of money. Other times, you just wish that life itself would end. Truthfully, you begin to question why God would allow such horrible and terrible things to happen to you.

You try to think positively, but your all positive'd out. You call your friends, only to be told what you should be doing even though you are doing everything humanly possible to change your current situation. So whats next? Just when you think that you've skinned your butt on naked rock and convinced yourself that things can't get any worse, they do. Then what? You have done all that you could do, called on everyone that you could call on, prayed, talked to the Pastor, but nothing has changed for the better. Seems that things keep turning for the absolute worst case scenario. What now? You are alone and have nothing and no one. Congratulations! You've officially hit naked rock...