Be free from anxieties. There will be blessings and woes, ups and downs.
Lead the life which the Lord has assigned to you. Live in the moment.
Make use of the opportunities the Lord gives to you, opportunities brought forth by both prosperity and pain.
But realize the humbled will be glorified, and the glorified will be humbled.
Just bloom – bloom where you are planted.
These are just some thoughts that came to mind as I was reflecting on the readings for today. To me, this is message that can be taken from the readings today, if you think about it. If you read between the lines.
There are so many variables in life. So many things that can change at a moment’s notice, that can affect the outcome. This year is a microcosm of this very ideal.
On January 1, 2020 – everyone had a great vision for the year. Nobody foresaw a global pandemic, an economic crisis, widespread racial and social justice protests, political strife (ok, maybe we foresaw this…), and the worst wildfires ever in California.
Closer to home, just as schools and work were getting out, a nearby apartment building was engulfed in flames, the families coming home to the charred remains of their home. Thankfully no one was hurt, but these are families who in an instant lost everything.
They didn’t plan this. It just happened. Just like everything else has this year. Ok, perhaps we’ve never had a year where everything has happened all at once on a global scale, but things like apartment buildings burning down, and people losing their jobs, and virus outbreaks and economic crisis and social injustice happen every year. And every day.
There will be ups, and there will be downs. There will be highs, and there will be lows. No matter how low you get, you will be lifted up. And no matter how high you get, you will be brought back down to earth.
Nobody asks for it. These things just happen. God only knows the reason.
No other year, no other day, is any different. Just so many things this year are hitting close to home. Just like the apartment building fire today.
What do you tell someone who just lost their home, who lost everything they own? What do you tell yourself if you are in that position? Look on the bright-side and look at the silver lining just won’t cut it.
Situations like these, times like these, they suck. Period. This theme may sound like a broken record this year, but it’s true. There is a lot of suck going on.
But there is a lot of good. A lot of good things will come. The people who lost their home and their belongings will rebuild, they will replace. No one was hurt. That is the important thing.
It’s about making use of the opportunity. Where is the opportunity to see God? Where is the opportunity to help? Where is the opportunity to do the right thing? Where is the opportunity to show some love and let yourself be loved?
This applies to those high’s in life as well. Where are those opportunities to bloom, no matter where you are planted?
Look for the opportunities. Look for the opportunities where God presents himself in these times, where you can lean on His strength, and be His strength to others.
