Roller Coasters

I really do. I have my entire life. My favorite ones do this:

But THESE:

THESE are the ones that GET me. They give me that butterfly feeling in my chest, they make me feel woozy, they are the hardest ones for me by far. It’s that UP and DOWN part that gets me.


And when I look at the picture, with the constant up and down, the highs and the lows, I see my LIFE. I see my feelings and emotions, my HEART, my successes and my struggles, my victories and my challenges. And I feel like my entire life has been like this: one LONG roller coaster ride.


But my God told me it would be this way.


John 16:33 In this world you will have trouble.


2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard pressed on every side . . . perplexed. . . persecuted. . . struck down. . .


2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. . .


1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering


I am sometimes surprised when people are surprised when life IS hard. Of course it is. Why would we expect anything else? We live in a fallen world, controlled by the evil one, filled with flawed, sinful people. We look to others to fill something within us that only our God can fill. We have disappointments and failures and trails.


So what do we DO then, when life hurts? THAT is the question. THAT is the true test of who you are.


As for me and MY house, we will serve the LORD!!! I will choose to believe that I am a beloved child of the King and that my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! I will believe that I am the head and not the tail! I will believe that I am saved by the Blood of Jesus, forever sealed by the Holy Spirit of God to be with Him for eternity! And I will dwell on these things that are pure and lovely and admirable! And when life knocks me down, I’ll just get up again. . . . and again. . . and again.

And will try, oh so VERY hard, to do it with some grace and some dignity and some mercy and some love.


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