MAINTAINING OUR MORAL SANITY

How can we maintain our sanity, while keeping our morals in tact? This is a question for everyone who live day to day according to someone else wish list. We ask ourselves, 'When is it my turn? When do I get the things that I need'? The answer is simple. You wait.  We wait in long lines, we wait for an important telephone call, we wait for a chance to be noticed by the person whom we love the most. I know that waiting is tiring and frustrating to say the least. It makes you feel like the last man on the totem pole. Waiting makes you feel like giving up.
Isaiah 40:31 says, 'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint'.
We know this. We were taught this, and we teach it to others. But, incorporating it into our own human lives seems impossible sometimes. You pray and you pray and you pray, but you feel as though nothing is being done. No change. Nothing is better. After you pray, what else do you do? If God tells you to do something that doesn't make any sense to you, do you do it? If he provides a way out of a bad situation, do you readily take it? Where is your faith? When you pray, you have to act on it.
James 2:26 says, 'For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also'.
When you're looking for that silver lining and you can't see it, know that it's there. Knowing without seeing is faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus spoke of having faith as that of a grain of mustard seed. How awesome is that!
That grain of mustard seed is so tiny, yet having faith of that size can move mountains. We all have faith of that magnitude. We may not realize it, but it's there. When we sit in a chair, we have faith that it will hold us up. When we put the key in the car ignition, we have faith that it will start. When we smile, we have faith that our teeth won't fall and tumbled to the ground. We all have faith of that grain of mustard seed. We just have to recognize it and put it to work. Faith in God is not just believing that He can, it's knowing that He will. We have to realize that His timing is not our timing. He will provide for you all that you need, during the waiting season. 2 Corinthians 12: says, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness'.
Even knowing God's grace and mercy, we tend to focus more on things we simply aren't able or allowed to fix. We get into that 'I can't' mode, not realizing that we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us (Philippians 4:13). God is ever present. He knows our problems better than we do. So instead of telling God how big your problems are, try telling your problems how big God is.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I know life brings about trials and tribulations. When I became saved, I had the notion that things would get easier. I thought things would be perfect and that nothing could get me down. Boy oh boy did I learn a hard lesson!  God never said it would be easy. He only said that it would be worth it. I know it's not easy going through hardship, but we have to go through it for our growth and God's glory. So, when you think about how bad your life's situation is or how bad things are in the world, remember to thank God for the good that comes out of it.

Golden Rule

One of the first lesson we learn in life is to have love for one another. Treat others with kindness and respect and always remember to say please and thank you. As a kid growing up in the South, This rule was fairly easy to maintain. Growing up in a small town, you treat everyone like family. In most cases they were. There were neighbors who would cook for you and look out for you. There were school teachers who knew you from church or just from the neighborhood. Then there were your friends. We would play from sun up to sun down without a worry in the world.  Back then we knew who our friends were. We all had a fascinating place in each other lives. These times were so easy and carefree, so genuine and honest, so fearless and well maintained. The only serious issues back then were writing the perfect letter to Santa, trying to be nice instead of naughty, waiting for that longed for Christmas day in hopes of getting everything on your list. Most of the time out of the thirty things on that list, we would only get about half that, if not less. Were we disappointed? Oh yeah! But, as a kid, we knew how to bounce back. We never stayed mad at anyone for long, never gave up too quick, never made a situation bigger than what it was. Besides, Christmas was coming back. There was always next year. And chances are, we weren't going to want those same things again anyway. It would always be something new. Something more exciting. Something we just had to have. 
During those days we knew our mistakes, our faults, our comfort zone. Looking back on those days, I remember how happy I was. I was free to play all day in the heat during the summer. In the fall we would rake leaves in piles and then jump on top of them. During the winter, we would pray for snow. When it came, we would have snowball fights and build snowmen until our hearts were content. Springtime was always the best. The temperature was just right, as though the sun and the wind were dancing in sync with one another.
Everything that we experienced as a child and growing up has led us to this point in our lives. Those family values that were planted in us have formed and shaped the person you see everyday in the mirror. We were taught right from wrong, good from bad, naughty from nice.
When did we lose our way?