Smile

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." - Luke 17:20-21

It's been a rough couple of weeks. Not that I am surprised, because I knew it would be. I am very tired all the time and feel like I am constantly behind. I feel discouraged a lot of the time because I know that I am not doing either one of my jobs as well as I could be. On top of that, my car was towed to the city yesterday because it keeps dying on me. I find myself more and more wanting Christ to return in all His glory and end all these trials and tribulations. But the truth is, if I just think about it, I already have the Spirit of God living within me. Since I know that is true, then why I do allow myself to feel defeated and discouraged? There is no good reason. It is somewhat ironic that as I am writing this, I am listening to the song, "Smile" by Tony Bennett and Barbara Streisand. The main point of the song is that no matter what is happening in your life, just smile. Knowing that Christ is living in my heart should cause me to smile in all situations. As Psalm 94:19 says, "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." :)

Split Between Two

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." - Luke 16:13

I am learning very quickly that it is impossible to be split between two opposing things. Lately I have been absolutely exhausted trying to fulfill my role as principal, while at the same time fulfilling my role as a teacher. I don't actually hate one and love the other, but I tend to get frustrated with one when it interferes with the other.

I do, on the other hand, have a love-hate relationship with my car. I love that I have it. I love the freedom it gives me when I have somewhere I need to go. I hate, however, the fact that it keeps dying and is costing me a lot of money.

I know, neither of these things has anything to do with the above Scripture - at least, not directly. It does in a sense, though. The stress of the jobs and my dead car have had the same effect: hurt my relationship with the Lord. As I thought about this, I realized that I have been like Martha in my job, rather than sitting at the feet of Jesus. I have worried about my car and the expense that it is going to be, rather than trusting God to take care of it. I have served the "masters of this world" rather than the Living God. My attitude toward these things is indicative of my submission to (or rebellion against) God's lordship. I also now see how that applies to other areas of my life. God wants me to serve only Him and let go of the cares of this world.