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Having trouble coping....

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ralph:

--- Quote from: Porter on December 08, 2022, 03:00:42 AM ---Here's a great quote from Mr. Rogers.

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping”.


Not only did God create evil, He created good too. It's easy to find the bad, but if you look, you can find the good too. Often, good and bad are in the same place at the same time.

--- End quote ---

I loved Mr. Rogers and watched his show often as a young boy.  His show helped me through some very dark times as a child, but I now look to the Word of God and Body of Christ for strength and advice. 

I am honestly not searching for bad things...  They are everywhere and getting worse (2 Timothy 3:13). 

It depends on what you mean by "good". Sure a lot of people claim to be good helpers, but when push comes to shove, most people show their true colors and only wish to help and glorify themselves.  Only God is good.  God tells us what we are here:

Romans 3:10-18

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17 And the way of peace have they not known:

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

I don't want it to be this way, which is the reason I become overwhelmed with with bouts of weakness and sadness from time to time. Again, not just what is happening in the world, but also the struggles within myself.

This forum is the only place that I know of (and believe me, I looked), where there are truly descent people that are seeking after God and want to do good. 

Porter:
I agree, no one is good (absolutely no one), but that shouldn't negate the good God does.

Jas 1:17  Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.

If there is anyone here or in the world that is “decent” and “wants to do good”, then it comes from above. The relative is just as true as the absolute, if you understand all is of God.

The verses you are referring to pertain to “the many called”. It's easy to see the world is in a terrible state, but it's hard to see from the Scripture how terrible the many who call Jesus Lord really are. The many think God is talking about the world, but in reality, He is talking about them.

Mat 23:27  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every impurity.

Mat 23:28  In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

2 Timothy 3:13 is no different.


Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

My 5-year-old son said something to me the other day that really impressed me. He asked: "killing is bad, right? And only love is good?" Where did that come from? Not from me (my son and I don't discuss such complicated theology much :D ), not from the body of Christ, but it came from above. Such a simple truth that hardly any adult believes.

It's good to struggle, Ralph, the trial of your faith is much more precious than gold. If it's not trying your faith, it's worthless.

Dave in Tenn:
God bless your little boy, Porter.  That was a perfect gift. 

Extol:
Ralph,

The thing that helps me the most is contemplating the future, when King Jesus will reign on earth and (later on) everything will be made right. Christians in the west don't spend nearly enough time meditating on this; there are two main reasons for this, I think.

1. Our lives are more comfortable than any other generation in history, and more comfortable than most of the world today.

2. We read verses like Rev. 4:8 and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come...and think "Gee, that sounds like it might get tiring after a while." Or we think of "heaven," even if we sincerely believe in it, as some vague, faraway notion; that we'll be spiritual beings just floating around...seeing our relatives, yes, but not really doing anything; or we think of the afterlife as merely an extension of our favorite pastimes ("Ol' Uncle Dave is up there playing golf...") If that is what it is, we reason, then better to play golf here, and not have to suffer the pain of death. With the comfortable lives we have, these ideas fail to encourage much excitement, when in fact it is this life that is but a vapor, and the next that will have no end...and be far better.

In his latest letter, my Dad told me of a funeral he went to where a daughter reminisced about vacations with her departed father. My dad then wrote how he hopes to go on some trips with his sons, because he doesn't want to regret not doing something. In the same letter, he wrote about a recent visit to a cousin who is in poor health, and that it might be the last time. The letter wasn't overly morbid, but it carried the suggestion that this life is what it's all about (even though my dad shares my beliefs.) I had to remind him the Grand Canyon will still be there in the resurrection. (If for some reason it's not, there will probably be some better, more beautiful version of it.) He will have ages to visit his cousin, only he won't be in poor health; it will be a restored cousin on a renewed earth. Any trip he takes with his sons, or any visit to relatives, will be a more satisfying experience when done after death. Life will be indescribably better and unimaginably longer than life is now.

Even if we don't know exactly what things will be like, we know enough to meditate on it and rejoice in what lies ahead.

Abednego:
I don’t really know anyone happy about the tribulations they’re going through. And if you’re not, you’re in good company. Jesus was pretty clear in the  garden that he wasn’t ecstatic about what he was about to go through.

Just going through my daily reading, and I’m in Romans now. I just passed by:

Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

When I read this I think about what Ray used to say about looking back. When I look back, it is very apparent that I’m not the same person I was years ago. The amount of patience I have now has multiplied unbelievably. Although that isn’t hard, because I’m not sure I ever really had any.

Then the next scripture:

Rom 5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

I wish Ray had done a paper on this, because I’ll be the first to say I really have no clue what this actually means.  I’m sure there needs to be some translation checking, it just hasn’t made it to the top of my list yet.

It hasn’t been an easy trip, as it hasn’t been for most of us.  I think sometimes it’s good just to hear you aren’t alone.

The Israelites were in the desert for 40 years. So was Moses before he returned to Egypt. I guess 40 is important. Jesus was in the desert for 40 days. He packed a lot into a short period of time so I can’t even imagine what those 40 days were actually like.

Every now and again I get a thought that just seems out of character and comes out of nowhere. It’s happened a few times, and since I know all is from God I pay attention. It’s served me well a few times.

The other day I was going over something God had done in my life, and out of the blue I thought how long were the Israelites in the desert? Well, everyone knows that, 40 years. Then I looked up when God had done this in my life. 6/1/1983. Almost 40 years ago.

I got so excited when I realized there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s been a long, hard road, and I’m certainly not proud of some of my shenanigans along the way. Or the way I have handled some things. I’m certainly not where I want to be with God. But since He does the drawing, I hope He’s drawing me to a new level.

Maybe being in the desert for 40 years means something to someone else here as well. I can’t believe I’m the only one on such a long drawn out journey.

I was also reading in Acts when they beat the apostles and told them to stop preaching about Jesus. They went away rejoicing. I really can’t wrap my brain around that one either which tells me I have a long way to go to get to their level. Considering how hard it’s already been, that’s scary.

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