doors and windows

The hardest thing for me to learn is doors and windows. In God's good pleasure he shuts some and opens others. My deal is that I am all the time trying to pry the closed doors back open. What happens then is that I get them slammed in my face. The pattern goes something like this. God gently shuts a door and gestures toward a more appropriate direction. I then say but God I really like what's behind that door. So I open it again. God puts a padlock on it, but I won't stay away from it. Eventually God puts a wall up around the door all together. Guess what I do? I certainly don't do the easy thing. I refuse to just walk around the wall. I either try to dig a route beneath it or I try to scale the thing, but if all else fails I just stand there and bang my head up against the damned thing. Only when the pain outweighs my desire for the thing I am trying so desperately to keep (which God has known all along wasn't in my best interest) do I relinquish it in favor of God's original and perfect plan for my life. All I do is waste time and energy and get hurt when I try to be the pilot of my own life. Life is so much less complex than we realize. If you have prayed diligently about something and it is still going the same way, regardless of the fact that its the opposite of what you wanted, things are still going just as God intended them. It's better a little pain now than a lot later. Contrary to popular belief, if you are seeking God's will for your life, the easy way out is the right way out. "Sometimes walking away from something isn't only the easiest thing to do; it's the right thing to do." As a Chinese kid in my class said of Jackie Chan doing his own stunts "Nobody knows how many hurts there are on his body." Do yourself a favor: stop trying to do stunts that will get you through that door. In other words, if you are not getting a signal, this is not the time to go chase down an antenna.

i'm losing the battle but god has won the war

The saddest thing in the world is one of God's warriors going into battle and getting totally beaten and bloodied because they went into battle unprepared--they didn't take their weapons--the sword and the shield (Jesus Christ)! I've seen it too many times, with myself included. It seems sometimes that we are repeatedly getting knocked down by life. At times like this it seems that all the bad and negative feelings feed on themselves. All your thoughts become negative. This is when you know you have lost the joy, peace, and love that God meant for his children to have. There is no getting back to the good on your own. At every turn and with every good thing you attempt to do and every good frame of mine you will try to get yourself into will only be met by more obstacles and hurdles. Nothing will work, except turning back to God. There is no answer except prayer. You have to ask God to reclaim your heart and give you the joy back. We are slaves to anything which has mastered us. The only way you can be happy in slavery is if God is your master. If God is your master, your only burden is being faithful to Him and doing your best to serve him. Serving him will only enrich your life and give you peace and joy. God doesn't expect us to live perfect lives. In fact, he knows we can't do all he asks of us, and we should not beat ourselves up for falling short of God's glory. The only thing that matters to God is that we keep fighting to be the people he wants us to be. We have to continually choose to turn from darkness to light. After all, our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the spirits of darkness. More than flawless lives of righteousness,God wants that we live lives characterized by love. Love needs to be the dominant characteristic of our lives. We were meant to be salt and light to all around us, so that they can thirst for Christ and see his glory reflected through us. It doesn't matter what our jobs are or what or what level of success we reach by this world's standards. All that matters is that we love God and that we love those we come into contact with as brothers and sisters in Christ and constantly strive to act in love toward everyone. It is so beneficial to put your focus on God and others. When you do this, you take the focus off your life and what is wrong with it. All you think about is how you can be of service and since there are so many ways you can help others you will always find yourselves fulfilled rather than lacking. Remember that even though your are losing the battles, all you have to do is make sure you remain forever a member of God's army. He has won the war! In order, to attain the spoils, you must be on the victor's side. The individual battles are of no consequence, just remember which side you are on. Also, remember that if you find yourself in a negative frame of mind, it's because your side is losing the battles, and the only reason you are losing is because you have gone into battle without your weapon, Jesus Christ first and foremost, then prayer, then the Bible. Run to your stronghold and get nourished and renewed. Then get back into battle. You're sure to win this one!