This Life Was Never Promised to be Easy

Life can be one of the most interesting puzzles out there.  Believe me, I can speak from experience.  However, one thing that we tend to fall victim into believing is that life is suppose to be easy.  Some how, we have come to believe the notion, that life is suppose to always be full of prosperity but I beg to differ.  Last week, I received a devotional from Chuck Swindoll that spoke on this very same topic and I want to share from my perspective as well.

In this world (well at least in America), we enjoy believing that life should have a plan.  Within this plan, there is a overall goal and at the end of that goal it has something to do with living prosperous.  For example, when I was growing up, I was told that if I went to school, studied hard, and went to college I would get a good job.  In addition, I believed that life would go nothing but up without major bumps in the road.  For example, I would marry, have kids, get a nice house with pretty green grass, grow old, retire, and live on a beach somewhere for the remainder of my days.   Well that's all well and good but God never promised such a life to us.

As a matter of fact we see evidence of this with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:6-9.  In there it says,

(6) Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, (7) or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. (8) Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. (9) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Paul was one of the most influential Apostles for the Kingdom of God, but look what the Lord tells him in verse nine.  He say's that, "My grace is sufficient for you....".  Say what?!  You mean to tell me that after all that Paul had done, this is the response he got from the Lord?  Survey Says:  Yes.  That's all he got.

Where we go wrong is that we fail to understand the ways of the Man upstairs.  We have a plan in our brain but fail to consider that God's plans may be different from our own.  For years, people have suffered pain and heartache and that's what we don't get.  We wonder things like "If He's so omnipotent, why would he allow such evil and not give us the perfect life?"  Well if He did, then just like any other free thing, we wouldn't appreciate it.  After all, we are not in control.  He is in control and until we learn to submit to His will, we will always struggle to understand why the things happen to us that make life difficult.

You cannot see it now, but just know that His "power is made perfect in weakness" and your struggle today is a teaching moment for your future.

Be Blessed

Keeping Expectations in the Face of Failure

Wile E. Coyote 

Well Happy New Year Folks!!  Over this past Christmas and New Years, I got the unusual chance to take a vacation.  A long and well needed vacation unlike I have never taken before.  As such I got to spend a lot of quality time with my wife and kids, so it's still taking a while to get back into the swing of things this morning.

As a family we all got a chance to sit down and watch the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck movie (to which our seven year old daughter seems to have memorized every line already).  For me it was fun because I got to watch my kids appreciate the same simple cartoons that we watched while growing up.  We literally laughed for most of the movie and as they say laughter is good for the soul!

In the midst of that laughter, I found myself putting my adult analysis on the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner clashes.  It dawned on me that there was never an episode where the coyote caught the road runner (at least that I could remember).  That means out of years and years of watching the same show, that coyote kept chasing and trying different ways to catch that bird!  He tried and tried and tried, but never could get any of his tactics to work.

Many of us would quit with 100% failure.  I could understand stopping if you attempted to do something the same way every time and got the same results.  That is insanity.  However, Wile E. tried a variety of things with different consequences, but the same results.....no road runner.  The one consistent thing that he did have was determination.  Not matter what happened, he was for certain the next attempt would be the one!

Look at Wile E. Coyote in the picture above.  Despite all the failed attempts, he still prepared to eat.  At least he would have been in the correct position had he caught the Road Runner. Many of us start out things with good intentions, but after failing a few times we lose motivation.  We no longer expect to win, but rather our attempts become a repetitive experience with no expected outcome.

For example,  when I was in college, we had to call into a system called TRACS to register for classes.   When the time frame opened up, the phone lines were flooded and you would just have to hang up and redial to get through.  After several attempts of not getting through, redial just became routine and I would expect to fail instead of getting through.  On occasions I would finally get through then hang up due to routine, only to realize that the phone was actually ringing.  ARRRRRRG!!!  My expectations had changed and I wasn't ready and prepared when the results changed in my favor.

Can you say the same for you and your life?  Have you been running into a brick wall over and over again?  How does it make you feel in the process?  It can be tough, but I would suggest you take a look at Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner for inspiration.  Hold your head up high and keep marching forward.  While catching the Road Runner would surely have marked the end of the cartoon as we know it, but we also know it to be just that....a cartoon.  As for you, failure will happen, but don't let your determination and expectations leave you, "[f]or the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."  So, put your napkin around your neck, get your knife and get your fork ready in expectation for your next attempt!

Be blessed folks and have a good one!

Physical vs Spiritual Hunger

Hunger.  You hear about it all the time.  There are millions of people around the world who don't eat on a daily basis.  There are numerous organizations out there whose sole mission is to help stamp out hunger.  This is great and the efforts of many to feed those in need of physical nourishment should be rewarded.  However, the same effort that we see to feed the physical body, should be multiplied in order to stimulate and feed spiritual hunger.

According to TheFreeDicitionary.com, hunger is defined as "[a] strong desire or need for food; [t]he discomfort, weakness, or pain caused by a prolonged lack of food." or "[a] strong desire or craving".  I think this captures the meaning of hunger both spiritually and physically, but going further is where the two diverge. Your body is designed so that when it needs energy, nutrients, and/or fluids your body sends signals which alert you to eat or drink something.  The longer you go without nurishment, the weaker the body becomes.  However, once you find food, you consume it until you are no longer hungry and the body becomes satisfied until the next hunger episode hits.  In this case, you are continuously driven to consume by your body's needs.

When we look at spiritual hunger, something different occurs.  The longer you go without spiritual nourishment, the less hungry you become.  It is the moment that we start to read and learn more about Jesus, the more our appetite for a walk with Him grows.  It is like watching a child grow.  For example, yesterday, I went into an auto parts store and my son was overwhelmed with all the stuff in there.  He asked, "Daddy, what's this?".  I answered him and then he would ask another question based on my answer.  Then he would move to another item and ask what that was.  His hunger for knowledge of his surroundings grew as I fed him the answers to his questions.  This is how your walk with Christ should be.  As you grow, you should want to know more about "him that is able to keep you from falling" (see Jude 1:24).  In this case, your hunger is stimulated by the more "spiritual food" you eat instead of a long drought of spiritual consumption.

You see, the moment we become content with all that we know about Jesus and the Word of God, is the moment we start to lose hunger.  We start to lose that aching and nagging feeling to consume all that God has for us to know (which is endless).  As for many who read the Bible, they have different meanings revealed to them by the Holy Spirit, even if it is the same passages.  In that vain, the Bible never grows old or irrelevant which means you can never stop learning and receiving revelations.  

As a normal person in the world, you never know it all and we continue learning until we leave this earth.  Don't fall into the trap of believing you have gotten all that you can get from your walk with Christ.  Always seek more knowledge in Him, and never allow your spiritual hunger to be yanked from your life.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."  -- Matthew 5:6

We All Have Wilderness Moments

You know, it has been a while since my last blog entry, but it has not been because of a lack of things to write about.  It has been due to lack of dedication and just the moments of life.  I think that moment has been one in the "wilderness" for me.

"What is this", you may be asking.  Well, I would like to define it as a time where we go through different parts of our lives led by the Holy Spirit, but "seemingly" out of the presence of God the Father.  I put the word seemingly in quotes because we know that God never leaves or forsakes us (see Deuteronomy 31:5-6).  However, it is a time where we seem to draw away from everyone.  It is a time where sometimes we exert ourselves physically and we can get lost spiritually if we aren't careful.   It can be a time of reflection and a time of growth.  Let's look at Luke 4:1-13.

(1) Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (2) where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (3) The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” (4) Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[b]” (5) The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. (6) And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. (7) If you worship me, it will all be yours.” (8) Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]” (9) The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. (10) For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; (11) they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[d]” (12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[e]” (13) When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

The above verses show a time when Jesus was alone in the wilderness (as a human, but not in the spirit).  If you noticed, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, but Jesus was tempted all the while by the devil (an evil spirit).  During this time He fasted, but He kept His mind focused and fought the devil with the Word of God.

We know that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness.  I think this is pretty obvious.  What may not be obvious are the conditions in which He went into the wilderness. Most of the time we only focus on the temptation part.  We know that Jesus was God in a human body.  He is not like many of us, but He still sweat, hungered, thirsted, and bled just like we do.  So, let's look at a few things.

Jesus, went into the wilderness by Himself. Granted, He was led by the Holy Spirit, He was still alone.  There was no buddy system in his wilderness moment.  At the same time, the devil showed up.  If you have not noticed, it is typically when we are alone that we can either plug into God to the highest degree or we can become distracted by the devil the most.  It is those moments of quietness, that we can be led by the Spirit or we can fall to temptation by the devil.  The question is how grounded are you in the Word to recognize the tricks of the enemy.  If the Spirit is leading you, then follow Him, no matter how difficult a particular moment in your life may seem.

Not only was Jesus alone, but he had been fasting for forty days.   Again, because He lived as a human, He of course hungered.  It is one thing to be alone, but to be alone where there is no food around, most people would go crazy and would eat anything.  This is where you have to be careful, because you could sell you soul to the devil in order to satisfy your flesh. When you are alone, tired and weak, we agree to some of the craziest things without even thinking about it.  Take Jacob and Esau for example.  Esau had been out working all day long in the fields and was dog tired when he got home.  Jacob, who could whip up a mean stew, knew his brother was hungry.  So, when Esau asked him for something to eat, Jacob seized the moment and tricked Esau into giving him his birthright.  Back then, the benefit of the first-born son was a big deal.  He got the birthright which meant there were privileges and/or possessions that he only would received.  Just think.  He gave this up all for a bowl of stew (see Genesis 25:28-32).  In the words of Esau, "Look, I am about to die...What good is the birthright to me?"  It is in our time of weakness that we become the most vulnerable and not being able to check our vulnerabilities can turn our wilderness moment into a lifetime of hell.

The last thing I want to point out is that Jesus recognized who He was.  He knew that He was in a fleshly body, but He also recognized He was the Son of God.  Also, He knew what the Word of God said.  If we recognize who we are and to who we belong, then we can conquer anything.  No devil or demonic spirit can derail us from our walk with the Lord.  Evil can try, but nothing can hold water to Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and God the Father.

Yes we all have wilderness moments.  After all Jesus had one.  If Jesus had one what makes us think we are exempt from them?  As long as we recognize what we are going through and the potential pitfalls, we'll be alright with our mind on the Spirit who comforts and lead us.  Let no temptation pull your flesh down and let not desire pull you away from that which God has called you.   At some point, the trees will begin to thin and there will be a clearing to which the Son will shine upon your face as you come out of the wilderness.

Be blessed folks and have a good weekend!

Antoine

Jesus Musik: JR's "God of Peace"

Absolutely beautiful song......

Some Love & A Miracle

Today is a very special day for me.  Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my wife's (Deidra) kidney transplant.  This is not her first transplant (she received one from her mother in 1994), but rather her second and this time things seem to be even better than the first, but let me take you back.

In January 2009, unbeknown to my wife and I, she had already began to go into kidney failure.  It was not until later in the year that we found out this was the case. At first we thought she had just gotten sick from a virus, but this was only one problem. The virus caused us to place focus on the kidney and through a couple of biopsies, it was found that she was suffering from toxicity from one of her immunosuppressants.  In laymen terms, that meant that the very medicine that was suppose to stop her immune system from attacking her kidney was the one killing the kidney!  To me this is the equivalent of taking Advil for a minor headache and the medicine turns out to give you a migraine.  It was unimaginable to me that the medicine that suppose to keep her alive could kill her.  I just could not get that wrapped around my brain, but I had to learn that transplanted organs do not last forever. 

If you have never seen a person go through kidney failure, I would like to tell you, you do not want to see it.  it is not a pretty sight.  Once you hit a certain threshold of functionality, the kidney starts to shut down pretty fast.  I mean I saw the woman I love - the mother of my two children - grow sicker and sicker before my eyes every day.  As a man, you try to remain strong, but it's difficult to see a love one suffer and there is nothing you can do.  It is out of your control and only in the hands of God.  There is nothing you can do but pray, because kidneys do not grown on trees.  You canot go down to your local Wal-mart and buy one.  There are waiting lists and some are on them for 3 to 7 years!  Yes, I said years! So imagine, our situation.  You know that God can work all things out but when you are in the midst of a trial, it's tough to keep focus, but praying we did.

Love & A Miracle

Remember I said, you cannot go go your local department store and pick a kidney?  Well we were in need of one fast and in steps a little sister.  It's my wife's younger sister, Dionne.  Without hesitation, she stepped up to the plate and offered to donate her kidney.  Now, a lot goes into the process of giving a kidney.  You don't just say I will give mines and you go into surgery.  There are numerous tests done.  There is blood work done.  There are tests to see if you are the correct blood type (which there is a way around now due to technology).  There are urology tests.  So, it is no light task and there are always risks involved.  Any time you talk about cutting the body open to remove organs, there are inherent risks.  

Knowing all of these things, it was as though Dionne was bringing over a pie or cake.  No hesitation.  No grumbling. No complaining.  She willing went to the operating table for her sister.  As it turned out, the two were a perfect match (ie, bood type, markers, etc.)!  It couldn't have been any perfect!  I think they were so perfect the doctors were even a little amazed.  The good thing about a perfect match is that it reduces the number of medicines you have to take after the transplant, so Amen to that!

So, on March 24, 2010, Dionne went to bat for her sister and donated a kidney.  She had to lose a piece of one of her lower ribs in the process, but she did it.  A few hours later, the two were out of surgery and into recovery.  Dionne's recovery was fairly quick, but Deidra's was a little slower, however, you could see the instant impact of a new kidney.  My wife's face was beginning to clear from all the toxins in her body. Her skin was clearing.  It was as though some one had dropped some magic water on a withering rose and watching it brighten back up to a fully red open flower. That is the only way I could best describe it.

Today, both of the girls (sisters) are in perfect health. You would not even know that something had happened and that is how amazing God is.  Deidra is now a Certified Christian Life Coach with a focus on medical compliance.  In fact, it was just yesterday that she completed her certification in Human Behavior as a consultant (For more information you can visit her website at http://www.champscoaching.com).  All of this has happened within a years time!

One year ago today, I was feeling like a beat man.  I was worrying myself to death trying to figure out how to raise two children while unemployed and trying to be a caretaker for my wife.  Not so.  My wife could still be sick all while deteriorating in health.  Not so.  We could still be waiting for a kidney for years to come.  No so!  You see, the unselfish love of one sister gave life to another sister and I do have my mother-in law to thank for giving Deidra life so I could find my wife.  However, I have to give my sister-in law thanks for extending my family's life and for that I say thank you Dionne and love you.  I know you did not do it for me, but the by-product of your love yield a miracle for all of us!

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:      http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

Waving Through Life

Have you every noticed how life just seems to ebb and flow?  You know, a series of ups and downs or highs and lows.  It just seems to be the way life works *shrug*.  By now, you know that when goin through life you can have high points and low points.  I do not know anyone who has stayed and either a high or low point for all their life.  At some point, life fluctuates and we have to adjust accordingly.

Those fluctuations can be considered waves.  The FreeDictionary.com describes a wave as,

A disturbance traveling through a medium by which energy is transferred from one particle of the medium to another without causing any permanent displacement of the medium itself.

This is a Physics definition, but I think we still can apply this to our lives.  The disturbance can be us and the medium can be life.  We move through life and as such, we cause things around us to move and shift.  They do not cause permanent damage to the life through which we are traveling, but it temporarily changes things around us.   Because the environment around us have an impact on us as well, we have series of ups and down as we go.

Many things can be modeled or described by waves and our life is no different.  The peaks or the high points can be the highs in our life.  Those are the times when things are going well.  The valleys (or troughs) are those low points in life.  Those can be trials, tests, training, etc. that prepare us for the accent back to the top of the wave.

A good example of this is when the Pharaoh of Egypt kept having these dreams and had Joseph removed from jail to explain to him the meaning. In Genesis 41:25-27, Joseph tells Pharaoh the meaning of his dreams (You should read all of Genesis 41 in your spare time).

(25) Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. (26) The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. (27) The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

In his explanation we see that there will be seven good years in the land of Egypt, marked by seven bad years.    God was essentially telling them that there will be a peak followed by a trough and this is no different in how we move through life.

When we measure sound, waves (water), heart beats, etc.on a monitor, you see the up and down motion.  The moment the wave becomes a straight line, there is no sound, the water does not move, and a living person dies (no heart beat).  In life, it is natural for us to experience the things that we do, but the moment the ebbing and flowing cease to exist, so do we.