Gracie always seems to be full of energy. As soon as she's awake, she's ready to take on the world by bouncing, running, and biting just about anything that crosses her path--including me. Sometimes she's completely obnoxious and I feel like I'm fighting off a wild animal. Other times she makes me laugh and I'm able to temporarily forget about whatever problems I have swirling around in my mind, which is a constant problem with me. I'll let you in on a secret of mine. My biggest flaw is that I am an over thinker. I know I'm not alone in the world when it comes to this, but sometimes I truly feel that way. It can be extremely debilitating to have your mind constantly racing with thoughts that only bring negativity into your life. I can name tons of incidents where I caused problems in my life because I had self-created them by thinking too much over it. It is truly my biggest sin. I am a worrier, to the extreme.
Now back to Gracie. Gracie doesn't have much to worry about other than the fact that she doesn't know how to walk down stairs yet. When I let her outside, she is perfectly fine with running around and chasing leaves. I smile as I watch her roll around, capturing leaves in her mouth and carrying them around the yard like trophies. The reason I find myself smiling is not because she's silly, but because she's honestly experiencing life the way I should be, with joy.
God did not give us life so that we would suffer. Jesus Christ suffered for us so that we could one day be with God in heaven. That should make us happy enough that nothing in this entire world can bring us down. It's really easy to say that, believe me, I know. I am going through my own struggle right now, and letting go of it and just accepting happiness is one of the hardest struggles I have ever gone through. However, despite that, I feel like I'm in the right place for God to do work within me.
Every morning when we wake up, we should first thank God for it, no matter what we know we may have to face. Often times, I find myself dreading things in my life, knowing I'll have to continue to face my issue each day. This isn't the way God meant for us to live, otherwise what would have been the point? Life is a part of God's creation, and it is a blessing for us to experience it. Every morning, we are able to walk outside and look up into the sky. Have you ever considered just how incredible the world is around you? Nature literally lives along with you. It breathes alongside you, it is the literal representation of God.
Like Gracie, who can run around and deeply enjoy the divine spirit all around her, we should do the same. I don't mean you need to snatch leaves up in your mouth and prance around like a baby dear, but you can simply take it all in. Just breathe and let the world breathe with you.
God is all around us all of the time. We should take on each day with the same kind of spirit as Gracie. No matter how upset she gets about going down stairs, she still gives me that look and runs about excitedly. We can't let our temporary problems bring us down, because Christ never gave up. We shouldn't either.
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