Persevere

On my facebook, I get inspirational quotes every day from different people.  I did this at the request of my wife because she said it helps keep one looking on the bright side of things.  She was right.   

I came across this quote by Bruce Lee, “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

I thought this quote was pretty inspiring, so I looked for more like it. I found the following by Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks.

“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.”

This all struck a chord with me because I think, deep down, I’m expecting to have an easy life.  I’m a decent person, why not?  But it’s not always like that.  Life has its ups and downs and often times, at least in my case, the downs are more extreme than the ups.  So why would I expect an easy life?  There are no biblical references stating that we, as people, would have an easy life.  There’s nothing saying that once Christianity is attained or accepted life would be simpler.

However, there is a great deal examples of God comforting his chosen vessels and his chosen people.  Jesus told those he was teaching (John 16:33) “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  The last part, in my opinion, is where the comfort comes in. 

God has promised to be with us.  That doesn’t me he’ll smite our enemies or make us rich, but perhaps he will give us what we need.  Maybe help us find opportunities.  At least give us the mental strength to carry on.  From a non-religious stand point, the belief in something bigger than ourselves, whatever God or Diety, seems to help those that believe.  Just faith helps.  There’s a lot of faith shown in the book of Psalms.  

Psalms 46: 1-2 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,”

Psalms 23:4  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;  your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalm 138:7  “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.  You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me.”

A lot of trouble expressed in these verses but a lot of faith and courage as well. 

It’s funny.  I started writing this in the morning and then stopped for a while to take care of a few things and now, here I am, the next morning, finishing up.  In the span of time that I was absent, I actually went through a little hard time of my own.  Started asking the regular pouty questions in my mind.  “Why me?”  “why don’t I ever catch a break.” Then, it was like my own words from that morning coming back to me.  An easy life isn’t promised.  But he’s there with you.

This whole experience as shown me a new light on one of the most often used bible verses.  Phillipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Up until now I’ve always taken that as merely an encouraging statement given to the Phillipian church to keep them going.  The bible is full of vague speech and metaphorical language that I just thought this was a nice metaphorical verse.  I remember when I was little thinking this was literal.  I actually prayed for the ability to fly.  Imagine my disappointment…lol.  But I look at that verse now.  And I look at psalms and I look at just things that have happened in my life and now I think I was wrong both times.  That’s not what this verse means.

The bible says a righteous man will fall down seven times and seven times get back up.  Confucius said “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”  All these verses and all these sayings mean that as long as I have my faith, I can get through anything.  Not DO anything.  Persevere.

the self

I was thinking about more proverbs that I’ve heard here and there, as well as some of the verses that I’ve read over my lifetime and began noticing a few constants.  One of them particularly that means something to me is the idea that we can master ourselves and/or be empowered by truly knowing ourselves.  It gives me hope to think that there actually is a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m not just imagining it.   The first person I think of when this topic comes to mind is the Apostle Paul.

 In 1 Cor 9:27, he wrote the following.  “No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

The previous verses elude to the need for those following Christ to train their bodies and minds like runners do to prepare for a race.  And then race with all we have, as if running for an eternal crown.

This passage makes me think that controlling myself the way I should be controlled is hard.  Paul is saying that he physically struck himself for the sake of the gospel.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t usually hit myself.  The idea that controlling myself is hard led me to look at other sources to see what they say.   And here’s what I found,

Lao Tzu said “Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”

 Buddha said “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”   And “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

A bible verse along the same vein can be found in Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; And he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.”

I think those two are the most powerful.  Controlling myself is better than taking a city.  Which leads me to believe that controlling myself is harder than taking a city or winning battles.

it seems that the general consensus is that, in order to get through life with any kind of grace, one of the things we must do is learn to control ourselves and our actions.   Our words.  I, myself, frequently need to reel myself in.  God says “Be still and know that I am the Lord.”  I never thought that actually doing that would be a difficult task.

Anxiety

I spend a lot of time, like today, worrying about what tomorrow will bring or what will happen if I make a decision.  I think it’s more than just worry. It’s an attack of obsessive “what if” questions that doesn’t seem to stop.  My father explained to me once that that is sin.  The bible says to not worry about anything.  In fact, there are sayings in several religions that talk about worry and anxiety.  But I look sometimes at scripture and then I look at the things that come up in life and I think “how in the world could I not be anxious?”  So I think of what people would have been anxious about in bible times.  And that’s even worse!  Especially the apostles and other followers that were persecuted and sometimes even put to death. 

Don’t be anxious?  Really?

Then I came across a Buddhist quote about how to live life.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” ― Gautama Buddha

It makes so much sense when it’s written out.  And then I thought, why didn’t the bible teach me this?  But it does.

Matthew 6:31-34 (AMP)

³⁴ So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

I think these two sayings are basically saying the same thing.  Live for today.  Do what you know to do today.  Tomorrow will come either way.

The bible even goes further and tells us what to do with our anxieties.

Philippians 4:6-7(NIV)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I take this to mean that I should pray and do whatever rightful thing that I can do for a desired outcome.  I take the combined sayings and scripture to mean that, since a very wise person decided to speak about it, that anxiety is a common problem.  One that even Jesus himself suffered from.  

In the scriptures, it talks about Jesus going to pray on mount olive before his crucifixion.  

Luke 22:39-46

 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.[a]

 Its part of being human.  I shouldn't be down on myself or anyone else for having anxiety.  But I should realize that worrying will not change anything.  Just like the Dalai Lama said.

“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.”