on ups and downs
everyone always talks about life being a roller coaster with ups and downs and everything. which is a perfectly valid statement. however there are more elements to a roller coaster than height of hill. not to beat an analogy to death, but i would submit to you that another element of a roller coaster is speed. and in life, i would also submit that speed, not altitude is the most important thing. how many times have you significantly grown in your spiritual walk during a high time in life? for me, none really. those are more a result of my recent growth, however as i climb momentum gradually becomes extinct. in fact, in light of recent thought about the matter, i almost want the high simply so i can fall again and gain more momentum. because like it or not, no high lasts forever, and the lows will come. so i suggest that we long for lows, because that is where God truely shines. there was a philosopher, i don't remember his name, something german.. anyways, he talked about how the "ubermensch"(sp??, seriously it's german) were the people that wanted life, over and over and over. that those were the super humans, the people who were the best. not a bad philosophy. not saying i don't want heaven, but i know heaven will come, like highs, and like lows. it is assured. but all i know is today.
come what may, highs or lows, i'm ready. realizing:
james 1:2-4
"when all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurace is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character, men of integrity with no weak spots." (phillips)
but what is faith? is it just belief? no. "faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all - it is dead and useless" James 2:15-17 (NLT)
faith is really like believing that a chair can support you, and sitting down to prove it.
all of that sounded better in my head when i was thinking of it like 3+ hours ago.
but seriously, low=good and faith=action
thank you