The brightest diamond;

Some of my friends call me foolish. They tell me I never learn my lesson. They say I need to be less trusting, less positive, less open, less accepting, less naive.

“People are bad.”
“People will hurt you.”
“You need to be more careful who you trust.”

Well, if learning a lesson and being “wise” means looking at people and not thinking the best of them…well then I want to be foolish the rest of my life. I want to love everyone I meet like I’ve never been hurt or burned in my life. I want to love innocently and wholly. Every. Single. Time. I want to love people the way my Christ does.

Sometimes we look out at our lives and it seems the garden is empty – plans dead as withered leaves, dreams laid waste. Could we rejoice in the season of waiting, believing that God who brought Jesus out of the black tomb and brings green shoots out of hard earth will bring new life out of all dark seasons too? Could we know that beauty is in this whole process, the waiting part too, not just the end result?

Do not forget in the darkness what you have been promised in the light.

His perfect timing, now. Now is where He has called us. And we are just not ready yet. We need to clean up the house a bit and pray a little more and seek more counsel and we don’t know how to do that yet and oh, we have our excuses. And God says, “I’m here now, and I am ok with the mess, because I am here for the messy.”

I have many reasons for why I should hate this world. I have many reasons for why I should hate people. I have many reasons to not believe in God or question his existence. 

I have been emotionally and physically hurt by a plethora of people in my life. I have been abandoned and cut-off by my own family. I have been taken advantage of by people who I called my friends. I have been bullied. I have been rejected. I have had to move around the country several times, abandoning what I own. I have been divorced. I have been cast off. I have slept in my car. I know what it feels like to not know when my next meal will come. 

I have trials. I have tribulations. But I also have Christ. Though I have been through mountains worth of terrible things, I am no longer there. God has brought me through it. Christ has sustained me. Yahweh has provided for me. 

Darkness has fallen on me from time to time, but there is always The Light that never fails. You may be struggling, but do not worry for hope comes in the morning.