This post is a difficult one to write. The last couple of weeks have felt like one of those “Final Destination” movies. Okay, yes, that’s a bit dramatic. No one has fallen off of a roller coaster or gotten stuck in a tanning bed (who thought of those movies, anyway?), but it has felt like one bad thing after another.
Car insurance mishaps, midterms, expired license plates, food poisoning episodes… it doesn’t seem to end.
But what I realized today is that no matter how much it seems like I am stuck on “the struggle bus” for all of eternity, it really does not matter. I could give you the typical, “How can I complain when there are so many refugees in the Middle East,” or “It could be so much worse,” which are both very valid statements, but I don’t want to. Because here’s the thing…
Jesus died for me. He DIED for me. My reaction to the not so pleasant aspects of my life should not be, well, someone else is worse off, it should be “it’s ok- the Lord of EVERYTHING died for me, and that alone is more than enough.” I do not deserve anything else, and should be ok with that. The frightening part is… I act as if it isn’t enough. I act as though, even though Christ died for me, saving me of an eternity of pain and separation from Himself, that I deserve more. That I deserve to go through life without any difficulties. To have the perfect job, the perfect apartment, the perfect life. REALITY CHECK: Kara Stanley does not deserve those things, let alone salvation.
Here is what amazes me: After all He has done, despite the fact that I do not deserve anything, my Heavenly Father still wants what is best for me. He even thinks good thoughts about me. In the King James version, Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you…thoughts of peace…” So the next time something “bad” happens, I will thank the Lord for His goodness, for the gift of salvation, because really… that is all that matters. It’s all about Him, and it’s all about how He saves us.
