Life With A Punching Bag!

I have always put my trust in God... or so I thought. But when I really looked at my life, I saw often my trust was in my church, my job, my friends, my famiily, but hardly ever really in God. This is such a tough thing to really understand! When looking at everything and everyone I surrounded myself with, and put my trust in, my world should have been a safe place. But without fail, I would always be frustrated and hurt because of how I was treated. So, when life sends you pain and hurt, what is left? I found the only thing left for me is God. But what happens when you believe God is sovereign, in total control, and you put your trust finally in Him, and you still are let down?

Another lesson I learned in Seminary, is about a thing called "theodicy." Essentially, this just means that sometimes "bad things still happen to good people." I suppose this is a fancy theological word to say, sometimes life just doesn't make sense, no matter what. It also leads me to add another item to my, "What the heck is wrong with this picture?" list-- that I have prepared to show to God when I get to heaven. My list is growing and growing.

Sometimes it is not enough to just mark things off, or make a list to ask questions of later. What about in the heat of the moment? What about having to deal with these tough issues? What about when someone dies for no reason, or from something that came on them so quick there was no warning?!! I gave this a rather strange title today. Did you notice? Sometimes life deals out such unfair stuff, that all I can find to do is want to punch something! So I went out and bought a 75 lb. punching bag! This is a heavy duty bag, ready to action. It is a special therapy I came up with, sometimes for myself, sometimes for a friend. I loaned this to a friend about three years ago, and picked it up earlier this week. So here it is, if anyone needs it. It won't completely cure what ails you, but it sure will help you deal with the anger and frustration that builds up when life doesn't make sense.

Of course, prayer, tears, following through with grief counseling, or just reading about grief and trying to understand how to deal with such things can be good. But sometimes there is nothing better than just a chance to haul off and waylay a 75 lb bag of stuffing! In the midst of it all, it doesn't make sense... but God is still here. In times like this I have to remind myself that God also lost someone very special.... But His son rose from the dead! Yes, He did! And I also have to remind myself... so will our dear loved ones! We will get to see them again! This is not the end. We just have to be there for each other in the meantime, however we can. So if anyone is reading this, I have this bag... if you ever need to use it. Contact me and we'll work something out!

Blessings,
Hy