Trust

I really struggle with trust.  I like to play it off as just one of my characteristics, but it's sin and it's a poor representation of Christ.  What's sad is how trusting God is of me and humanity in general.  He trusted me in the redemption story of the world.  And I continually betray that trust and make him look like a fool.  God forgive me.  Forgive us.  Thank you for trusting.  JM

What Is Real?

Great post by Carlos Whittaker today. It revolves around an amazing quote from The Velveteen Rabbit:

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time.

Love the quote. Really makes me think about what it means to be real. It's all about trust, and I'm bad at that. JM

Matthew 23:34-39

It's pretty bad when God writes you off as a lost cause. I mean, God is kind of one of those hope springs eternal kind of guys. He always hopes for the best. You could punch him in the face 99 times and he still wouldn't flinch on the hundredth because he thinks just maybe you'll learn.
But man, when God is done with you, he's pretty much done. He'll make sure you know that you lost something special.
This is one of the great mysteries of God to me. How he can be that trusting. I'm one of the most untrusting people in the world. I'd rather punch you and run if there's a chance in my mind that you might try to hurt me. I think we could all stand to be more trusting. To seek out the good in people. To help them realize their potential. JM

Matthew 13:47-51

I love that the disciples struggled to understand things. It makes me feel better about myself because a lot of times I struggle to understand stuff I read or experience. Some of the Bible is tough to really grasp. It's just kind of tough to wrestle with and drag the meaning out of it. I think that's what makes it such an incredible book. If it were like read it, understand it, apply it, then it would get really boring.
Sometimes I don't understand stuff that happens to me. We're finally starting to do well financially, and now we're having rather expensive car problems. It's very frustrating. I don't think I'm trusting in my bank account, but I guess I must be because God keeps smacking it down.
JM