I’m not my own
I’ve been carried by You
All my life
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
Excerpt from the song Hope Now by Addison Road
A Song of Ascents
I lift up my eyes to the hills,
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
Psalm 121:1-8
Pensive: “expressing or revealing thoughtfulness, usually marked by some sadness” Dictionary.com
Life can be disappointing. For the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary, Hurricane Sandy, the Oklahoma tornado, and countless more disasters and hardships around the world, life has brought disappointment for sure. And for the rest of us, we’re called to think pensively about the hardships of life. We may not be sorrowful at the moment. Life may be good to us right now. However, life will bring sorrow. We will be disappointed. We will lose people we love. So what keeps us going? I remember when I was a kid wanting to be a race-car driver. The only thing was, I didn’t want to crash. I thought, maybe I could be a race-car driver who never crashes. We all know that every race-car driver is going to crash. Crash a lot in fact. If you’re not crashing every once in a while, you’re not trying very hard. Life is going to have crashes, and burns, and sorrows. If it doesn’t, we’re not trying very hard. The only way we can ever avoid a mistake is to never try anything. But then, that’s a mistake in itself. The only way we could ever avoid disappointment is to never trust anyone. That would include ourselves as well. And the only way to avoid sorrow is to never love. And that would be the saddest thing of all. In the beginning God created us perfectly. However, one of the first things Adam and Eve did was to make a mistake. That first mistake lead to all the mistakes, hardships, disappointments, and sorrows we’ll ever experience. But in the beginning God also created plan to save us from all the junk we’ll have to go through. A plan for His son to die for us. A plan upon which we all rest our hopes and faith. One day that plan will restore us to perfection. It will restore us to what we were created to be. We will succeed. We will no longer be disappointed. We will no longer sorrow. We will love without fear. And we will feel love forever. That’s what keeps us going. Let’s hope for that. Let’s trust in that. Let’s put our faith in Him. He’s our only hope.
Daily Journaling Questions:
How did I help someone in kindness today?
What did I learn today?
What am I thankful for?
Who did I love today?
What am I dreaming of?
What about today do I want to remember forever?
What are my goals for tomorrow?
Thanks for reading,
Jake
YOU ARE READING
Daily Self Growth Journal Pt. IV
Non-FictionThis is the fourth part of a project called the "Daily Self Growth Journal." Its purpose is to prompt readers to journal through encouragement, motivation, and inspiration. In it, the first thing I do is provide a motivational, or inspirational qu...
