Just Live

This past year I have done more thinking than I ever have. I've thought and thought till I thought more than Pooh Bear thought. I've thought till my head hurts, and I've come to a few startling realizations.

The one that I want to share today is one that is probably the most pressing on my heart now. It seems to have affected every single relationship that I have. And my failure to realize it has hurt more than a few relationships.

Right at this moment, the sun outside is just the perfect amount of sunshine. It's a bit cloudy, just enough that the heat is not unbearable. Just enough so when I drove today the light flickered on my face and arms while the cool breeze blew the smell towards me of blooming flowers.

On occasions like this before, I wouldn't have noticed. I would be entrenched in the shadows of worry and thoughtless thoughtfulness. I would think and think and think, till I lost the reason why I was thinking and just wallow in a void of black.

It's been like this for a long time. I think about how life was so perfect years ago, I'd think about all the bad things that happened over the years, I'd think what I could've done to prevent them, I'd think about what I could do now, I'd think about what so-and-so meant when they said that, I'd think about dead-end jobs, about school, about people, about problems, and on and on.

But today it hit me. Why am I trying to analyze every little thing when God has His hand on my chin, lifting my face to His creation and is saying to me, "Do not worry. Everything that has happened in your life, I was there, and everything that will happen in your life, I will be there. Now stop being such a sap, and live."

My jaw drops in astonishment. Is it really true that all I have to do is...just live? Live for God, obey His commands (not because I have to, because I want to), get out there and be His man?

The sun starts feeling a little warmer and my thoughts a little more joyful.

When you are driving to work, do you sit there and think about everything you'll have to do, and all the problems you'll be facing? When you are on the doorstep of sin, do you comfort yourself and tell yourself you deserve it and God will forgive you later? When a difficulty steps in between you and your friends, do you think it's automatically their fault and "when will they apologize?" During the day, do you keep a keen eye spotting everything that you can do that "will be fun," something to keep you occupied, something that you'll enjoy, instead of what is God-pleasing and righteous?

There is a company out here called "Just Live," they do zip-lining across the island along with high ropes courses and other challenging things. Now I'm not asking you to jump off a 40-foot waterfall, I'm asking you to do something a bit harder. Look at God, cast off your worries, and just live. Simple.