Life-Cycles

We all go through them, sometimes they are quite long and indeed sometimes they are abbreviated. They could be very positive and of course rather negative. Nonetheless they are one of lifes 'requirements.' Let's call them 'Life-Cycles.'


We have all had times in our lives when everything was going right, it was smooth sailing, life was good! Savor and celebrate these good times in life, share them with one another and give thanks accordingly to those responsible and especially thank God for His hand in them. When you find yourself on top of the mountain don't grumble about how long it took you to get there, nor how it would have been quicker if this hadn't happened or so and so hadn't tagged along. Don't complain about the long walk down, just ENJOY THE VIEW!

Now granted there are some who pass through life with a pessimistic view of the future. Those who are always expecting something bad to happen, especially when everything is going well. You know the type that I am talking about, right? Maybe something bad has happened or they receive some bad news, then you hear them say "it always comes in threes'. How many times have you heard that? It could come in tens if we wanted to track it that way or it could come one at a time. If we say it comes in threes then we are dreadfully awaiting the 'other two.' What a miserable way to go through life, always expecting something bad to happen.


While we can't always choose what comes our way I believe that we can choose how we meet what comes our way. Life is a blessing but often being blessed is a choice. I think of all the people who walked in the crowds with God's Son, maybe they listened to one of His sermons one Saturday, they may have even sat at a table and eaten with the Messiah! Sadly not all received a blessing while they were with Him. Was this some selection process orchestrated by God? Of course not! Some people just refused to be blessed! Have you ever met someone who needed help but refused it. They pack around bitterness, anger and despair for tomorrow from days gone by as if it's some treasure they'll never see again. Get over it and drop it because when your hands are full of that garbage you can't take hold of the blessing God has for you!


On the other hand there are times when life just gets you down. There are simply some cycles that we all go through in life that, well, we just have to go through! Nothing horrible has happened but you just feel tired or weighted down from the cares of life, especially with the pace things run at today! Some positive things are happening but they are not grand enough to lift you from where you find yourself, just trudging along, day by day by day. It is times like these that we need some additional assistance. In the church we call these times; Revival. Some are scheduled and some happen spontaneously, attendance is not mandatory (see paragraph above) but corporate attendance is encouraged. Why? Because some personalities are so strong and persuasive that when they are leaning to the negative they have the power to influence many other 'cyclist.' There are times of revival that are personal between an individual and God Himself. The Bible records times of national revival with Israel and I believe America has had her share as well, though admittedly it has been some time. In either case the goal is the same and that being to recharge our batteries, replace our filters, encourage our hearts, strengthen our resolve, refocus our course, (insert your own analogy here).

We just completed a scheduled revival at AFCN and for me it came at the right time. A time when I just felt tired, nothing terribly wrong, good things were happening but I felt as if I were in a kayak that had been moving downstream that had gotten caught in an 'eddy.' In a stream it is a place where the water, because of stream structure and flow, just pauses or circles and someone caught in that eddy stays afloat, but floats in place as the stream continues to rush by. That was where I had been for a little while and I just wanted to share that these cycles are very real and they are to be expected. In a stream a burst of energy or a change in direction can free your kayak from the eddy. In life a change of direction could be in order or perhaps direction is right and clear but your last burst of energy bursted a long time ago. In these times we must go to God and allow Him and His Holy Spirit to provide the source of strength and power we need to revive and quicken our spirits and provide that burst of energy necessary to break free!

Blessings!